How to Manage Multiple Interests
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- Опубліковано 14 тра 2024
- How can you deal with too many interests?
How can you juggle many hobbies at once?
This was one of my worst struggles.
I'd jump from skill to skill, hobby to hobby, business plan to business plan.. all for little success in anything.
But over years of experimentation, I've settled at a fine balance.
You CAN pursue many interests AND make progress in each.
With some careful decisions, sacrifices and time-management techniques, it's possible for you to become a well-rounded person.
One who satisfied every aspect of their curiosity and achieves success in many faculties of life.
If you see the 'Renaissance Man' or 'Polymath' as an ideal worth labouring towards, then you'll benefit from this balance.
This video is everything I've learned in my own journey, for staying focused enough to progress all while branching out to build a diverse skill stack.
Enjoy!
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00-00:30 We Are Generalists
00:30-1:20 The Danger of Many Interests
1:20-2:45 My Testimony
2:45-4:13 Choosing What Matters
4:13-5:15 Time Management
5:15-7:20 Design Your Plan
7:20-8:35 Defer to the Future
8:35-10:28 Reframe, Don't Replace
10:28-12:30 Avoiding Creative Jealousy
12:30-14:25 Can You Push Through the Struggle?
14:25-14:29 What's Your Best Advice?
The full quote is : “Jack of all trades master of none, but still better than a master of one” so I think the author agrees with you
Some interpretations leave the last part off, but yeah I prefer that one
this feels like enlightenment
This was a quote by Shakespeare. The whole point was to say the opposite of whatever everyone takes from only half of a quote. now we’re at the point where we do not know who said it why they said it or even how we are supposed to use it.
@@Jakerbryantlmao
It’s like your stat sheet being an even spread instead of solely relying on one skill but that being said you’re the marker of your own talents and hobbies and you can be the master of All. It’s good quote to help guide you but things like that can never define you.
I've never felt so understood by a stranger in my life
Thanks, it's an issue not discussed enough
@odysseas__ glad to have been recommended you and hear your perspective
this comment is relatable.
Same, I’ve struggled with this my whole life and most elders see it as something bad bc they think I should only focus on getting a job and make money but that’s what makes me feel trapped and I hate it!
@@odysseas__ Hi
Love the quote
“You can have it all, just not at once.”
A great quote, also the one that goes "you can only eat what you have on your plate" (or something like that).
wait that hit lmaooaoa
I like how UA-cam decided I need to get this recommendation based on the stuff I watch.
My yt algorithm is like "yo chill down, i dunno what you're on about anymore"
My yt feed right now:
Violin stuff, engineering, space time, micro biology, programming, drum and bass, bread and baking, atla, ...
And the list goes on
@@BC-bn7xd
Bro you can't be literally me more than this 😂
@@BC-bn7xdlol true. yt is now confused which topic to feed me
Could not be more true lol. 🖐️
True 💯
As the saying goes, “The master has failed more times than the student has tried.” - Somebody
❤.
"I'd rather be kicked once than kicked 10,000 times" - Bruce Li
Pretty sure it was
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks 1 time but the man who has practiced 1 kick 10,000 times.”
😊@@jasson7106
@@eshanahmed2483it’s funny how distorted quotes like that get, thanks for clarifying
This isnt just advice for chronic hobbyism, this is advice for life.
Chronic hobbyism sounds pessimistic lol
@@CrisOnTheInternet it definitely can feel that way sometimes! Lately I feel like balancing all my hobbies is more of a burden. I'm in a position where I have to give some stuff up for now
You’re not exaggerating at all, i feel like these interests are exciting me and, at the same time, overwhelming me. I envy people who can consistently focus on something they’re good at 😅
hobbyism?
@@g00blecksave some hobbies for later! I’m saving learning the guitar for when I’m an old lady because I already know how to knit lol
"In a span of 10 minutes youve been exposed to the results of years maybe decades of practice and experience in 50 different crafts and hobbies" That sums it up perfectly
Thank you, an observation that alot of people (me included) have fallen into, we see the 'glamour' and forget the 'grime'.
A simple video that is packed full of nuggets of truth - thanks again.
This guy casually provided the answers to my life in 15 minutes
I feel like I'm seen through the phone it scares me a little, like these are the thoughts I never shared with the world
I second you two. Just can’t emphasise enough how badly I needed someone to explain me this and take me through this dilemma.
Haha cheers, wish I had my own answers..
