You’re good at more than one thing, now what?
You’re not the only one, there are more of us in the collective.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been good at more than one thing. I found it restricting to narrow my skills down to one career that would be the ultimate true calling.
I graduated as an architect a year ago, but I’ve dabbled in so many other fields that have little or nothing to do with architecture. There was a period when I knew all I wanted to be was a writer. I started Internity as a platform for young graduates to find their way into the industry, and thought, maybe this will be huge one day.
There was another phase when all I wanted to do was open an art gallery to display all my acrylic and watercolour art. I was so into it that I’d visit art galleries every weekend to perfect my strokes; and connect with other artists online.
I’ve created commissioned logos for companies and individuals that I thought would make a career. I also worked for an architectural magazine, and thought hey, publishing is interesting right? Maybe I should give that a shot.
A year ago, I joined The Tempest as an Editorial Fellow, and continue to be a writer with them. I would spend nights and every waking hour refining my articles with countless hours of research. I had found my true calling; I wanted to be a women’s rights activist. This was when I was working full time as an intern at a company; I was that committed to it.
Halfway through my architecture course, I freelanced as a graphic designer, creating catalogues for companies that I would spend nights perfecting on Adobe Indesign and Photoshop.
I also enjoyed creating architectural renders for clients and designers, and I’d gotten pretty good at it. I was making additional income that saw me through for a year, so hey, I should probably make that a career right?
A few months later, I worked as a research assistant for a Ph.D student, and I learnt the ins and outs of creating a full-fledged thesis document; the research that goes behind it; and the right language to be used.
As you can see, I was big into experimentation and trying new things, and eventually perfecting them, until…I got bored and lost my spirit. This happened with every one of those interests I listed out.
People would constantly ask me, you trained to be an architect, why don’t you focus on that? Why are you wasting valuable time dabbling in other fields that aren’t relevant?
But I didn’t see it like that. I was so curious to learn and gauge all the possible knowledge I could before I graduated university so I could find “my true passion”.
I’m now a year into my full-time job and I’ve realised one very important thing. I still haven’t found my true passion, and I never want to. I want to keep exploring and learning as many new skills as I possibly can. I intend to venture into journalism, web design and psychology in the near future, and there’s nothing stopping me.
I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, as Emilie Wapnick puts it, we’re called “multipotentialites” — people who have a range of interests and jobs over one lifetime. You’re probably wondering, why don’t we ever see or hear about people like this? That’s because we’re so pressured to find that one career that’ll define us for the rest of our lives. But guess what? You can be an entrepreneur, artist, illustrator and architect all rolled into one.
I intend to migrate careers shortly, and I will migrate again after that. I can’t possibly imagine a life where we’re stuck in one industry for the next 20 years. If that isn’t creative suicide, then I don’t know what is.
Don’t let anybody tell you that you need to solely stick to one career all your life. This is the time to explore as much as you possibly can. There’s nothing wrong with being too ambitious.
I was inspired to write this article by Todd Brison’s Why It Sucks to Be Good at Everything. I could relate to every word of your article, Todd!
