Career
Getting In Touch With My Own Inner Samurai, Part Two
“Are you someone who has many interests? Do you like to read and write, fix and invent, design projects and start businesses, and many other things, all at once? Do you feel limited by the word ‘or,’ uncomfortable when you need to narrow down choices, and absolutely revolted by the command to ‘pick one?’ Is ‘and’ your favorite word?”
This is the paragraph that begins chapter five of Susan L Reid’s book Discovering Your Inner Samurai. The chapter is called Doing What You Love: Multiple-Streams-of-Passion (MSoP). Okay, raise your hand if Susan’s profile describes you. My hand is raised high in the air…and I’m tempted to throw the other one in the air for good measure.
The thing about Susan is that she really makes this characteristic sound great (and for the most part it is). But how many times are we made to feel not-normal, unfocused, and generally less-than because of it? And then we try hard to hide this inherent inclination by going the normal, focused route only to be met with unhappiness and frustration. Starting to sound familiar? Fantastic! This post, my fellow MSoP’ers, is dedicated to you. Actually, I’m hoping it’s going to be co-written by you. We all have experiences with the questions laid out here, experiences that can be shared as we help others like us use this characteristic as the awesome, empowering quality it is. So, come along…join the dialogue below and let’s show how we Renaissance Souls can kick mucho butt.
Jumping off questions:
What are the tell-tale signs of someone who is a multiple-streams-of-passion character?
Susan’s description above is pretty indicative of someone with MSoP. I’ll throw in another that I struggle with…not feeling like you have a home. That’s home in the figurative sense, particularly when it comes to professional identity. Ever wonder where you fit in exactly because your interests don’t fit neatly into one of the confining boxes most professions create? The last thing I want is a label or be confined to just one thing…and yet there are times when I pine for that kind of simplicity.
How can we best explain this characteristic to others, particular to those who don’t find it “normal?”
I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to explain the concept to others. Is it really that much of a foreign concept? Or do we MSoP’ers present some threat to those who believe that stability and consistency are absolutes?
How can we emphasize that our MSoP is an asset rather than a distraction?
This is sort of a related question to the last one. In this case, though, we have to ask ourselves how we can use our inherent gifts of curiosity and exploration for a stronger guiding purpose. How can we weave all of these different interests together to form a new niche that’s distinctly our own?
How do you know when running toward the next great thing is actually running from something else?
I’m leaving the question that I posed to Susan offline as my parting shot. It’s one that I struggle with in my own internal dialogue. When I get bored with something and want to move on to the next great thing, am I leaving that activity too soon? Or is this just the voice of all those non-MSoP folks in my life telling me that I’m doing something wrong?
ExtraPlay: 02.23.08
Seth Godin writes:
As I wrote in The Dip, you’re either the best in the world (where ‘world’ can be a tiny slice of the environment) or you’re invisible. This means being Draconian in your choices. No, you can’t also do a little of this or a little of that. Best in your world means burning your other bridges and obsessing.
Wrong or right? If he’s right, what does this say for all of us MSoP’ers?
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What a great discussion topic, Chris. If you are a MSoP person, there does seem to be a fine line between knowing when you’re moving to another flower that will deepen and enrich your MSoP and when you’re just leaping to another flower to escape (Enter “The Dip”).
I think the overarching question for all MSoP folks is: am I on the right path.
Knowing when to stay the course and when to let go isn’t easy. It’s a skill that every MSoP person needs to learn, however, in order to escape the labels, shame, and guilt that often follow them around.
So, how do you know which it is? When you’re not sure when to fold, here are a few questions that my clients have found helpful in discerning their best path:
1. Am I riding a dead horse?
2. Is the life I’m living the one I really want?
3. What am I afraid of?
4. Why do I feel stuck?
Lastly, I ask them to imagine that they are 100 years old, looking back on their life. Think about what it would have been like if you’d stayed with what you’re doing now. Think about whether there’s another vision you’d like to see instead.
Susan, these are great questions. Here’s another:
Is this leading me to something else that’s more powerful and fulfilling? This may just be flip of question 1 above. If I know that I’m on the path toward a better place, I might be more willing to set aside boredom and fear and stuckness. Of course, all of this is dependent on knowing where I want to go in the first place.
Or maybe all this talk of path is antithetical to an MSoP’er. Maybe we need to create a future that’s not linear but loosely relational.
Excellent thought, Chris. If you are a true MSoP person, then you are a polymath (a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning). From this perspective then, loosely relational not only makes sense, it is quintessential to the entire process.