@@odysseas__what is the most pressing question you’d liked to be answered?
exactly
1. Write down hierarchy of interests.
Write down skill hobbys. Ask whats most important
2. Time management.
3. What can i defer to the future.
4. Everyday tasks you could find enjoyable
5. Following interest is not always fun.
Also consider that your interests are never alone. They are not simply your interests, sometimes the interests you have are for interactive purposes, or simply to 'know' stuff, so that you have some basic 'minimum'. Sometimes it is to improve yourself, or improve those around you, or to make someone else proud. Same with friends. Sometimes a friend in school is just to protect yourself, to not be alone, sometimes.. it it to make an actual friend, once you two prove trustworthy. Mathematics is a basic minimum to me, I do not love it.. However.. Knowing Complex Analysis, Algebra, and other topics is a good minimum baseline, It is true I could have picked other baselines, but I considered that a good one to pick.
Do people that make these lists take into consideration that they’re taking away views (possibly income) from these creators, and disregarding the efforts they put into the videos?
@@ccwwbb We all adapt ourselves to what our loved ones and the world demands of us.
I would add “What is important to me now?” Also “Why is this important?”
@@ccwwbbI felt the same way before but the creator liked it so I think he’s cool with it. Also some people will still watch to either verify the information or get more of the details they came for from the creator who they came for. I read this comment before watching and Im still going to watch the whole thing cuz I want more context.
Avoiding Creative Jealousy is big. I can relate.
Yes, same. I'm glad the video pointed it out, because it can really crank up the anxiety and feeling of lower self worth. I need to be more conscious of this.
Agreed. And it seems like if more people heard this nugget of truth, we could cure a lot of anxiety and depression that is rampant in some parts 👀 🌎
Yesss i hate it, and social media exacerbates it
It indeed is, specially for people who already suffer from low self-esteem. So glad this video pointed it out. I very often have to limit my time on socials because of this.
Same my mother is a cellist and my father played the violin and I get really sad because I never really learned an instrument, but on the other hand I know they will never paint as good as I do and thats okay everyone has different skills, the world would be pretty boring otherwise
"If I can't avoid it, I may as well get good at it."-knocked me off.
the desire to do many things and just wanna rest all the time is where im dangling!
I’ve been there, too. For me, it was rooted in perfectionism. Knowing I can’t do it perfectly, will keep me from starting. I’ve had to learn, it can’t be all or none. Some, is better than none. 💛
I think you can rationalize your way out of that: 1. Ensure youretake care of balanced diet and good sleep. 2. Remind urself there's only 24 hrs in a day and that point of memento mori. 3. The most important moment you can change is now. 4. Fatigue is often a stress/avoidance response. 5. If u just get started u will be further along toward ur goal than avoiding it altogether. Make the checkbox item "get started" instead of "start and finish the thing". Just by getting off the couch and winning that mental battle is an achievement. It's the hardest part!
I’m going to watch this again it was so good, thank you ❤
exactly lmao
As generalist, I learned that we can achieve anything, but not at once
Valid
not all at once but you can do it all
Yep. I want to be a marathon runner, a painter, a fiction writer, a comic artist, a picture book author, a prolific reader, an audiobook narrator, a publisher of multiple podcasts, a songwriter who records and releases albums, and much more. For now I find that writing down tasks I want to do everyday to chip away at these goals helps me continue to always make forward progress instead of watching UA-cam all the time. Great video. Nice tips. This topic has been on my mind a lot lately.
Absolutely. It's the mundane everyday that gives you the results you look for. Thanks too
I feel like modern society has conditioned us to think of all of those things in strictly a professional sense. So when you say your want to do and be all of those things, people think it is arrogant to work at being them all.
@@Sayntario yeah, you dont need be a professional in every skill, but u still can get good with time in multiple things in life, just dont take it so seriously and just progress slow, but still, its how i deal with the life and enjoy this.
That's so weird I do all of these apart from the publisher stuff. I have the blessing of not having to be enslaved by a job so I have all the day to do all these. It's a choice I made once I realised that I'm gonna die one day so I'm making the most of it. I just took up snorkelling last week and its awesome soon I'm doing scuba tonight I'm playing music at a vodka distillery.
@noompsieOG How do you manage to do all of that, are you rich or on welfare?
I’m over 50. I became disabled sooner than I expected. I am acutely aware that I don’t have too many decades ahead of me… And I still found a lot of value in this video.
Been struggling with skill addiction my entire life. Gymnastics, martial arts, magic, painting, woodwork, music, fishing, jewlery making and plenty others.
Never seen it phrased like that, interesting. Cool selection though
magic?????
edit: i realize you are talking about sleight of hand and not literal wizardry
@theRonbert haha yes. Believe it or not, out of any skills I may have, it's probably magic that I've found the most useful and, in many ways, has helped me with other skills. I think it's due to the way you have to practice it and the understanding of the nuances. The subtle ways you use your hands and how you can direct people's attention. There's just little understandings you pick up from it.
