How to Find Myself as a Generalist: A Practical Guide to Self-Discovery

How do you find yourself when you're not one thing? It's a question I've asked myself many times, and that I hear clients talk about often. What I've learned over the years is that it's the real question behind self-discovery for a generalist, and it's not a question you answer once and then know for sure for the rest of your life. For most people I coach, and for me, it's a question that resurfaces, usually right when a lot is already changing. A business changes direction. A relationship falls apart. A role you built your whole career around suddenly isn't there anymore. And underneath the practical scramble, a question shows up: "Wait, who actually am I, once this thing I was doing no longer works for me?"

I'm Murielle Marie, career and business coach, entrepreneur, and creative generalist. I've built and rebuilt several ventures over the years (my coaching practice, Coachmila, Nuumani, and a few others), and every single time something big shifted, I had to go looking for myself again beneath whatever had just changed. If you're in that place right now, sitting with the "who am I really" question because your life looks different than it did a year ago, this one's for you.

What Self-Discovery Actually Means (It's Not a Personality Quiz)

Self-discovery means getting honest with yourself (I know!). It means gathering truthful, and often unconscious, information about who you are, what you value, and what you actually want, rather than operating on inherited assumptions or an outdated version of yourself. It's not a sixteen-question quiz that hands you a four-letter type and calls it done. As a side note, if you want a real starting point instead of a quiz, naming your actual values is a better first move, which is exactly what my Identify Your Five Core Values guide walks you through.

A recent Psychology Today piece on identity makes a point I wish more people heard early: you don't have to choose just one version of yourself, and trying to collapse a complex, multi-sided identity into a single tidy label is often where the anxiety comes from in the first place, not from having "too many" sides. Self-discovery isn't about finding the one true you. It's about gaining insight into all the "yous" that are already there.

For multi-passionate people specifically, this gets complicated fast. You're not discovering one self, you're managing several: the coach-you, the founder-you, the person who still wants to learn genealogy or tap dancing on a random Tuesday night. Self-discovery, for us, is less "find yourself" and more "check in with all the selves you're running at once and see if they're still telling the truth." If you've ever looked for a word for this and landed on multipotentialite (or creative generalist, as I like to say), this is exactly the kind of complexity that word is trying to describe.

Why It Feels Harder When You Have Ten Interests Instead of One

If self-discovery already sounds hard, multiply it by however many things currently have your attention. Research on multiple identity construction, including a 2026 study in Personnel Psychology, looks at how people build and hold several identities at once, at work and outside it, and how those identities interact rather than sitting in separate boxes. That's the reality for a lot of us: the coach identity, the founder identity, and the "person who makes her own soil from kitchen scraps" identity aren't separate; they're all in the same person, at the same time, sometimes (read: often) pulling in different directions.

A single-focus person (or specialist) can ask "who am I" and get one answer that mostly holds true. A multi-passionate person asks the same question and gets a small crowd talking back. That's not a flaw in how you're built. It's just a different way of being in the world.

I have that conversation with myself very often, and with clients on a daily basis, especially when something changes. Coachmila reaches a new stage, or a client relationship shifts, or I finish a big chunk of work and suddenly have room again, and there it is: the same old question, back for another round. It stopped surprising me a long time ago. I know it’s part of how I’m put together. What changed is how I handle it when it shows up.

The Practice That Actually Helps Me (Not a Framework, but a Ritual)

When I need to find myself again underneath everything pulling at me, I visualize myself lying in a grass field on a mountain in the Alps. Warm summer air, a breeze moving through, a valley stretched out in the distance (maybe I’m called Heidi in that scene, who knows 😄). I lie down on the grass and breathe. Then I ask myself three things: “Who am I?” “What do I need in this moment?” “If all there is is this, who is it that I want to be?”

There's a reason this works better than just thinking the question at my desk. Visualizing natural scenes - that is, simply imagining a natural environment, even without physically being there - has a measurable stress-reducing effect. Your body doesn't fully distinguish between an imagined mountainside and a real one; it downshifts either way. Stripping away the noise of whatever role I'm currently performing, even just in my head, allows the answer to surface instead.

I don't get a different answer every time, and that's the point. Some days the answer is small (I need rest, I need quiet, I need to close my laptop). Other days it's bigger (I need to let go of a version of this business I've been forcing). Either way, the practice isn't about landing on one permanent Answer with a capital A. It's a reset button I can press whenever the noise from all my different roles gets loud enough to drown out the person underneath them, aka moi.

This visualization is an important part of how I stay true to myself and uncover who I am becoming as I keep moving through the world. Here are a few others: morning journaling, working with my own coaches, meditation for the occasional intuitive hit, plain old writing, therapy when I need it, a little bit of Gaulish and Celtic divination here and there. Self-discovery isn't a single technique done perfectly; it's a handful of ordinary practices used together, revisited whenever life changes again.

Self-Discovery Is a Practice, Not a Destination

If you're waiting to arrive at a finished, permanent answer to "who am I," I want to save you some time: that's not how this works, especially for multi-passionate people. The goal isn't a fixed identity you find once. It's a reliable way to check back in with yourself whenever you need it.

Understanding the difference matters because it changes what "success" looks like for this. Success isn't "I finally figured out who I am and now I'm done." Success is "I have a practice I trust, and I use it whenever things shift." One is a finish line that keeps moving further away every time you get close (frustrating, believe me, I know). The other is a skill you actually get better at with use (much more useful, wouldn’t you say?).

A Simple Self-Discovery Check-In You Can Borrow

You don't need the Alps. You need somewhere quiet enough to hear yourself think, and about five real honest minutes. Try this:

1. Pick a place, real or imagined, where you feel completely at ease. It doesn't have to be a mountain, a beach, your childhood bedroom; even a specific chair will work.

