How I to handle having too many interests
I should preface this to say that as of writing this, I don't believe I am a master at any one inparticular skill. But, the point I would like to put forward by the end of this post is that it's OK to have a lot of interests, but it's important to not have too start too many interests at once. Even more important to not jump to a new interest before you have done the due time with the one before.
It's probably best to start listing what I'm interetsed in, to give you an idea. In no particular order...
- Starting a business/running a business
- Drone flying
- 3D modelling
- Exercise/physical health
- Indie video games
- Travelling
- Starting a blog/writing online
- Building a community
- Programming
Then, there are what I call the 'passing interests' that I seem to hyper focus on for a month or two, and then drop completely either because I don't fully enjoy it after the first high of figuring the interest out, or I decide that investing any more of my time into this interest will either destroy me financially and or/not really have any return on investment. Some examples include:
- Dungeons and Dragons (as the dungeon master)
- Warhammer 40000
- Long TV series
Sure these are fairly nerdy (I'm a nerd if you hadn't guessed by now), but I just don't see how these could help me with my goals in the future. They're interests I would like to pick up at a later point in life when maybe I'm more certain of who I am and where I'm at.
Going to back to my first list, these are interests that I do both do enjoy and could see myself getting some return on investment on. By this, I mean through either the reward and confidence I will gain from doing these, or monetarily (e.g I could build some passive income from, that may one day turn into full-time businesses).
I think the 'jack of all trades, master of none' saying is a myth. I think it is possible to be good at lots of things. They key I'm learning is to ensure that you're focussing on one interest at a time.
I like to think of it like I have this ambient light that eminates from my head in all direction, never lighting any one area of the room up fully. But when I focus that light into laser and focus on one particular point in the room, that corner becomes a beacon. That beacon is the one interest you are focussing on, rather than picking up several at once. If you're trying to master several interests at once, you're not giving each the time and sole importance it deserves to truly get better.
And if you're like me, you hit a time in your interest where you begin to doubt yourself. "I'm just not understanding this. I'm so far away from being at that level. I can't seem to break free at tutorials." It usually hits just after I'm done learning the basics and I'm plunged into the deep end of a place I like to call 'no more tutorials', or the honeymoon period you might call it. I know what it feels like to lose that original motivation in a product. It's easiert o jump to a new interest and get that dopamine spike we all love. But if you stick with it, and I mean really show up and just grind through those hard times, you will gain something that isn't just knowledge. And that thing is confidence.
When you hit a level of where you can say "wow, I can really feel myself getting better", if gives you a high, right? Hey, I did that thing! I know I've had moments like that where a huge smile has just spread across my face because I finish a small project, look back, and realise the journey I've been on to get here. And the results are beginning to show themselves. That confidence, if you can get there through dedicated focus, to me is an even bigger dopamine spike than the initial high of learning something new.
So, how am I going to practice what I preach? Well from today, I'm going to pick one focus and really go hard at it. I'm going to break through the honeymoon period, and learn to enjoy the effort, and not just focus on the reward. I'm going to show up, and prove to myself that I can be a master of not just one thing, but many.
There's a lot more I have to say on this subject, but I'll leave you with this.
Pick one interest you're the most passionate about learning. Mine is exercise. Dedicate 30 minutes every single day to that interest, and make no excuses. I like to think 'even the worst workout is better than no workout'. Show up, build that habit, get consistent, and work through that interest honeymoon where it starts to get hard. Wait until you start to feel confident in your abilities, and keep going. Once you start to miss that consistency, once it starts to feel weird to not do that thing, then swicth to a new interest and develop that one.
Good luck, and I'll keep you posted on my progress!