@@odysseas__ thank you
Hello there, violin teacher here! Your practice habits are actually great! Replace one 30-minute practice session with a 30-minute lesson with an in-person teacher and you’ll probably unlock more progress than you expect. Three half-hour practice sessions a week won’t get you into a major symphony, but it will definitely get you to a satisfying place where you can express yourself through your instrument. But yes, thank you for this video. Like many of us here, I need this reminder from time to time.
Beautiful way to look at idea of practicing anything. 🤌🏾
Thanks, I'm relieved to hear it from authority! Will definitely do that once I can
acknowledging this is so huge, you can enjoy something without being a master in it, hard to grasp for me but it is so important!
100% this! I started teaching violin to kids for a year and since then I can see the tremendous progress they make from never touching the violin to playing a concert for their family. It really is rewarding. You can practice at home, but without a guide you’ll eventually get stuck somewhere
Yeah, as a piano teacher I was actually impressed at the volume of practice he mentioned doing!
The issue is knowing WHAT and HOW to practice efficiently, and a teacher could really help with that 👌
Another important point is that when you get good enough at something it becomes more automated and it takes less space in your brain and easier for you to do.
Facts and then u can keep on finding more things u want to be good at
This is so true
For sure, that's a great point
great point mate!! i found that in playing guitar, practicing gets easier and easier, and it's easier to allocate more time to it too when you advance. also a good training program is something that eases practicing very much
yess I absolutely can vouch for this....great point!!
I'm a piano teacher, a Maths teacher, an English teacher and a Martial Arts teacher. I've learned a lot about many things, and being this way makes me both proud and sad about myself. I'd love to be a master of one thing, and really know it as many people know. For example with piano, having studied for 20 years I can play very complicated pieces, but not as well as a Concert Pianist. Same with martial arts, I'm not bad, but definitely people who have dedicated their life exclusively to this training can beat me. So in the end I feel like I know nothing and that I can't do anything, but some days where faced with certain situations I realize how much I actually know and can do, how weird I am, and how worthy it was leading a life as a learner. So I could probably say I'm good at one thing, and I do consider this, one thing: Learning-Teaching.
This was an awesome video. Thank you so much.
This is exactly what I needed to hear.
As someone who wants to do cinematography, cooking, language learning (currently Japanese), drawing, content creation, travel, dancing, soccer, and so much more yet struggles to even get up in the morning and having to battle my mind always saying "you're so lazy, start doing something, you're not doing enough," it sucks. I'm always met with the "I'm too young" or "I cant afford this" and then I'm left waiting for when I can start and constantly keep on seeing these videos of "start now. the second best option is today" and everything is contradicting itself.
This is exactly the reality check I needed. Thank you stranger!
When you're watching hundreds of youtube videos to get and feel better about what you're doing and how you're living. And then you watch this one. And you finally turn off the device. Thank you.
I appreciate it, hope it can inspire you into action
Beautifully said
I immediately did your journaling prompt, but with a twist: I made an x-y plot where x is "how sad I'd be if I never explored this deeply" and y is "how excited I feel about this right now." I helped me identify dangerous disctactions (high excitement, low sadness if I never did it) and also my priorities. Thanks for this useful video!
Omg, I love this and I'm absolutely going to steal this practice.
I'd love to see a picture of how this looks like. Seems like a great idea, but I'm a bit confused haha
That sounds fantastic
Well thought out!
@@Oscar12640what are you confused about? Draw a horizontal line (x) vertical line (y) that are touching on one end to form a half-square. Then plot your points based on the criteria. The higher up a point is, the more excited you are. The farther right it is, the more sad you would be if you never did it. Ideally, you want your goals to be as far up-right as possible, and realistically, they probably arent
I'm watching this video while having other 30 browser tabs opened
Haha same
Just 30?
500 tabs are open for me.
The renaissance did not end, it continues in many of us, pure gold video , thanks.
you have no idea how specific this video is to me, i saw the title and i immediately clicked. there is nothing more beautiful than the feeling of being understood :)
Glad to hear it!
Same, nice to catch some good ideas to avoid endless possibilities and aspirations
That profile picture is somehow beautiful.
Same, but I was expecting some detailed plan and more strategy oriented that was more practical, but I am really glad it went in this unexpected way, focusing on the more overall important thing.
'Defer to the future' makes me think of Derek Sivers quote: don't be a donkey. A donkey can't choose between food or water and then dies from a lack of both. Pick one, pursue it, then do the other in the future.