2. Put yourself there fully. What do you see, hear, feel on your skin?

3. Breathe slowly, for longer than feels necessary.

4. Ask: who am I, underneath what I'm currently doing?

5. Ask: what do I actually need right now?

6. Ask: if all there is is this moment, who is it that I want to be?

7. Don't rush to answer. Let whatever comes up, come up, even if it's smaller or messier than you expected.

Do this whenever something shifts - a new chapter, a loss, a success that somehow still leaves you unsettled - and you'll build the same kind of practice I lean on. It gets easier and more deeply honest each time you use it.

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Common Questions About How to Find Yourself

How do I find myself when I'm a generalist with too many interests?

Start by dropping the assumption that finding yourself means narrowing down to one label. As a generalist, you're not discovering one self; you're checking in with several active ones at once: your coaching self, your creative self, your caretaking self, and so on, and noticing which one needs attention or has quietly gone stale. A repeatable grounding practice (see the check-in above) works better here than a single big realization.

What is self-discovery?

Self-discovery is the ongoing process of learning who you actually are, what you value, and what you want, based on current, honest reflection rather than old assumptions, inherited roles, or a label you picked up once and never revisited. For multi-passionate people, it usually means checking in with several active identities at once rather than settling on a single one.

What does self-discovery mean for someone with a lot of different interests?

It means the process is less about narrowing down to one "true self" and more about staying current with all the different parts of you that are genuinely active at the same time, your coaching self, your creative self, your caretaking self, and so on, and noticing when one of them needs attention or has quietly gone stale.

How do you go on a self-discovery journey?

Start with a repeatable practice rather than a single big insight. A grounding ritual (a visualization, a journaling habit, a regular check-in question) that you return to whenever life shifts works better than waiting for one dramatic realization to sort everything out permanently. Revisit it every time something changes - a new venture, a loss, a role ending - rather than treating self-discovery as something you finish.

Is self-discovery the same as finding your purpose?

Related, but not identical. Purpose is usually about what you do; self-discovery is about who you are underneath what you do. You can be clear on purpose and still lose touch with yourself in it, which is often exactly when the "who am I" question resurfaces most strongly.

Ready to Get Reacquainted With Yourself?

If the version of yourself you're currently performing doesn't quite match who's underneath anymore, you're not behind, and you're not the only one. This is one of the most common places multi-passionate people get stuck: not a lack of ambition, but a gap between the roles they're playing and the person they actually are inside them.

A single coaching conversation can help you close that gap faster than another solo journaling session ever will, someone reflecting back what's actually true, instead of what you've been assuming. Book a free session and let's find the real you underneath everything you're currently juggling.

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What Should I Do With My Life? An Honest Answer for Multi-Passionate People

"What should I do with my life?" isn’t really a question. It's an identity crisis, a mystical expedition, a demand for the entire rest of your existence to resolve itself into one sentence, and it usually shows up at 2 am, or in the shower, or right after a fight with your boss or launch that should have gone much better than it did. You type it into Google like it's a thing you can find, not a life you have to live. Of course, nothing that comes back actually answers it, because the question itself focuses on the wrong thing.

I didn't actually ask myself this question correctly for most of my adult life, I just kept answering it with whatever was already expected of me. I spent 15 years as an entrepreneur in tech, started and grew and sold companies, and from the outside it looked like a real success story. On the inside, I didn't love most of what I was doing. I was exhausted, always on edge, and the moment I hit one milestone I was already onto the next one, judging myself for not doing it better. I was living out other people's dreams I'd never actually chosen for myself.

Then in 2010, my parents died five weeks apart. That kind of loss just stops you in your tracks - full stop. I lost my entire sense of purpose, and for the first time in my life I didn't know who I was or what I wanted, because I'd never had to ask before, life had just kept handing me the next expected thing. What surfaced, uninvited, was the real question underneath all of it: why had I put off doing the things I actually wanted to do for so long, and why was I living a life I didn’t even like?

That question took real work to answer, unlearning old messages about what I was supposed to want, untangling what was actually mine from what I'd just absorbed as expected, and rebuilding from there. I've coached creative generalists and multipotentialites, or really, anyone who's never been able to fit inside one job title, through their own version of this exact question for over 10 years since. The kicker? "What should I do with my life?" won’t give you the answers you’re looking for; it’s simply the wrong question to ask.

Why "What Should I Do With My Life?" Feels Impossible to Answer

It feels impossible because it's built like a single, forever decision, and for multi-passionate people specifically, there isn't one true calling sitting around waiting to be discovered. You're not failing a test that has a right answer. You're trying to solve a life-sized problem with a search-bar-sized question.

A 2026 study in Royal Society Open Science, surveying 462 emerging adults, found that higher future anxiety was consistently linked to greater career decision-making difficulty, across every domain researchers measured, lack of readiness, lack of information, and inconsistent information alike. Psychological courage worked in the opposite direction: people who scored higher on it had meaningfully lower odds of landing in the moderate or high-difficulty groups. The research says career indecision isn't mainly an information problem. It's an anxiety-management problem disguised in an information problem's clothes.

Most advice about what you should do with your life assumes you're missing data: a personality test, a quiz, a list of high-paying jobs. You've probably already tried a few of those. You'll also see the claim floating around that the average person changes careers three to seven times in a lifetime. It gets repeated everywhere, but nobody can actually trace it back to a real dataset, so take it for what it is: a number people find comforting, not a verified fact. What the actual research says, though, is this: your fear about getting it wrong is doing more damage to your decision-making than your lack of options ever could.

You're Not Indecisive. You're Multi-Passionate.

You're probably not struggling to figure out what you should do with your life because you can't find the one thing you’re meant to be doing. But that’s the thing. You're struggling because you're trying to pick one thing when you were never a one-thing person to begin with. If you've never heard the word "multipotentialite," or you've just never been able to pick one lane, this is worth reading first, because it changes how this question lands for you.

My stance on this, after a decade of coaching people through it, is combine, not choose. You don't have to pick the one true calling and abandon everything else. You go deep on something, and either you move on for a while, or you circle back to it later, sometimes both, and that's not a lack of discipline; that's just how a multi-passionate life actually moves. "What should I do with my life?" assumes a single answer. You might without any doubt need three or four, held at once or in sequence.

