Emilie makes some great points on being a multipotential. I however, have a slightly different perspective on the importance of a personal purpose/mission.
- Watch the video first if you have yet to.
- Read my analysis below.
A Growth mindset vs. Passions
Emilie talks about pursuing different things, only to get bored over time.
I would attribute this to a Growth mindset. I personally have growth as one of my core values and I see this behaviour in myself.
What we really enjoy is not the activity we’re picking up per se, but the challenge and fulfillment in learning something new.
Of course, we can still genuinely be passionate about some of those activities and truly enjoy doing it. You can also have many interest/passions, you need not only limit yourself to one. I agree with Emilie that there is nothing wrong or abnormal with wanting to do many things.
However, if you get bored by mastering an activity/skill, I would argue it is not something that you are genuinely passionate about. It is just a fleeting interest fueled by your drive to learn and grow that gave you the excitement to pursue it.
Skill/Passion vs. Purpose
There’s another difference to pay attention to here. Skill/Passion is very different from purpose.
Saying you want to be a doctor/ballerina when you grow up, is addressing a vocation that you can enter into upon acquiring a certain level of skill in a specific area. It may also be a passion.
Purpose is often something grander, something more open-ended. e.g. If you realized when you were young, that you want to be a doctor, the underlying purpose behind that may be that you are passionate about saving lives. Becoming a doctor is only 1 manifestation of fulfilling your purpose. Such a person may notice that they could be equally passionate about being an emergency-responder, a crisis counsellor, or even a philanthropist.
What exactly is purpose then?
Purpose is not a “one-true-calling” or a “fated destiny”.
One’s purpose can change and evolve over time as
- Our personal values grow and evolve
- Our worldview changes based on the things that we learned
- As we learn more about ourselves
Purpose takes time and discovery:
- Embrace an exploratory mindset – go out and try as many things as you can to better understand what you enjoy/dislike/feel strongly about.
Being a multipotentialite
This I can get behind. I’m a big believer that the best solutions come from diversity (knowledge, experience, skills)
Leornado da Vinci is one great example of the renaissance man.
- An artist
- An inventor
- A scientist
- A mathematician
- Even a musician
Creativity & innovation sits at the intersection of different practices, this is why it’s so important to build cross-functional teams in organizations.
With this, I agree that we should not pressure ourselves to specialize/narrow our focus if that is not what we take joy in. I’m a T-shaped thinker myself too.
The vertical bar on the letter T represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is the ability to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas of expertise other than one’s own.
T-shaped skills: Wikipedia
That said, don’t confuse skills & interest with your purpose. You can still be a multipotentialite with a clear personal purpose/mission.
As a matter of fact, I would argue that you should start thinking about your purpose as soon as you can (even if it changes over time). Why? Because this will allow you to more productively focus your hunger for learning at topics, skills, and interest that will better serve you/your mission, especially if you find yourself without direction and a little lost in life.
In summary:
- Define your purpose, it’s still important.
- Pick up as many skills/interest as you’d like – it’s better if they serve your mission, but there’s also value in pursuing interests that don’t directly align with your mission, so long as you sincerely enjoy it.
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