I have always thought that this world is so beautiful, vast and precious that my biggest regret is not being able to live 1.000 years so I can learn all the things that my mind marvels all. You name it, music, painting, astronomy, biology, physics, math, history, etc. Sometimes I feel weird because nobody else is marveling at the world the way I do, I thought those humans were long dead.
But this video is refreshing, to learn human curiosity is alive and many can relate to this.
00:00 🌱 Embrace curiosity and exploration, but manage it effectively to avoid diluting your focus across too many activities.
03:19 📝 Prioritize your interests by ranking them based on importance to create a realistic plan for improvement.
04:27 ⏰ Implement effective time management techniques such as scheduling on Google Calendar to align with your priorities.
05:23 🗓 Allocate time according to your priorities, giving more time to what matters most while still making room for less important activities.
07:30 🚫 Temporarily defer less important interests to focus on the ones that matter most in the present.
08:53 🔄 Reframe existing daily activities to improve skills without adding extra time to your schedule.
10:42 📱 Be mindful of shiny object syndrome triggered by social media, and focus on your own valuable skills rather than feeling inadequate.
13:01 🎢 Understand and navigate the emotional stages of skill development, pushing through challenges to achieve mastery.
The clarification on why I feel bad watching TikTok was so enlightening. Thank you!
Yeah it hit me hard too when I first realised it. Much appreciated!
Tiktok is for the weak
Aww! And feel bad watching Instagram 😔
Funny food for thought friend: I joined tik tok a few years ago and the beginning when it asked for my interests, I decided to put things I enjoy, but not things I creatively strive for (ex: I’m a photographer, I did NOT follow photographers). Instead I followed mostly comedy and maybe sometimes I would search ‘makeup trends’ if I had a day I wanted that. But I ONLY followed if the creator themselves seemed genuinely sweet cool smart or funny.
I potentially only got lucky.. but Tik Tok is so weirdly enjoyable for me and somehow I’m not addicted to it (especially weird because of how terrible Instagram made me feel vs how much I still get SUCKED in if I ‘visit’ IG world).
It’s just a thought. An experiment. Next time you open a new social media account.. follow people and topics you LIKE but don’t aspire to 🤷🏼♀️
We should embrace polymathy! It’s more humane than excessive specialisation.
Definitely!
Uh huh huh first world views. There's a reason people wanted to be specialist. It's less work and stress.
@SimEon-jt3sr It's a fair observation.
I am from Mexico. I am in the process of documenting and analyzing how excessive specialization, in controlled contexts, is harmful to innovation and the economy and the development of institutions for the long term, especially for a new era of automation and AI.
Of course, polymathy needs to be implemented and promoted from all areas of a society. I am aware that a working person cannot allocate time to other activities because of inequality issues.
My proposal for public policy in Mexico is aimed at addressing socioeconomic problems and changing the paradigm in education to ensure that future generations can develop and consolidate their intrinsic human characteristics, which are polymaths.
The polymathic vision must be democratized and for this there must be multisectoral collaboration. In one way or another, many times we are already polymaths, but we do not continue with this development because of many institutions.
@@miguelmojica8485 Yes!~This is real diversity and tolerance. Not the crap we had in the 2010's. Fuck that woke shit.
Well I think both approaches are fair. It's a rather complex topic, but it has no moral bearing on a person, the path they follow.
This is one of the last things my grandpa sent me before he died, thank you
That's a nice connection to have because I think this video has quite a lot of value for our lives. Your grandpa must have cared about you and your life path.
another tip that I have for people like me that get excited a lot about learning different things:
ask yourself, do you actually wanna put all the time into learning that skill? think through the process and decide if you wanna go through all of that.
at least that's what helped me list my priorities :)
Crazy how strangers can understand your struggle better than family.
Too right!!! My mum is always saying oh you haven't finished that yet or you havnt started that or this yet ..I have just been diagnosed with ADHD and I'm 44 I still feel like she tries to control me . This guy 👆has just literally unlocked my brain
crazy how people in similar circumstances with similar problems, which families and children don't actually share, are similar
see lindybeige's "never trust your agent"
I don’t know HOW UA-cam recommended me this but I have been struggling with this thought so much! There is a million things I want to do but I also wanna rest and chill and just smell the flowers but just feel like there is not enough time for it all!
Smelling the flowers is just as important!
Same here
He went from Logo design to icon design, that man is wild!
I wanted to spend my time trying different things to keep myself occupied but I failed to realize that I was out of focus while thinking of multiple stuff at once. This video came as a true life changer. Thanks mate 🙌
OK... some advice from a multi-interested, multi-talented dude with a 28-year career in design and product development and art and teaching... The multiple-interests-dilemma has been an issue for me since art school. After reading all the books on "scanner-personalities" and "refuse to choose advice" I came across Emily Wapnik's book - and then it dawned on me: most "Multi-Talentism" is just a layman's term for ADD/ADHD.