The Question That Actually Works

Here's the reframe I give clients who bring me this exact question: we go from "what should I do with my life" to "what do I want my life to feel like?" One is the search for a job title. The other is the search for a felt sense you can actually test against real decisions. It's also the question that eventually replaced the old one for me, once I stopped trying to answer it with whatever looked right on paper and started paying attention to what I actually wanted to feel.

This isn't just a nicer-sounding question either, it’s where more and more people are already heading. Inc.com covered a real shift in Google Trends data recently: Google data editor Simon Rogers found that "careers that pay well" used to be one of the most consistently top-searched career queries, and it's been overtaken by searches oriented around meaning instead of compensation. People are asking the internet, late at night, what a good job actually feels like, the meaning it can give to their lives, not just what it pays. Separate 2025 research on values-based career decisions backs this up from the outcomes side: people whose career choices are anchored in their actual values, not just external markers like salary or title, report higher job satisfaction, better decision-making, and lower burnout risk down the line.

Feeling isn't the soft, unserious version of this question. It's the more accurate one. "What should I do with my life?" has no answer because a life isn't a single decision. "What do I want my life to feel like?" has an answer, because a feeling is something you can name, test, and build toward on purpose.

A 4-Step Way to Actually Answer It

1. Name the feeling before you name the job. Not "what job" but "what does a good Tuesday actually feel like?" Energized, or calm? Around people, or alone? Building something new, or finishing something that already exists? Write down three feelings instead of three job titles.

2. Audit what already gives you that feeling, even in the parts of your life you don't count. Look at your hobbies, your side projects, the volunteer thing you keep saying yes to, the parts of your current job you'd do for free. Multi-passionate people usually already have the answer scattered across their actual life, they just haven't been looking there because they've been looking for a job title instead.

3. Test small before you commit big. You don't need to quit anything to find out if a direction feels right. In fact, I prefer it if you didn’t. A portfolio-career approach, a few hours a week, a small project with an actual deadline, tells you more in a month than another personality quiz will tell you in a year.

4. Revisit the question on purpose, not in a panic. This is the part almost nobody does. Put a real date on the calendar, every few months, to ask "does this still feel right," before a layoff or a burnout or a birthday forces the question on you. Multi-passionate people who build in a regular check-in stop experiencing wondering what they should do with their life as a crisis and start experiencing it as maintenance.

If you want a more structured version of this same process, the How to Get Unstuck guide walks through it step by step.

[H2] What If You're Multi-Passionate and It's Making This Harder, Not Easier?

Sometimes the problem isn't a lack of direction, it's too many real directions at once, and that comes with its own specific trap: trying to niche your whole identity down to one message instead of letting each interest or project have its own smaller niche underneath a bigger umbrella. If that's closer to your actual problem, how to find your niche without picking one lane for your entire self goes deeper into exactly that distinction.

And if questioning what you should do with your life showed up recently because something disrupted the identity you'd built around your old answer - a layoff, a role change, a long quiet stretch - that's a slightly different question with its own answer: what's actually happening when your career becomes your whole identity.

I see this constantly in my coaching practice: the client isn't actually stuck for lack of options. They have too many real ones and no structure for choosing between them without treating every choice like it's permanent. Once you stop looking for the one right answer and start building a way to test and revisit smaller ones, the whole question gets a lot less frightening.

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Common Questions About What Should I Do With My Life

Is there a quiz that tells you what to do with your life?

Not one you can trust. Personality and career quizzes can be a fun starting point, but they're built to sort you into a fixed category, and multi-passionate people don't sort cleanly into one box. Instead of a quiz, use the "name the feeling, not the job" exercise above; it does the same job a quiz promises to do, except it's built around who you actually are instead of a generic sorting algorithm.

What should I do with my life, career-wise, if I have too many options?

Stop treating "too many options" as the problem and start treating it as raw material. The fix isn't narrowing down to one option through willpower, it's testing a few small versions of your top options at once, in low-stakes ways, so real data replaces the anxiety of choosing blind. See the 4-step framework above.

What should I do with my life at 40 (or after a big life change)?

The question doesn't get easier or harder at 40, it usually just gets louder, because there's more life behind you to compare against and, often, less patience for a wrong turn. The process is the same one outlined above: name the feeling you're actually chasing, look at what already gives you that feeling, test small, and revisit on purpose. Age changes the stakes you feel, not the mechanism that actually works.

What if I do all of this and still don't know?

That usually means the anxiety, not the lack of information, is still running the show. Per the Royal Society Open Science research above, career indecision is often less about missing facts and more about the fear of getting it wrong. If you've done the exercises and you're still stuck, that's less "try another framework" and more "get a second set of eyes to help you separate the real question from the fear," which is exactly what career coaching is for.

Still stuck on what should I do with my life?

Reading a framework and actually applying it to your own tangled, multi-passionate life are two different things, especially when the question has been sitting there unanswered for a while. A second set of eyes cuts through the noise faster than another quiz or another list of "dream jobs" ever will.

Book a free 20-minute coaching clarity call, and let's actually work through what "what should I do with my life" is actually asking underneath. No pressure, no sales pitch, just a real conversation about your next right-sized step.

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Or if you're not ready for a call yet, grab the free How to Get Unstuck guide for a structured way to start naming the feeling you're actually chasing.

What Is a Multipotentialite? (And Are You One?)

About ten years ago, I was at the World Domination Summit in Portland, one of my favorite gatherings of unconventional thinkers, when I met Emilie Wapnick, who was doing research for a book. We talked for a while. I didn't know it at the time, but that conversation would become one of the small but significant moments that helped me understand my own life differently.

Emilie was exploring an idea while I was coming to my own conclusion about the same thing: that some people don't have one true calling. That, for certain people, the relentless cultural pressure to "find your thing" and commit to it completely isn't just unhelpful. It's a misdiagnosis of how they're built. Her work eventually gave rise to the concept of the multipotentialite (what I call a creative generalist).

