Steve Pavlina, Insanely Interested in Everything
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I have been doubting myself again. Thinking that maybe I am making things harder for myself than they need to be by not focusing in one thing, and by keeping too many options open. Thinking that maybe I’m just kidding myself. Maybe even kidding you guys.
But then comes personal development blogger Steve Pavlina, echoing the very message that this blog is all about: being interested in many things is not only OK, but something much bigger than that!
Something that will make you not only happier with yourself but wiser, and better aligned with your life.
Inspired by Steve’s post, I decided to share with you some of its highlights, comment on them, and then open up some discussion about the good and bad of being insanely interested in everything. I want to know the things that make us doubt ourselves and our ways of looking at the world, but also the moments that confirm that this is the right way to live.
Not only to be true to ourselves but also to make the most of this life.
But first, let’s take a short look at Steve’s post and the things that I found interesting in his post (make sure to read the full post, though, I’m not summarizing all of it here).
Trapped?
The first thing that I want to point out from Steve Pavlina’s post is this:
I don’t want to commit to any one thing for life. I don’t even like committing to just one thing for a month. I have too many interests. If I picked just one thing and let all the rest go, I wouldn’t be happy. I’d just feel trapped.
To me, that sounds like it’s possible that this state of mind, or attitude towards life, is something that is hardwired in us.
We can’t help but be interested in many things.
What I’m not sure of, though, is whether this is a characteristic common to everyone, or just some people crazy enough to find it hard to pick something and stick to it. Maybe there are people who rather pick one thing and become experts in it?
But whether there are such people or not, I believe that the first important lesson in the post is that being interested in many things is defined in our personality - maybe as a result of genes, temperament, or maybe even our upbringing.
So, if we want to be happy, we need to embrace the fact that this is who we are, by following Steve Pavlina’s example and rejecting the option of committing to one interest for life.
People Will Complain
Secondly, Steve tells us that people will complain when you can’t focus to just one thing.
That’s no news, but what inspired me is that he tells not to worry about it too much.
Sometimes, your insane interest diversity will bring you away from some of your activities. For example, you might not find the time to blog because you are busy baking bread or writing a book. That might make your readers complain, but according to John Chow, that doesn’t mean they would quit reading what you have to say.
And even more importantly, that’s a price you sometimes have to pay for being yourself:
I just accept that this happens. It’s a natural consequence of having a variety of interests.
That’s impressive, said by one of the leading personal development bloggers out there: despite his willingness to let some of his activities rest from time to time, he has been able to maintain an image of authority, expertise, and even specialization.
Which leads us to the third topic.
You Can be an Expert
In his post, Steve consistently refers to himself as an expert: a personal development expert, a professional blogger, software expert. He makes it clear that his varied interests means that when he enters a new field, he comes in as an outsider, with a different mind set from the people who have been in the field longer than him. But that doesn’t mean that he stays that way - he can well be an expert in multiple fields.
And as such, he can come up with new ideas and ways of doing things that would be overlooked by the professionals concentrating in just one field.
This is important.
I believe that this is what separates someone insanely interested in many things from a Jack of all trades. I know it’s just words, but I think it’s important to point out that when you are interested in many things, and devote your energy to becoming great in most (if not all) of them, you will be an expert of all trades.
And that, my friends, is much more valuable than being an expert in just one field.
The Engine of Innovation
During my summer vacation I have been reading an inspiring book by Frans Johansson, The Medici Effect. It’s a book about innovation, and how it happens when different interests and areas of expertise are mixed together in form of a team of experts from different sciences, or just individuals, insanely interested in everything.
This is one of the defining books on being interested in many things, so make sure to check it out.
The book can be downloaded for free in pdf format, but if you want to read it in bed before falling to sleep - like I’m doing - here’s a link to the printed book at Amazon
Let’s talk
Now, let’s talk. It’s been a while, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the big question.
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July 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Nice post Jarkko. I’ve been feeling a little of the same lately. Thinking maybe that I’m trying to do too much with my online ventures? To many sites to manage for just one person and make them all a success? And I’m planning another site…. I must be crazy. These are all things that’s crossed my mind in the last few months. My blog has really suffered as a result of my other two sites that I also manage. I don’t want to close my blog (and don’t intend to) but it seems to be increasingly more difficult to manage all three plus do all of the other extracurricular activities outside of the interweb that I love to do.
Deron Sizemore’s last blog post: Kentucky Golfing is Now Live
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I doubt myself all the time. What right do I have to profess myself as an expert in anything? Let alone, more than one thing…
I liked the way you chose the word “diversity” when describing your multiple interests. Because that’s really indicative of the advantage people who hold multiple interests have - they are diversified.
Would you want to invest all of your money in one investment? Put your eggs into one basket? Run a company that only sells one product?
It’s odd to me when people expect you to have only one expertise. It goes against everything we are taught is essential for long-term success.