Last year, I finally bit the bullet and got tested for ADHD (and Aspergers)... BINGO! After experimenting with a few different medications I now can pursue multiple interests with much greater success AND don't feel restless and like a failure all the time! My output has increased, my motivation is improving and finally can fully enjoy being a multi-interested person, now that I know the neurological reason for it. So, if you are multi-interested but can never finish a task, consider looking into the ADHD/ADD thing.
I've heard about this link often, glad to see it turned around for you
Exactly my thought😊
I'm really glad you've figured out the neurological reason for being a multi-interested person! I had a similar journey in finding a biological reason, although I don't have ADHD. I learned about the three doshas according to Ayurvedic medicine - Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Basically everyone has either one, two or rarely three dominant doshas. People with a Vata constitution are similar to people with ADHD in the sense that we get bored more easily, that we need to have multiple activities we can switch between, otherwise we are actually unhappy. Having too much Vata can actually lead to ADHD. Learning about the doshas has been super valuable for me in accepting that it's okay to have many interests and not being "a master of one", because I don't actually want that and I wouldn't be happy with it. Dr. K from HealthyGamerGG has some great videos in explaining the doshas for anyone interested!
I don't have ADHD, but I do have obsessive compulsive personality disorder (ocpd, not ocd), and I also manage multiple interests at a time. After some therapy, I've learned how to keep them hobbies (because they were almost like a full time job in the past). I'm very serious at studying my passions hahahaha but I'm now comfortable with taking a break from them.
@@isadurikaI like your approach: getting some professional to look into your behavioral patterns so you can find the neurological / psychological reasons for said patterns. That's a solid foundation for lasting progress!
I am an author, a reader, a musician, I love making clothes, and I'm a BookTuber... I do all these things after work. Sometimes it's so overwhelming (especially keeping up with my UA-cam channel), but I can't let go of any of these things. I love them all. They give me energy, but sometimes I forget they also take a lot of energy.
I feel better now that I began to divide my time into blocks, like you suggest, but I find it hard to keep to it :) I can't believe there are so many people that don't have a hobby, while I'm here trying to make the most out of every single second! 😂 I feel like I barely waste time - even while listening to youtube I'm busy. I need to get better at making a schedule :) going to work on improving that!
Thank you for the interesting video. Great topic!
Well said, that's exactly how it feels. Thanks and good luck!
Clothes? Really? That is AWESOME!! Something we use every single day of our lives and yet, we walk around off a shelf from some same story, looking like oatmeal shaped in Glad trash bags.
@@espartaco2028 I like the Victorian style, which is very hard to find in the stores, or even online! :)
@@odysseas__ Yeah I want to do this but I feel that I can't able do this. Any advise?
An author, musician AND a seamstress? Literally all of my goals 😭 how long did it take for you to get decent at sewing may I ask?
I especially agree with the point that we can defer some hobbies to later.
I remember reading some quote that said people greatly OVERestimate how much they can accomplish in 1 year, but UNDERestimate how much they will accomplish in 5 years, or 10 years.
Just going hard into one hobby a year, and changing every year - by 5 years you'll have done so much, and hopefully still practicing enough to retain what you learned.
This is totally me. I dive deeply into different hobbies and personal development. I manage this by diving as deep as I can, as quickly as I can, so that I can get a sense of how much time I will need to commit to the task in order to achieve a high skill at it. This helps me narrow down my true interests but gives me the chance to explore more hobbies or options.
I did something similar, it worked a treat. Focused hard into one skill for a few months, then left with clarity and.. an extra skill, with the decision to pursue it further
This has been bothering me since I was 16. Glad to meet someone similar.
Yep, it's a lifelong annoyance. Hope it goes well for you
same here brother. gave up playing an instrument as a teenager, and now that i’m older i realize i just needed better time management lmao.
Avoiding Creative Jealousy: that point is so truth, i feel constantly ashamed and bad generally because social media... because i can't do it all, and it's true... you can't do it all
Haven’t started the video yet, but I cannot express how quickly I clicked this video when I saw the title.
Edit: Watched the video. This is the most valuable piece of media I’ve watched in a long, long time. Thank you!!