I had always been a generalist. I got interested in things, went deep, then moved on. I started things and didn't finish them, not because I was flaky, but because once I'd learned what I came to learn, the pull toward the next thing was real and strong. If you've ever felt this way and wondered what was wrong with you, keep reading. Because nothing is wrong with you.

What Is a Multipotentialite?

A multipotentialite is someone with many different interests, creative pursuits, and deep curiosities, and no single calling.

The term was popularised by Emilie, whose 2015 TED Talk "Why some of us don't have one true calling" has been viewed over 9 million times. It describes multipotentialites as people who thrive on variety, mastery across multiple domains, and (crucially) the connections they can make between seemingly unrelated fields.

You might also know the related terms: generalist, scanner (Barbara Sher's term from Refuse to Choose), polymath, renaissance person, multi-passionate. They all point at the same pattern: someone whose mind doesn't settle into one lane and stay there.

If you identify more with the term "generalist," you might want to take the generalist quiz here.

This is not a personality flaw. It is a personality type. And it comes with real strengths that the specialist model consistently undervalues.

Signs You Might Be a Multipotentialite

Not everyone with varied interests is a multipotentialite. The distinction is in the depth and the pattern.

You might be one if:

• You go deep, not just wide.

You don't dabble, you dive. You become skilled at things before moving on. The boredom sets in after the mastery begins, not before.

• You get restless once you've learned something.

The initial challenge is what lights you up. Once it becomes routine, the pull toward something new is almost physical. I know this feeling well. It used to make me feel like something was deeply wrong with me. Now I understand it as information.

• You make connections that other people miss.

You'll read something about psychology and immediately apply it to business. You'll see a pattern in one field that no one in another field is talking about yet. This is one of the multipotentialite's real superpowers.

• Your career history looks chaotic on paper, but it makes complete sense to you.

Each change was real. Each direction was real. It just doesn't fit on a linear CV. If this resonates, you might also recognize yourself in The Multi-Passionate Mind: When Quitting Means You're Done.

• You've been told, more than once, to just pick one thing.

And every time, it felt less like advice and more like being asked to amputate something.

• You've spent years wondering what was wrong with you.

If perfectionism and the inner critic are also part of your picture, that's not a coincidence. Many multipotentialites carry both.

The Generalist Underneath the Multipotentialite

I've always thought of myself as a generalist first. The word "multipotentialite" gave me a richer framework, but "generalist" is the older, simpler version of the same truth.

Generalists are people who move across domains, building broad knowledge, transferable skills, and the ability to synthesize across fields. In a world that increasingly rewards specialization, generalists are often told they need to narrow down. What they're rarely told is that their breadth is an asset, not a liability.

The problem I ran into, and that most generalists and multipotentialites eventually run into, is the cultural myth that choosing one thing is the mature, serious, adult version of a life. That is, until you specialize, you haven't really decided anything.

I spent years trying to fit that mold. Trying to choose one lane and stay in it. It never worked, and eventually I stopped trying. That decision, to stop apologizing for how my mind works and start designing my life around it instead, was one of the most important pivots I've made.

The Multipotentialite and Business: A Different Model

Here's something I want to say directly, because it changed how I think about my work: with the tools available now (especially AI), you can start and run multiple businesses. You don't have to choose one thing professionally any more than you have to choose one interest personally.

But, and this matters, you do have to focus on one at a time, in any given moment. Multipotentialites often confuse "I can do multiple things" with "I should do multiple things simultaneously." They're not the same.

The clearest version of this insight I've ever articulated: if you're a coach who wants three completely different types of clients, you don't have one coaching business. You have three businesses, each with its own ideal client. Understanding that distinction is powerful because it stops you from trying to market to everyone and confusing yourself and your audience in the process.

Niching down isn't about abandoning your multidimensionality. It's about being clear, in each business, about who you're serving.

How to Succeed as a Multipotentialite

The conventional career advice (specialize, niche down, pick a lane) works well for people who are built that way. For multipotentialites, following it tends to produce a life that fits like someone else's clothes. Functional, technically. Chronically uncomfortable.

Here's what tends to work better:

• Design a portfolio career.

A portfolio career means having multiple income streams, roles, or projects that together constitute your professional life. It's how many multipotentialites make their varied interests sustainable, not by choosing between them, but by building a structure that holds them all. 15 Dream Jobs for Creative Generalists is a good place to start if you're figuring out what that could look like for you.

• Let your learning agility be the asset.

You don't have to master one subject forever. You can master the process of mastering things, the ability to learn fast, synthesize across fields, and bring a fresh perspective to any room you enter. That is rare and valuable.

• Stop explaining yourself to specialists.

Most friction multipotentialites experience comes from trying to justify their path to people who don't share their wiring. You don't need their approval. You need a framework that fits you, and permission to build one.

Am I a Multipotentialite? (Quick Self-Check)

Three clearest signs:

1. You've been deeply interested in at least five different areas in your life, not variations on a theme, but actually different things.

2. Each time you followed one, it was real. You weren't avoiding commitment. You were fully in (yet, perhaps, already missing something else).

3. You've wondered, more than once, whether something is wrong with you because you can't commit to just one thing, even though you're clearly capable, driven, and passionate.

If those resonate, you're not broken. You're probably a multipotentialite.

And if you're ready to start building a career structure that fits how you're actually wired, the Portfolio Career Starter Kit is where to begin.

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Common Questions About Multipotentialites

What is a multipotentialite?

A multipotentialite is someone with many genuine interests, passions, and creative pursuits, and no single calling. The term was popularised by Emilie Wapnick and describes people who thrive through variety, cross-domain thinking, and mastery across multiple fields.

Am I a multipotentialite?

You might be if you go deep into multiple actually different interests, feel restless after mastering something, make unexpected connections across fields, and have been told to "just pick one thing" more times than you can count.

What is the difference between a multipotentialite and a generalist?

They overlap significantly. "Generalist" describes someone who builds broad knowledge across domains rather than deep expertise in one. "Multipotentialite" adds the dimension of multiple genuine callings, not just broad knowledge, but multiple real passions. Most multipotentialites are generalists, but not all generalists identify with having multiple callings.

