As multipassionates existing in a specialist-dominant world, there are lots of beliefs we've inherited from society that don't serve us. I've identified some main limiting beliefs that were holding me back, because they're not just mine. So many multipassionates inherit these same limiting beliefs from society, our friends, and family.
Let's identify the limiting beliefs and dismantle the misconceptions.
LIMITING BELIEF #5: THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME BECAUSE I CAN’T CHOOSE OR CAN’T STICK TO ANYTHING.
There’s nothing wrong with you!
It’s a positive quality to love learning and to be interested in several subjects. Everyone is born with different interests, aptitudes and proclivities and the idea that we should all choose one occupation and stick to it is a limitation of society’s collective lack of imagination. You are normal, and your multipotentiality can be your greatest asset. Many multipassionates are big-picture thinkers, visionaries, and work well in multi-disciplinary fields. There’s nothing wrong with you, you’ve just been trying to fit in the wrong box.
It's completely NORMAL to be interested in lots of things, it's just a personality trait that has been suppressed in industrialized civilization, just like how children used to be strongly encouraged to be right-handed, we are all told to choose one speciality, even if it doesn't come naturally to us.
Now with the multitude of creative ways that people can make money on the internet, we are now more free than ever to do multiple things.
LIMITING BELIEF #4: YOU NEED TO STICK TO SOMETHING TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
It used to work like this - people would start in a company right out of high school or college at the bottom of the ladder, and then get promoted, and promoted throughout their career until they’re happy with their job and are making a lot more money than they used to. It still works like this for a fortunate few (or focused), but this paradigm is breaking down in many fields. Actually, this is also a myth because it’s much more likely the there’s a bottleneck at the top of the ladder. Because there are fewer jobs higher up the ladder, there isn’t always somewhere higher to go. You can be stuck waiting for someone to retire before you can finally move up.
The solution to this problem is to start at the top of the ladder by owning your own business!
LIMITING BELIEF #3: HAVING A JOB IS MORE SECURE THAN HAVING YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
The Boomers got to enjoy job security like no other subsequent generation. It was understood that they could choose a career, afford post-secondary education, get a job in the field of their choice, and work their way up a metaphorical ladder.
That’s just not the way it works for the majority anymore. First, post-secondary education isn’t as valuable as it used to be. It’s WAY more expensive, but not nearly as valuable because so much can be learned from the internet, and when many more people have higher degrees, and are competing in fewer jobs, that there is no guarantee you’ll get a job in your chosen field.
Except for a few essential services, no career is guaranteed anymore. And even if you do get a job, there’s no guarantee you’ll keep it. Layoffs have been increasing steadily since the 1970s.
In this uncertain career climate, it’s essential to have multiple streams of income. This is real security.
Your own business is the most secure, and you know your success will be proportional to your ingenuity and effort.
LIMITING BELIEF #2: MONEY IS THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS.
Money is ONE measure of success, but it doesn't have to be your measure. Many multipassionates measure success by their ability to be able to do the things they love, and to design their lifestyle around that. We have many interests, and we can measure success by our ability to engage in those interests regularly.
In addition, our ingenuity and enthusiasm for learning often means we need to spend less money because we prefer to make things ourselves and find creative solutions.
Define success on your own terms. Your drive to keep learning is what keeps you growing and happy, and success can look like being able to do the activities you enjoy. Success can look like continuing to learn. Success can look like managing your time and resources well so that you can do all the things you enjoy. Success can look like expanding your life experience.
But don’t worry, embracing these forms of success doesn’t mean giving up on conventional, monetary success. You can always change your definition of success to include money and objects, and if you decide someday that what you really want is money, money, money, then fuelling your creativity and life experience will never have been a mistake. You’ll still have a good start toward making money because you’ll have more knowledge and passion and practice to bring to whatever dreams you have to fruition.
The MOST CRITICAL limiting belief that you must shift in order to embrace wild success as a multipassionate?
LIMITING BELIEF #1: THAT YOU NEED TO CHOOSE ONE NICHE.
From a young age, you are indoctrinated to believe you must become a specialist. As a child you were always asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The implication is that there is only one answer. You need to choose the best one.
Yes, there are many careers, like doctor and astronaut, where you really do need to study for a long time, in a specific education, and when you graduate you’re likely to keep the same job for much of your life. If you're that dedicated to one pursuit.....well, you're probably not or you wouldn't have subscribed to these emails.
A dedicated, life-long pursuit of bettering oneself in a particular chosen career is the dream we are sold, but it is unappealing to many, and not as secure as we'd like to think.
There are many alternatives to this linear, specialist path that multipassionates can follow, including having 2 main unrelated occupations, having a satisfactory job that pays the bills while expressing your creativity elsewhere, or building your own multi-faceted business that lets you wear many hats. ←- This is the one I'll be focusing on, and I'll share more about it in the next email.
Assuming you agree that owning your own business is better than a specialist career, don't you still need to "niche down"?
Not exactly.... The dictionary says a niche is "a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service" but we can think about it differently. I'll explain in my next post when I tell you all about the Multipassionate Path to Wild Success!
Have a wild & wonderful day,
Carolyn