I want to be a singer-songwriter. I want to be a a published fiction writer. I want to be an actress. I want to be a cinematographic youtuber. I want to do all this professionally. I also want to keep participating in my various side hobbies - crocheting, photography, skateboarding, reading, language learning (currently learning french which is my 4th language), clay art work, sketching & painting, Morse code, cooking & baking, instruments (piano, guitar), becoming ambidextrous, etc. I'm also only 15 and I'm glad I watched this video. I'm slowly realizing the truths of what i truly want and how to achieve it, and also what to let go and what to postpone. It feels like I'm always in a vicious cycle of tackling everything all at once, spending every moment of my time not taken up by school or sleep in my various interests, burning out spectacularly, picking myself up, and repeat. Every tip in this video really resonated with me. It'll be a struggle but I hope to implement true time & stress management in my life from now on, and also prioritizing what I love the most while not relegating the main reason I love my life - spending time doing "nothing" with my friends & family.
Amazing to see such a range. Hope all goes well for you
Very wise for a 15 years old. Wish I had that mindset at your age. Keep going ✨
I'm also like this. I think prioritizing the best out of these that can secure you financially is the first thing to start with. Then slowly incorporate new stuff. Rotating hobbies are also nice way to keep life less boring.
You're so similar to me, I literally want to do so much as if explore everything this world has to offer from study about marine to becoming an actress it's weird how I simultaneously want to explore individual aspects of everything and this infinite curiosity never ends
you sound like a clone of me oh my gosh
Glad someone is here with the same feeling of not wanting to be boxed in
I searched for this topic back on front on spotify, I felt so alone and worn out, sady i found none, just for youtube to shove it at my face😅😅😅.
I was going through this spiral as a creative, as of last month, i told myself the true, a baby get good at walking because he or she actually gave it time, he or she did not trying running, when the walking stage hasn't fully been passed through.
The issue of creative jealously has jeopardise a lot of noticeable growth, we see someone doing something and in our mind we feel their is better than our and we can do it, no minding the amount of commitment and year the person in private developed those skills.
And the falsehood of trying to achieving every single desire of our, within this 24 hours allocated each day.
Thanks for this ❤❤
"If I can't avoid it, I may as well get good at it"
I really enjoyed this video. I’m almost 60 and have struggled with having a ton of interests all my life. My best advice is to take advantage of where you are and utilize the resources that are available. He’s absolutely right that you don’t have to do everything now and to realize your life will change as time goes on and will be full of transitions.
For example, I lived in a major city for 20 years. During that time I took full advantage of living there: exploring the city, going to concerts, theater, enjoying restaurants, going out with friends, attending lectures, enjoying parks, meeting people, going to meetups, etc. Now, I’m retired and living somewhere else and in the middle of a transition. It’s been a bit of a challenge but now I’m trying to set up a schedule where I don’t burn myself out with all the things I want to do. 😊
well done
Love that story, it's a perfect example. Thanks too!
I really needed this. Because of me having the desire to do many things, I have never grown. I'm almost 30, and yet I have achieved nothing. Thank you for this video. I believe that God must have caused me to come across it.
Don't be so hard on yourself. Sounds like you've achieved some level of awareness. Consider yourself lucky. Some people never get there. It's all uphill from here buddy :)
I feel the same way - I focus on the things I want to do that I haven't yet and that's makes me feel like I haven't done anything... A fun exercise is to write down your life's story as if you're telling a complete stranger - you start to realize all the things you did that you don't count because you already did them!
I feel the same, I'm 26
As someone who has put so much pressure on myself that I burn out and feel shame for not practicing, I can also speak to a few things I've learned that may sound counterintuitive to your video, but I think they could compliment your ideas, they just have their time and place:
1) It's okay to only practice for two minutes sometimes.
2) It's okay to let a hobby go for a while, even if it feels important to you.
3) It's okay to chase the joy in a hobby until you feel curious enough to take on the more challenging parts.
4) Having constant contact with someone who also does that hobby can make a WORLD of a difference in your motivation.
These are great points
if there was ever a video that spoke ever so loudly about my inner conversations as a MULTI PASSIONATE CREATIVE is this ONE !!! Thank you
Much appreciated
Just to note, the quote ALWAYS gets cut short, and therefore the meaning is completely changed. The full quote is actually:
“A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but still always better than a master of one”.
Fantastic video as always!
This is also wrong lol (quite obviously, considering that a master surgeon is sometimes exactly what you need).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_all_trades
Thanks! And yeah a great way to spin it on its head. Of course there's moments where you want a master, but in general, its true
It's a mixed interpretation but both are right depending on the context, as you say
This made my morning! Thank you!
It’s “oftentimes better than a master of one”, and not “always”, which is much more applicable to real life. Sometimes, you do need to be or need a person to be specialized in one thing
I have a 50 item list of things that I want to do but because it’s so long I don’t do any of them. I browse UA-cam. Fortunately, I landed on this video which is just what I needed. I have whittled my list down to 4 primary items and 3 secondary ones. Your suggestion has perfectly fitted my needs. Thank you so much. Now I just have to take action.