How to succeed as a multipotentialite?

Build a portfolio career with multiple streams, roles, or projects that hold your varied interests. Let your ability to learn quickly and synthesize across fields be your core professional asset. And be clear, in each venture, about who specifically you're serving.

Is being a multipotentialite a real thing?

Yes, as a well-documented cognitive and motivational pattern. It's not a clinical diagnosis, but it describes a recognizable group of people who learn across domains, find single-track careers deeply unsatisfying, and produce their best work at the intersection of multiple fields.

Why Creative Generalists Get Bored (And How to Fix It)

Do you pick up new skills with surprising speed, only to lose interest once you feel you've mastered them? Do you have a graveyard of projects, some almost finished, that you just can’t bring yourself to complete? If this sounds familiar, you might be a creative generalist - also known as a multipotentialite, polymath, or scanner. And that feeling of recurring boredom isn't a character flaw; it's a sign that something needs to change.

For years, I’ve worked with brilliant creatives and entrepreneurs who felt stuck, anxious, and deeply frustrated. In my coaching practice, they told me over and over again how they believed something was wrong with them because they couldn't just "pick one thing" and stick with it. The truth is, their unique brain wiring simply didn't match a world that glorifies specialization.

If you feel seen right now, welcome! This post is for you. We’ll explore why your mind works this way, why boredom is an inevitable part of your process, and how you can shift your mindset to not just cope, but to truly thrive.

The Generalist's Dilemma: Rapid Learning, Rapid Boredom

The core of the generalist experience is the speed of learning and an insatiable hunger for knowledge. You're wired to absorb information, connect random ideas, and reach a level of competency faster than most. This is your superpower. But it comes with a catch. For you, the thrill is in the challenge, not in the outcome. The steep learning curve, the problem-solving, the act of figuring it out. The chase is so much better than the catch.

Once you’ve cracked the code and the initial challenge fades, boredom sets in. It’s not because you're flaky or lack discipline. It’s because the intellectual stimulation that got you all excited and ready to go in the morning is gone. You’ve conquered the mountain and your eyes are already scanning the horizon for the next, more interesting peak.

This cycle often clashes with societal expectations. We're told that success means deep specialization and a linear career path. When your path looks more like a web of interconnected interests, it can lead to anxiety and a feeling of being perpetually stuck. You might wonder if you'll ever finish anything or build something of lasting value.

When There Is No Creative Variety

Think of boredom as a signal. It’s your mind telling you that the container you’re in has become too small - there is no creative variety to your life or work. You’ve outgrown the role, the project, or the hobby. It’s time for a new challenge, a new problem to solve, a new world to explore.

Honoring this need for variety is not a weakness; it is essential to your well-being and success. Trying to force yourself into a specialist's box is like trying to convince a bird to live underwater. It goes against your very nature. When you feel that familiar restlessness, don't suppress it. Instead, ask yourself: What new knowledge am I yearning for? What problem would I like to solve?

Embracing this cycle allows you to build a unique and powerful toolkit. Each skill you acquire, each subject you master, to the level you believe is enough, becomes another tool you can use to solve problems in creative and unexpected ways.

The Overwhelm of Infinite Ideas

A direct consequence of your wide-ranging curiosity is a constant, overwhelming flood of ideas. Your brain is a powerful ideation machine, always making new connections. You might see a documentary on urban farming and immediately sketch out a business plan for a vertical garden startup. The next day, you’re drafting a screenplay inspired by a biography you read. And the day after, you're connecting that play with your garden.

This can feel less like a gift and more like a burden. How do you choose? How do you focus when every idea feels exciting and full of potential? This is where many generalists get stuck - and precisely where I come in to help them. The sheer volume of possibilities leads to inaction.

Worse, it contributes to a graveyard of unfinished projects. Your hard drive is likely filled with half-written novels, business plans that are 95% complete, and countless other brilliant concepts that were abandoned just before the finish line. This happens because the most stimulating part - the creation and problem-solving - is over. All that’s left is the less exciting work of finalizing, polishing, and shipping (not our forte as generalists, believe me, I know).

Strategies to Overcome Boredom and Get Unstuck

You don't need to change who you are; you need to build systems and mindsets that work with your nature, not against it.

1. Reframe What "Finished" Means

You don't have to complete every project in the traditional sense. Redefine "done" for yourself. Maybe "done" for a new hobby is learning until you feel proficient. Maybe "done" for a business idea is creating a detailed plan that you can file away for later. Give yourself permission to move on once you've extracted the value you needed: the learning, the experience, the excitement. Not every seed you plant needs to become a towering tree.

2. Design a Portfolio Career

Instead of trying to find the "one perfect job," build a career with variety built in. This could look like:

• A "Good Enough" Job and Passion Projects: Have a stable job that funds your life and leaves you with the mental and emotional energy to pursue your myriad interests on the side.

• The Slash/Slash Model: Embrace being a consultant/writer/developer. Juggle a few part-time roles or freelance gigs that tap into different parts of your brain.

• An Umbrella Business: Create a business with a broad mission that allows you to explore different projects under one roof. My work as a coach and startup mentor, for instance, lets me dive into everything from tech and AI to philosophy and entrepreneurship.

3. Use a Project Incubator System

Don't let good ideas overwhelm you or disappear. Create a system to capture and incubate them. This could be a notebook, a Trello board, or a folder on your computer. When a new idea strikes, write it down with enough detail to remember it. Then, let it sit. Revisit your incubator periodically. Some ideas will have lost their shine, while others will ignite a new spark of excitement. This allows you to pursue ideas with intention rather than impulse.

4. Find Your Glue - Your Meta-Skill

Look across all your seemingly random interests. What is the common thread? Perhaps you are drawn to storytelling, which manifests as writing, marketing, and filmmaking. Maybe you love building systems, which you've applied to coding, project management, and even gardening. Identifying this underlying "glue" or "meta-skill" can provide a powerful sense of purpose and direction, helping you frame your many different experiences into a cohesive whole.