Back to the first statement… Are you kidding yourself or us? Of course not. I’m an expert in multiple fields. My day job is far different than my night job (blogging, small affiliate marketing attempts). I have FAR more respect at my day job than at my night job. I begin to doubt myself because I am outgoing and don’t receive much in return sometimes… But truth be told, it took so much time to get established at my job. So success in one field doesn’t carry over to the next right away, so that can be a little frustrating. But persistence should pay off.
Although to be fair, I shouldn’t call anything I do a job. The moment I dread waking up in the morning, is the moment I realize it’s time to do something new.
Sorry for the unorganized book :) Very insightful post Jarkko!
Nimic’s last blog post: Salmonella Found On Jalapeno Peppers, But Not Mine! [Organic Gardening Update]
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I’m like you and am interested in lots of things. I have so many ideas and things I want to try that it can be hard to focus. I don’t that most people are like this. I know plenty of people that would rather be unhappy doing something they know than take the risk and make the effort to try something new.
I feel I’ve become an expert with a few things. Other things I’ve just wanted to learn a little about to satisfy my curiosity. Knowing about a lot of things really can help you come up with new ways of doing the things you really care about.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I think it’s great to have interest in many things. I see interests as seeds of achievements. Seeds of passion. Seeds of joyous adventures.
When you grab onto your interest and do what it is telling you to do - read books and learn new things, you develop a passion out of it. And it is passion that makes life worth living.
Sure there are people who can be passionate of only one thing for their whole life, but for the most of us, one thing isn’t enough. We want to experience so many things… my list of things I want to do during my life is at least 100 items long.
I sure want to do them all during my life, but I can’t do them all at once. I think the key to true success and achievement in all areas of life, is to focus on one thing at a time.
How does this apply in Internet business? I think the same rule applies here. Focus on one carefully outlined theme, a niche, at a time. Don’t spread all your interests on one website. Instead, keep the focus clear and do other sites for your other interests, one at a time.
July 25th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
@Deron: So far, all your sites have been so good and carefully crafted, that I’m sure you’re going to make the next one great too!
How much of your time do you put to each of them after launch? I guess if you can outsource some of the maintainance, you could be a “site planter” kind of person behind the web sites you like to start?
And… what’s the new project about? :)
@Nimic: Great thoughts! I agree that building expertise in a new field isn’t the easiest thing to do - and I’m far from calling myself an expert in most of my interest so far.
I guess, I can safely say that I’m somewhat of an expert in software development (althouh, with experience comes the understanding that there is always more to learn). On the field of writing, I have started my walk towards expertise (I read in GEO that writers are at their best at the age of 53 - IIRC). And then there is business, where I have so much to learn…
Something more about expertise is that it doesn’t always mean that you need to do the thing for money. One dear hobby of mine is (artisan) baking, but at least right now, while I want to learn more about fermentation, crust, and all the things related, I have no interest in becoming a pro - just an expert ;)
Thanks for the insightful comment! You made me think.
@UltraRob: Rob, I think you’re right - there are many people who are afraid to try multiple interests. But what do you think, are they happier when they stick to the one thing that they are specialized in than they would be doing multiple things? Or are they just giving up on the possibilities because they want a safe life?
And yes. I think curiosity is the very thing that drives us to find out about all these things… I just wish I had a bit more patience to go with it - so I could become an expert before moving to the next thing I want to know more about ;)
@Lauri: Yep, my list is long too - and just like Rob mentioned, the innate curiosity brings more items to the list all the time.
I agree that you need to concentrate to what you’re doing in order to get it done. But what do you think, should you concentrate fully to one interest, let’s say, for a year, and then move to the next one, or can you have multiple hats that you’re switching daily, or even more often?
I’ve been trying to go with the latter approach: during the days, I’m coding, and the rest of the time is split between a few interrelated, but still separate activities: blogging, freelance writing, affiliate marketing, building my own morning ritual product. Sometimes I work on one thing for a day, but sometimes I even switch the hat after an hour or so.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Jarkko:
How much time do I put into them after launch? Not nearly enough. ;) Here lately I’ve been getting sidetracked a lot by visiting forums, reading blogs, etc., rather than working on my sites. It’s fine to take a break every now and then, but lately it’s been to long of a break. NiceStylesheet only gets updated once a week, so not to difficult there. I do have plans to expand a little though. KentuckyGolfing gets updated at random times, usually whenever I come across some news or play a new course that I can write a review for. And you know how much my blog has been updated lately. :)
The new site will be a logo inspiration gallery, similar to that of NiceStylesheet, only for logos. Logogala.com is the site although you won’t find anything there yet.
Yeah, outsourcing some of the maintenance would be great, but not sure I could afford that financially. I’ll just have to play it by ear and see what happens I guess.
Deron Sizemore’s last blog post: Kentucky Golfing is Now Live
August 7th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
The Medici Effect is worth reading indeed