Much appreciated, and I'm glad to see you jump on it immediately. Good luck!
Taking action is the hardest step, and continuous action is even harder. The happiness over time chart explains this very well.
The best thing one can do is to never use any social media without it being an intent of yours, instead of using it out of opportunity and boredom. Don't be a slave to it. Assign hours or appropriate moments where you allow yourself to use it and disallow when there was no planned intent beforehand.
Good video. I’m currently finishing up medical school and all throughout school I have had to find a balance between studies, writing music, reading, cooking, meditating, and working out. Balancing everything brings me the most joy in life, although it is a significant challenge. Others act like it’s impossible, but if you’re intentional, as you laid out, it is worthwhile.
Absolutely, it's tough but worth every drop of sweat. Good luck!
My interests must be so apparently divergent to UA-cam it knew I needed this video. Love these tips, thank you!
The avoid creative jealousy almost made me cry. So real! Thank you for those words!
It's so comforting to know that so many of us feel this excited overwhelm. I've had to learn so many of these tips through experience along the way. What has worked best for me is what you mentioned, choosing the ones that are most relevant for the time of my life that I am in. Deferring to the future the other hobbies, but in a hopeful way, something to look forward to when the time is right rather than a procrastination.
One moth late but I'll say it anyways: You're like a British Van Neistat. Totally no BS, no intro, right to the point. Perfect.
Cheers!
The part about time is soooo refreshing and nice to hear. I'm 20 and feel like I've done so little compared to my peers or ppl online, andit's stressful always living like ur gonna die and feeling like you have to fill every day, every minute, it's motivating now but used to and still can be demotivating, so the reminder that probably, I have time to work on things is so nice. I feel like I'm stuck in the Valley of despair or at least informed pessimism with almost everything I'm in, but to know that the effort and consistency will make it better is really helpful.
I always thought why am I like this? I have certificates in Music, dance and recitation, art, Ceramics, graphic design, 3D animation. I am happy that I explored all the things that I liked by my early 30s, that now I'm more clear about what matters the most, what I like the most to do and what I will be able to maintain as my hobby. Though yet I have some more interests to explore that I couldn’t in the past.
Managing time is the hardest part here that I still struggle with. I can't manage more than two different focused works. So my mom alwayas told me, you are going to be jack of all and master of none. But I mastered one thing that I put my most focus in. So finding out one major interest is very important I realized.
Btw, thank you for this video! Relieved that I'm not the only one like this in this era. 😄
This right here is the video I always needed but never searched for
It's so obvious to rank one's interests, but I've only just today done it. Thank you for the advice, stranger.
im so surprised, there could not be a more perfect video for me lmao. lately ive found myself complaining about how it feels like im trapped in obtaining new interests i cant afford and dont even WANT to start, but my brain cant help but focus on them.
I just started college and I developed a few side interests such as drawing, game development and music producing, but I was really struggling with making solid improvements to each individual hobby, since I struggled with allocating time to them, this video was really helpful, especially the calendar part and the last tip. Thank you so much, keep up the good work!
Nice diverse range there, hope you can achieve all you want!
I am 65 and I am going through this now. You are a great teacher. New sub.
Thanks, and good luck in all your pursuits!
I also teach at a college here in Massachusetts. Our students can benefit from your thoughts/ideas as well. I will make them aware and show this in class.
That last point about the cycle of interests resonates so heavily with me,
i’m someone who is currently trying to balance fitness, cooking, gaming, playing an instrument (cello), and of course a full time job.
it’s always been my dream to pursue a career as a professional musician of some sort. but i actually reached the valley of despair with the cello as a teenager. i was trying to master “Suite no.6 for solo cello in D major”
by bach, a notoriously difficult solo cello piece. i reached a point where i didn’t feel like i was ever going to get better, and eventually gave up. 7 years later, i decided to try again, allocating and prioritizing 1-2 hours a day for practice every single day, and im glad to say i feel i’m now on the upward trajectory of informed optimism. I’ve noticed significant improvement on that particular piece, and my cello abilities as a whole. Even if a piece might be difficult at first, I know that im capable if i just practice and give it time. but I definitely had to figure out how to prioritize my time and pick which interests and hobbies were most important to me because this was not something I knew how to do as a teenager, and it led to me giving up.
Thank you dude.
This is Perfect Timing for me.
I've been going thru this lately.
A lot of changes happening in my life.
And with my multi interests, I've been struggling in this "specialized" society making me so damn overwhelmed.
You need a good schedule. Freedom to ignore schedule on schedule. Leave options. You have them.