Your Variety Is Your Magic

It’s time to stop seeing your innate curiosity as a problem. It's your greatest asset. In a world that is constantly changing, it is the generalists - the creative, adaptable problem-solvers - who are best equipped to navigate the future. Your ability to learn quickly, connect seemingly unconnected ideas, and pivot is not just valuable; it's a form of magic.

So often in my coaching practice, I see creative minds who are tired of feeling “too much, ”too scattered, too restless, too unconventional. Here’s the truth: you’re not too much. You've just been misdiagnosed. And you're not alone on this journey.

Accept and enjoy your need for intellectual stimulation. Celebrate the flow and happiness of the learning curve. Build a life that has enough room for all of your passions to breathe. When you stop fighting your nature and start working with it, you will unlock a level of creativity and fulfillment you never thought possible.

I believe in you!

Ready to break free from the multi-passionate boredom loop?

Are you tired of feeling uninspired, stuck, or misunderstood as a creative generalist? I get it. You crave variety, new challenges, and meaningful growth. My coaching is dedicated to helping creative professionals like you find the clarity, confidence, and momentum you need.

Imagine a career and life built around your strengths – a portfolio of passions that truly inspire you. You’ll gain personalized support, insights, and strategies to conquer boredom and transform your generalist wiring into your ultimate superpower. Curious about what's possible?

Schedule your free session!

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a creative generalist?

  A creative generalist is someone who thrives on learning new things, has a wide range of interests, and excels at connecting ideas across different fields. If you lose interest after mastering something or constantly crave new challenges, you might be a generalist.

• How do I know if I’m a multipotentialite?

  You may be a multipotentialite if you resist choosing a single specialty, are energized by variety, and accumulate many projects or skills over time. It’s about embracing the value of having multiple interests.

• Why do generalists get bored quickly?

  Generalists tend to learn rapidly. Once the initial challenge wears off and they feel competent, the excitement fades. Boredom is a sign that you need a new intellectual adventure - not a flaw.

• Is being a generalist bad for your career?

  Not at all. In fact, generalists are highly adaptable and creative problem-solvers. The key is designing a career path that honors your need for variety, such as a portfolio career or a combination of roles that stimulate you.

• How can generalists finish more projects?

  Redefine what “finished” means to you, incubate your ideas, and seek out your meta-skills that tie your projects together. And don’t hesitate to reach out for support, my coaching practice specializes in helping generalists set meaningful goals and find focus.

• How do I manage too many ideas?

  Use an idea incubator system (notebook, Trello, digital folder) to capture ideas, review them periodically, and pursue only those that reignite your passion and align with your core interests.

• What’s a portfolio career?

  A portfolio career blends several roles, projects, or interests rather than focusing on just one path, making it perfect for those who crave variety and lifelong learning, like generalists or multi-passionate creators.

Generalists Are Poor, Specialists Are Rich - Not Anymore!

I came across this quote recently, and as a generalist who supports other generalists to become financially free, you can imagine how it stopped me in my tracks!

"Generalists are poor, specialists are rich. The family MD gets by while the surgeon is wealthy."

It’s a little phrase, but in my experience, even though it's a far-fetched myth, it can make any generalist feel bad.

For a long time, I felt out of place, juggling multiple interests and thriving in diverse areas rather than focusing on just one thing. People often told me I needed to specialize, that I started so many things, but hardly ever finished anything. But the more I lived, the more I realized that being a generalist is my biggest strength. My curiosity and wide skill set didn’t just fit into a single box - they built bridges between them.

And here’s the thing, the rapid growth of Tech and AI is making space for talents like ours. Renaissance people - those who see connections others miss - are leading innovation. We adapt quickly, think more creatively, and offer insights specialists may overlook. We’re no longer “jack of all trades, master of none”; we’re the missing piece that drives change.

Being a generalist means adopting powerful AI tools much faster than anyone else, amplifying our already impressive versatility and problem-solving skills. Click here to read more about my current favorites and how I use them:

• ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude: These LLMs provide instant insights and help me adapt to emerging trends. I love the new OpenAI Agent for research and lists, Gemini for document summaries, picture generation, and emails, and Claude for deep research.

• Jasper.ai: Streamline content creation with AI-powered efficiency. Their recent updates make them my go-to for anything content-related.

• Motionapp.com: Uses AI to optimize your schedule for project management. Efficient, even though - fair warning - sometimes a bit too rigid for a generalist like me.

• Runwayml.com: Revolutionizes creative work with generative AI.

• Adzviser.com: Embraces AI technology to revolutionize digital advertising, empowering businesses to craft more effective ad campaigns, target the right audiences, and maximize ROI.

• Gemini.com Gems: An AI cross-functional team that empowers you to achieve more than you thought possible.

• HeyGen.com: Redefines storytelling with AI-generated videos, enabling users to create engaging, high-quality content effortlessly.

• ElevenLabs.io: Transforms the way we interact with audio through advanced AI-driven voice technology, giving creators the tools to generate realistic, dynamic voiceovers and push the boundaries of audio storytelling.

• NotebookLM.google: I love the custom podcasts and summaries I can create from information and knowledge I provide, making information more accessible and digestible for on-the-go learners.

• n8n.io: My new passion, an open-source automation platform that puts the power back in your hands. With n8n, you’re not just automating tasks - you’re building a powerful AI agentic workflow that reflects your vision, your ideas, and your unique needs.

• Lovable.dev: THE vibe coding app that I use to build coachmila.ai. Talking about my new AI coach, try it out here: coachmila.ai/free-ai-life-coach-mila

It’s not just about the technology - it’s about the courage to take that first step in embodying your creative generalist nature, trusting your instincts, and believing in the value you bring to the table.

Every challenge is an opportunity to grow, to innovate, and to push boundaries. Remember, you have what it takes to create something extraordinary - so start now, and see where your unique talents and interests can take you.

Let's redefine what it means to be a generalist - and why the world desperately needs us.

