How to Thrive as a Multipassionate Creator

3 practices to commit to, so you're not pulled in all directions

I call myself a multipassionate creator.

A multipassionate creator is someone who blends their unique interests, passions, experience and skills to fully express themselves online. It’s like being a “generalist” or a person who’s “jack-of-all-trades” that society tries to stay away from.

Just like these terms, being a multipassionate creator comes with many benefits, especially in the digital era we live in.

For one, multipassionates are pretty adaptable. We know we’ll survive no matter what environment we’re in. Second, we learn fast, so we’re quick to catch up with the most current technology or trend. We know how to capitalize on that.

And lastly, we enjoy juggling multiple projects. It may not be the most efficient thing, but it’s the most enjoyable way to live life.

But like any pros and cons list, being a multipassionate creator has the following cons:

• Your attention is constantly divided into multiple things in life
• You feel like you’re never finished with your project
• You feel like you’re always following a new thing

I’ve come to accept these cons and believe that there’s nothing wrong with me. I’ll admit, it’s more challenging than the typical advice of “be a master at one thing,” but it’s also more fun.

Here are 3 simple ways to thrive as a multipassionate creator.

Define Your Magnetic North Star

Most of the time, we don’t know what the hell we’re doing in our life.

But if you think hard about it, you have a deep core desire of what you want in life. But maybe, you’re scared to let the world know. And that’s okay. It’s scary to admit something you want and be scared of failing.

So it’s easier not to try, right?

Wrong.

This core desire is your Magnetic North Star.

For example, my Magnetic North Star was to learn how to make money online for the longest time. It took me about $3,000 and a couple of months to make 0.01 on the Internet, but I did it.

I call it magnetic because all your actions and behaviours will gravitate towards it once you put it out there.

As Paulo Coehlo says in his book The Alchemist, “when you want something [in life], all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

I told myself, “I’m going to make money online, and I won’t stop until I figure it out.” It’s been just over a year, and I’ve replaced my part-time nursing income with freelancing.

Once you make $1 on the Internet, you can figure out how to make $1000.

Your Magnetic North Star will change because your desires will change. But don’t change your Magnetic North Star until you get there.

That way, you can truly reap the benefits.

How to define your north star (for any project):

1. Pick a desire you want really bad. This is a desire where you wouldn’t care if it took 5 minutes or 5 years to do.
2. Clearly state your why. Why do you care about this? Make it a strong statement that you genuinely believe.
3. Show up until your north star is fulfilled.

Separate Passion for Money and Passion for Fun

I struggled with finding my “passion” because I thought I had to make a living off my passion.

The problem was that I considered playing guitar a passion, but I wasn’t talented enough to be a guitar player, nor did I want to be one. I was always envious of talented artists and also made money doing so since they were amazing at one thing.

But as a multipassionate creator, you have to pick the passions that make you money and the passions you do for fun.

As a freelance writer, I write for money. I use my writing passion to monetize the skill. But writing on this platform is a passion for fun because no one pays me to do it. I enjoy freelancing projects, but I still prefer to write whatever I want and get paid for it.

But we live in the real world, and it doesn’t work like that.

The golden sweet spot is coming up with what you love to do (writing or making videos), and what others are willing to pay you for. Though not impossible, it’s hard to figure that out.

Until then, it has to be separate.

How to separate Passion for Money and Passion for Fun

1. List all the activities, jobs or hobbies you have in your life.
2. Separate the ones you plan to turn into a monetized hobby and those you don’t intend to.
3. If you’re unsure, try monetizing your hobby, figure out how you feel about it, and then decide.

Build Your skills Brick-by-Brick By Anchoring

Just because you have multiple interests doesn’t mean you can’t have focus.

Having a focus means that you will decide to commit to specific activities for a certain period of time. For example, in my first year of writing, I decided to focus on writing solely. I quit Instagram, stopped becoming an online coach or learning YouTube.

I only focused on writing and made that my anchor.

After six months of writing for myself, I added a new skill — freelance writing. And for the last five months, that has been my focus.

Now, I’m slowly shifting my focus to making YouTube videos to apply the skills I’ve learned with writing and freelancing.

But you see, I’m not dropping writing or freelance writing. I’m just adding another aspect since I know I can handle it. But this also means quitting Instagram or creating digital products. They seem fun, but they don’t make me feel fulfilled right now.

You have to eliminate things to make room for things that matter to you.

How to build a brick of skills:

1. Pick a skill to focus on for a specific period of time.
2. If you decide to keep the skill, figure out a way to keep doing it and how to make it intersect with all the other things going on in your life.
3. Eliminate things you don’t care about, and build on things you care about.

Final Thoughts

I don’t really like the phrase, “jack of all trades, master-of-none.”

It implies a negative connotation, when in reality, being a jack-of-all-trades is more fun and satisfying. To thrive as a multipassionate creator, you have to embrace it. You have to embrace the fact that you’re interested in many things and dare to commit to one or two projects at a time. While it will take time to know what works for you, it’s important to keep asking yourself what you care about the most.

Often, those are the few but satisfying things you need to be doing.