A little less than a year ago, I signed up for B School. I’ve talked about it a ton, but if you’re not familiar with it – it’s an extremely valuable online course created by Marie Forleo on how to grow your online business.
One of the most refreshing things I learned when I signed up for B School was that I’m not alone in the multipassionate world. Growing up, all of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do, and I felt like I never had a thing.
They knew that they wanted to go into advertising, marketing, or perhaps become a doctor. Whether or not they were passionate about it, they knew.
Then there was me. I didn’t know anything. People would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I’d say….
I don’t know. I’d be happy doing a lot of things, but there’s not one thing that stands out.
I wasn’t passionate about anything that I felt I could actually do as a job. I liked art, music, and gymnastics. I ended up studying Art History in college because I loved it.
I loved the stories behind the art. I’m fascinated by the lives of artists in different periods of time because of what was going on in the world.
I didn’t really go to college to further my career and make money. I just went because that’s what I was supposed to do, and to study something that inspired me.
So, I graduated, and got a few jobs. Once college was over, I was able to learn more about myself because I had the free time to explore life and discover my interests.
I discovered that I’m passionate about health, cooking and being vegetarian. I am passionate about technology. I am passionate about entrepreneurship. I am passionate about blogging. Most of all, I’m passionate about practicing, studying, and teaching yoga, and living a spiritual life.
After college, I had huge transformations through the practice of yoga. I was so passionate about it that I signed up for an apprenticeship, and then began to travel the world to study with senior teachers. Then, I started a blog just because I wanted to share the awesomeness of yoga to the world.
For the first time I had a vision of my career, and decided I wanted to grow my blog into a business. I went to a blog conference, and got in touch with the most amazing people in the world who are still my mentors. I learned all about WordPress, hosting websites, social media, plugins, web design, and the list goes on.
All of the sudden I was passionate about all of this technology stuff, and I started a side business helping people grow their blogs. I even spoke about monetizing your blog last year at the blog conference that I originally attended!
Finally, I had found the things that bring me pure joy, and started to make money from them, but I felt like I couldn’t run two businesses on my own.
I was always told that you have to choose a niche. The last thing I wanted was to be a jack of all trades and an expert at none.
I was so confused to where I wanted my life to go at this point. Do I choose yoga or do I choose technology?
Then, I watched this awesome TED talk about multipotentialites. (It’s interchangeable with multipassionate).
Emily talks about the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up,” and how it causes anxiety.
It makes us feel like we have to have to just choose one thing, and give up everything else.
Then she said something so profound:
“While this question inspires kids to dream about what they could be. It does not inspire kids to dream about all that they can be. In fact, it does just the opposite.
When I listened to this – it made me cry. In fact, I started listening to this now, and I started tearing up again.
This is how I’ve felt most of my life. Like the world has been trying to box me up. I was resisting it, and I wondered what was wrong with me. Did I not have a purpose? How come no one understands me? Why couldn’t I find my thing?
I don’t want to be in a box again. Ever.
She said “Ask yourself where you assigned wrong or abnormal to doing many things.”
Then, it clicked! Who said that there’s not enough time in the world to be an expert at many things? Who made up the phrase jack of all trades and expert at none?
It sounds true on paper, but it’s not logical. Here’s why…..
Finding your passion is like falling in love. When you fall in love, you can’t help it. You just get this giddy excitement, this passionate energy, and you feel all lit up inside.
Finding your passion is like that too. A fire just ignites within, and you want to spend every moment totally immersed in this new found love. You can try to run from it, but why run away from the things that bring you joy?
So, the phrase jack of all trades, but expert at none just doesn’t hold up.
Of course you can be an expert at many things? duh!
I was telling my friend today that I love this life so much more than when I worked at a corporation. The last thing I want is to go to work, and then come home and sit and do nothing, and then go to work the next day. Rinse and repeat.
I love that I do a lot of things, and that I am an expert at all of them. Since I left my job to pursue my passions, I’ve learned so much, had the most amazing experiences, and made the best friends in the world.
I honestly love my life for the first time! It only took me 35 years.
This brings me to the UAP – the Unique Awesomeness Proposition. This was another B School lesson.
The unique awesomeness proposition is like finding your sweet spot. What makes you unique?
The problem is that you can’t force your UAP. You have to take the steps to move forward. Some of these things are mistakes and failures, but these have to happen for you to learn and grow. These mistakes exist, and need to be discovered.
So, get them out of the way now!
It took me exactly a year.
I felt a little burnt out running my entrepreneurship business and yoga business. I loved both of these things, but I knew there was an idea floating out there that I hadn’t discovered yet.
Then, it dawned on me that I can totally merge the two. I want to focus on creating yoga programs for entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and small business owners? Ding! Ding! Ding!
Exactly a year after I left my job, and experimented with business ideas – I finally found my sweet spot.
Yoga is a huge part of my story as an entrepreneur.
My yoga practice is the only thing that’s kept me sane as I’ve been trying to grow my business.
My yoga practice has taught me how to sift through this mess in my mind, and move forward even when I feel the fear.
My yoga practice has taught me that confusion, frustration, and falling is a part of life. I don’t mind going through the discomfort because I know this is the key to my vision becoming more clear.
The best thing is that I get to teach yoga through technology. I create youtube vidoes, podcasts, and online programs. And, I get to work with entrepreneurs helping them find their sweet spots through yoga.
So, are you a multipassionate? Have you ever struggled with finding your sweet spot, or wondered what you were going to do when you grew up?
Tell me what insights you had from this in the comments!
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