Here’s to owning your beautiful mix of skills,
Murielle

Featured image representing a diverse group of creative generalists, generated using AI by Google Gemini.

Are You Ready to Thrive as a Creative Generalist?

Imagine what you could achieve if you embraced the power of your many skills, unique perspective, and the potential of AI. The world is waiting for the ideas only you can bring to life - now with the support of innovative technology.

Whether you're navigating a complex challenge or striving to realize your next big vision, having the right partner can make all the difference. That's where I come in - I specialize in helping multi-passionate individuals like you turn their talents and many interests into superpowers.

Schedule your free session!

Building Your Creative Income: 7 Practical Steps for Financial Freedom with a Portfolio Career.

Even though the days of job security and one job for life are long gone, the idea of it being replaced by a career solely focused on one area of expertise is also becoming outdated. Especially with the rise of the gig economy, more and more people are turning to portfolio careers to build their creative income. A portfolio career means having multiple sources of income, often in different industries or areas of work, rather than relying on one full-time job.

For many creatives, especially generalists, this type of career may already be familiar - working on freelance projects while having a part-time job or taking on various side gigs. But with careful planning and deliberate action, a portfolio career can be a sustainable and fulfilling way to build your creative income and achieve financial freedom while doing work you love!

In this article, I share insights from working with creatives (for a decade now!) on how to create a portfolio career that works for you. I hope it will inspire you to follow your career dreams and embrace the opportunities that come from having a portfolio career.

Embrace your unique generalist nature

As a creative generalist or someone with many interests and passions, the traditional linear career path with a single job and source of income often leads to bore-out, especially if your talents are being underutilized (which they usually are). Instead, a portfolio career combines multiple income streams aligned with your passions, interests, talents, and skills. That's the amazing part! But, however exciting this approach can be, it often feels financially precarious.

Many of my clients have expressed concerns about financial stability while pursuing their creative endeavors, a recurring theme when onboarding new coaching clients. They might feel like they don't have their "shit together." Or they might have innovative business ideas they're unsure how to market, like this wonderful creative who has been in wine and restaurant management before having a child and who came to me while working on a nut-free energy bar recipe geared towards new mothers, also considering an app focused on mother care. A typical way for a creative generalist to connect seemingly unconnected dots or, as I like to say it, discover their unique "glue."

7 Practical steps for financial freedom with a portfolio career

As a creative (generalist) and entrepreneur, building a multi-source income stream is crucial for long-term financial sustainability while allowing you the freedom to do work that truly fills you up. Here are some practical steps that worked for me and many of my clients to help you create your own thriving financial foundation:

#1 Map your talents and skills, and learn to appreciate them

As someone with a creative and entrepreneurial mind, you have many skills, talents, and interests. That's a given. But being clear about what you're good at and enjoy doing isn't always straightforward. Make a comprehensive list of everything you can do, from your professional experience to your hobbies and creative pursuits.

Consider how each of these can potentially generate income or how you could combine a few into a career. Don't underestimate the value of seemingly unrelated skills or interests; they can often be combined in unique and profitable ways.

#2 Diversify your income streams strategically

Multiple income streams are the cornerstone of a portfolio career and decide its financial sustainability. This can include freelance work, a part-time job (or "good enough job," as Barbara Sher calls it in her book Wishcraft), selling creative or online products, teaching workshops, consulting and coaching, or developing online courses.

The goal is to create a mix that provides both a stable base and opportunities for growth. Consider how you can use your different skills, talents, and interests to create a mix of income streams for your portfolio career.

#3 Understand that fear is the dreamkiller

As you start building a portfolio career, or if you've been thinking about what you could do for a long time but haven't taken any substantial action toward one or more ideas yet (hello, unfinished projects on the shelf, I see you!), it's important to acknowledge and understand that fear can be a major roadblock. Fear of failure, rejection, and not being good enough are all common fears that can hold us back from pursuing our dreams. The insidious thing is that fear often doesn't show up as fear. It disguises itself in very well-packaged excuses, such as "I don't have enough time" or "I'm not ready yet," or as perfectionism, people-pleasing, or procrastination.

It's important to remember that fear is just a feeling, and feelings can be managed and overcome. It's about shifting your perspective and learning to work through your fears.

#4 Price your services and products high enough

Many creatives struggle with pricing their work. Remember that your unique mix of skills and perspective brings significant value. Research industry rates, but also consider the value you bring to each project. As mentioned in my book "Get Unstuck!," building a business that feels right and using marketing practices aligned with your values is important.

Don't undervalue your expertise out of fear of not being good enough. Instead, price your services and products high enough to reflect the value you bring to the table. It is important for you to get fair compensation for your work and to help you build a sustainable business model.

#5 Collaborate and network with other creatives

Collaboration and networking are key components to any business or career, but as a creative generalist, I find it's more important than ever. We are still living in a world of specialists, and that can erode our self-worth and talk us out of our portfolio career dreams. By connecting with other creatives, you can expand your skills and knowledge through learning from others. Additionally, collaborating with others allows you to work on projects that may have been too large or complex to take on alone or that you were too scared to even start with!

My exclusive community, "TrueSpark," is here to do just that: facilitate collaboration and connection among creative generalists. Click here to discover more and become a member.

#6 Manage your finances mindfully

Financial management is key to making your portfolio career work - or any career or business for that matter. After working with creative entrepreneurs and generalists for a decade, I know that the admin and financial side of their careers and business are often not their strong suit. However, this doesn't have to stop you from being successful. With mindful and intentional financial management, you can stay on top of your finances and make good decisions about your career and business.

To start, it's important to understand the basics of personal finance, such as budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. This will give you a solid foundation for making financial decisions that align with your goals and values. I know it sounds scary, but you can do it!

#7 Never stop learning and growing

Continuously learning and developing your skills is important for a successful portfolio career. But one thing that is more important than any other is learning how your creative brain works. That is why psychoeducation into the uniqueness of your creative brain is part of my work with my clients.

