Some years ago I was watching TV, a bit bored and uninspired, and therefore of course decided to open the app for TEDx talks. I found a list that I thought looked promising, and watched video after video until I came across the one that really would do it for me. This was Emilie Wapnick’s TEDx talk on “Why some of us don’t have one true calling”, that you can watch if you click HERE. They introduced me to the term “Multipotentialite”, and had me crying!
Growing up, I have long since lost count of how often I changed my mind regarding what, and how many different things, I wanted to be when I grew up – ranging from one thing, to something COMPLETELY different.
I both wanted to be a world famous singer, and a great writer using a pseudonym, being unknown to everyone. I wanted to teach, and I wanted to work somewhere where I never had to talk to anyone. I wanted to be able to work full time as a blogger and influencer living life on my own terms and time, and I wanted to work for someone so I was able to take a vacation, be sick, and be able to rely on a system to take of me without me having to take all of the decisions or have all the responsibility. But growing up, I was also always told that I would grow out of it and find my one place in the world. That it would just click, and I would sit there just finally knowing my one true calling in the world.
Well, here I am at 29, and I don’t know if the problem is that I just never actually grew up (which might be the case) or if they were just not what I have found I might be – namely a multipotentialite. A multipotentialite is defined as those of us with many interests, many jobs over a lifetime, and many interlocking potentials. We have many paths, and we pursue them all, either sequentially or simultaneously (or both). And what I found most inspiring was the way they explained the potential and importance of this “trait”!
The world today, I think, is very much favoring experts, and with good reason of course – people so interested in and great at one specific topic they know everything there is to know about it at this time. The ones you ask if you have a problem relating to that topic, the ones you want to handle that for you. But being an expert means you often have (want) to spend most or all of your time on that specific topic, giving you little time to look into other things, and therefor making it very difficult to be able to see how your expertise could benefit or revolutionize something else. That is where the multipotentialites come in!
With so many interests and pursuits in life, one can gain a lot of basic knowledge of many different things – reading up, talking to knowledgable people on the topics, maybe even the experts themselves – one can start seeing threads, connections and correlations no one else has been able to notice, because no one else has been interested enough in both, or all, the necessary topics to be able to make the connection.
Although the term multipotentialite is relatively new, being introduced in the TEDx Talk in 2015, what it describes is of course not. But it was the first time I was presented to it in a way that really made sense and deeply resonated with me. And it was definitely the first time I was presented with it in such a positive and uplifting way! But as I take it up in conversations with people, I am faced with the reality of very few of these people having come across the term, and knowing how much I feel I have benefited by it, I felt I just had to share a little introduction to it, so it might help you as well or someone you know.
Multipotentialism does of course not just relate to your work or your career, as I see with all the hobbies I ping pong between! Current ones being archery, sewing, knitting, organization, reading, simple nail art and a bit of baking maybe soon pasta making(?); overwhelmed just listing them!
Doing my mini research and update for writing this, I also noticed that they have written a book on the topic as well which I decidedly put straight on my TBR list! You can find more information on the book HERE on Goodreads. And if you’re wondering if this could be you, I implore you to go watch the TEDx talk on the link above, where you on the bottom of the page also can take a test, I saw, which we all love? Below I also found a good visualization by Tanmay Vora.
Nothing in this post is ad based or shared on any other basis than that I wanted to.
So, what about you? Had you heard of the term before, and do you think you might be one? What are some of your interests? I would love to know!
For now, have a great rest of your day, and I’ll talk to you again in a week!
Kine lovise Fredriksen 