How good is it to know how you should do something if you are unaware of how your brain actually operates? Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and how to work with them can be a game changer in your portfolio career.

Building your creative income as a creative generalist takes time, intention, strategic planning, and an unwavering belief in the value and uniqueness of your multifaceted self. But once you have laid the foundation and established a solid portfolio career, the possibilities are endless.

Ready to take real steps towards building your own thriving portfolio career?

Are you done with being confined to just one career path and ready to embrace your multi-passionate nature? Are you tired of feeling like you have to choose between your different passions and skills?

I can help! In fact, liberating creative generalists from the 9 to 5 is what I do best. Let's discuss your unique skills, passions, and financial goals and start mapping out a strategy for your portfolio career.

Schedule your free session!

How to Create a Portfolio Career as a Creative Generalist

Throughout my life, I never set out to stay doing the same thing for too long. It’s always been my dream to live in NYC, for instance, and while it might not happen for a while, it makes me think about how I organize my life and career into buckets and how unusual that is for entrepreneurs. Most people I meet think they have to stick to one career for their entire lives, but really, we have the power to change and evolve whenever we want. 

In my coaching business, I hear all the time how my clients are being pulled in all these different directions and they don’t understand how to rationalize their innate need to do different things, take on different roles, with society’s need to settle them into a specific box. For instance, doctors aren’t supposed to be coffee shop owners who sit on the board for toy companies. And entrepreneurs who own companies that distribute luxury amenities aren’t also supposed to have kitchen cabinets importing businesses…right? 

Well, why not? Why can’t we do everything we dream of doing and every opportunity that comes our way that lights a spark inside of us? 

Here’s the truth: we can. And I help clients do it every day.

Take my own story for instance, my career portfolio includes business and career coaching, writing books, speaking engagements, investing in small businesses, and creating new businesses - like my conference in the fall and my soon-to-be-launched Creative Generalist Network (more to come on that below!). And before that, even though I went to university to pursue a masters’ degree in philosophy and ended up working for, and founding, several web agencies.

The path we are on right now doesn’t have to be the path we stay on forever. There is no shame in jumping around - in fact, it’s empowering. This need for variety is what makes us creative generalists. We were never meant to fit into the classic 9-to-5 life, and when we fully embrace our creative generalism, we have a leg up when it comes to pursuing our dream career paths! 

So how do we pursue a portfolio career that bolsters our ability to excel as creative generalists? 

1. Various income streams. Have various income streams so that as you flow between the different roles, you never have to sacrifice your wants for your needs. You might try adding to your earned income with investments, online courses that require upfront effort to create but quickly produce passive income, and freelance consulting. However you choose to gain income, there’s power in having multiple streams at your disposal. 

2. Don’t choose, combine. Stop trying to choose a particular career or project, learn to combine them. The beauty of a portfolio career is that there are no rules. You can do anything you want! (This is one of my superpowers. Let’s talk if you want help with this!)

3. Talent stack. Figure out your talents and skills and start stacking them to create a sweet spot that will raise your value in whatever field you’re interested in. For instance, if you are a copywriter who is also an audio engineer, pitch your talent to a podcast production company looking for a marketing guru who can also clean and treat the sound on the rough recordings.

4. Learn new skills. Are you a web designer who’s always been interested in teaching ballet classes to preschoolers? Or a college student studying molecular biology who also wants to write fiction novels about underwater gateways to other planets? Whatever it is that you think you might enjoy, go after it. Never stop learning. Go where your inspiration takes you!

5. Stay open-minded. You never know what you might learn from other people’s perspectives. Staying open-minded allows you to connect easily with others, building networks, and furthering your work and life in ways you might not expect.

6. Find a work-life balance. While individuals in mono-type roles don’t have to worry about their work invading their personal lives,creative generalists do. Our work is so varied and flexible, that sometimes that flexibility works against us, allowing business to bleed into our personal lives. The best way to combat this is to create a work-life balance that is sustainable to maintain. 

7. Embrace change. Instead of trying to fit into a particular role,embrace jumping from role to role. The beauty of a portfolio career is that you don’t have to stick with the traditional career path, which includes sticking it out in a business or job you hate. Feel free to shake things up!

8. Find your community. Creative generalists tend to be isolated because of the solitary nature of their careers and work versatility, but finding your community is the best way to help you succeed. As a creative generalist myself, I created theTrueSpark community to help my clients and readers engage with like-minded individuals who will help them find inspiration and opportunities to grow. 

9. Understand your why. Many people fall into a portfolio career, while others plan extensively for them. Either way, you should know why you are pursuing it now. Do you want more flexibility? Do you want to pursue every idea you’ve ever had? By knowing your why, you will be able to identify your creative generalist values more easily, which will in turn help you create the life you’ve always dreamed of!

10. Keep at it. Don’t give up when things get tough or confusing. Keep going and know that it will happen. The roles will come. The income will flow. And the fulfillment and success will bloom. 

And if you want to see how AI specifically factors into building one of these careers today, I go deeper on that in The Portfolio Career Advantage in an AI-Driven World.

Building a portfolio career - like we generalists like to call it - is a lot easier than you think. There’s no need to toil away at work you don’t enjoy, or to sift through ideas and goals until you find the one most acceptable by the internet. You can have multiple passions or interests, pursue them all, and be better for it. It’s a lot more beneficial to your soul! When our work is aligned with our hopes, dreams, wants and needs, we can achieve anything.

Take small steps everyday and before you know it, the life you want will be right in front of you.

Scared to embrace your portfolio career?

Stepping outside the “norm” can feel overwhelming for anyone, especially if you’re a creative generalist with a streak of perfectionism. But pursuing your portfolio career is less about nonconformity and more about embracing who you are inside.

You were never meant to sit in a job or career you don’t enjoy. It’s time to follow that little voice inside you that tells you it wants more, it needs more…it deserves more. So stop limiting yourself. In our coaching sessions, I not only help you take that first step towards the life you actually want, but I help you build a roadmap to the exact spot you want to land!

Schedule your free session!