I feel so GUILTY when I don’t work on a particular craft. Oh and don’t let it be a Saturday afternoon when I truly don’t have anything else to do. Sometimes the only thing I want to do is make something but in that moment I have no ounce of motivation to get up and do anything. And later I feel awful for wasting another day. The bizarre part is, I have plenty of ideas and plenty of unfinished projects I could work on. So there is no block. However, when I am in the mood it’s beautiful and I can kill 3 hours and it feels like 1. I just wish I had that drive every day. 😞
This is so spot on. I used to woodwork for about 6 years when I lived in a house. And i played guitar and ukulele. Now I live in an apartment and now I sew which I used to do in high school, and do sculpture. My mind doesn’t care what the craft is. It just needs to make stuff or I get what I call creatively frustrated and now I’m anxious. Happened to me when I was deployed. I resorted to designing furniture in google sketchup that i never built. lol but it felt good 😅
All relatable, especially the drifting motivation. Wishing you well in each pursuit
This is so true I got stuck in community college for 6/7 years because I was interested in mathematics, physics, chemistry, statistics, piano, violin, singing, composition, not to mention multiple genres of music like jazz and classical, along with history and I had to come to the realization that I needed to enfocus on a manageable amount of interest that mattered to me first and make the rest “background” hobbies to come back to when my main interests accomplished so for me that was piano composition, and bio. I definelty learned a lot when I did a lot at once but at great cost to my sleep and sanity and had horrible anxiety that would cripple me when I would have 0 sleep and then have to perform a recital and then take 8/9 finals midterms or exams or homework and labs it was a living nightmare now I transferred and can comfortably do two ish interests really well! I hobby as a mathematician by reading textbooks on my free time, ps: the UA-cam algorithm for polymaths is absolutely a Frankenstein random mess 😂
Bro your video was the best one I've watched over the past 15 years of seeing Yt vids and im not your classic meme watching guy. Keep getting better !
Thank you so much for your work !
Honestly I really needed this. I feel bad when I don’t get to a hobby, especially if it’s been over a month since the last time I did it. Basic chores (cooking, cleaning, hygiene practices, etc) take up so much time some days that I can only focus on work and school.
It's tough with the energy and time they take up. It's all a careful game of balancing those two factors. Hope it goes well for you
Es lo que me ha pasado toda la vida, fue triste para mi ver que en la universidad sólo se hablaba de un solo tema y ahora con 32 años trato de hacer todo lo que me gusta pero a veces no alcanzo y termino frustrada... Definitivamente priorizar y diferir es excelente, en mi caso escribir en un diario mi actividad de manera retrospectiva me ha ayudado mucho.
i immediately recognised myself from the start of the video. i've been told that i get bored of things easily, felt it was a moral choice for me to go against the grain of specialisation and embrace being a jack of all trades, gotten advice from people who feel the same as me to find a focus, but this video and the term shiny object syndrome really solidified the problem for me, because i couldn't see the problem with doing everything all the time. i might be dead tomorrow, so why not do whatever i want? but the problem is the lack of progress = a weird floaty feeling that i try to ignore and suppress. i can't keep lying to myself that i don't need to build something in my life, because i do want to.
so i keep trying to find a loophole, to a focus which would allow me to express all the different avenues of expression in my life, which right now is to build a space (artist residency and more) which would allow others to come experiment and express, so in a sense i could live all these creative avenues through others and join in on them through conversation and participation. i don't know if this is another shiny object, because i'm at this stage where i'm trying to find a focus, then everytime i get a new shiny object it seems that it makes so much sense, like all my life could be put into this one thing now, but ultimately it doesn't last. but anyway, time will tell. thank you for this video, it gave me the push i needed to manage my time better. i've planned my day for tomorrow. ❤
I liked that bit about "creative jealousy", I've never heard it said aloud like that before and it gives me some new perspective. I've been off social media more and more lately but every time I pop back on to check things out, I get bombarded with 5 different hobbies I've tried before and stopped doing. Sometimes it's a good thing, because it might spur me to pick it up again. But in the long run, figuring out what exactly *I* want to do, uninfluenced by social media algorithms, feels more important and more likely to survive past the "valley of despair"...
Thanks for the video :)
The thing that helped me the most with this is learning how much TIME you have to put in to get good at something. Everything has a TIME cost.
If you want to play piano the way you see it on UA-cam it’s gonna cost you five years of 3 hour daily practice. Same for drawing. Same for dancing. Same for just about any skill.
These are simply too expensive. A problem people have is that they see specialists doing cool stuff on UA-cam and then they want to do it to. But once you internalize the cost your brain will determine it’s not worth it.
You have to run a proper cost benefit analysis and lots of people fail to understand the cost. Sometimes you have to try things to realize how hard they are and how much time you have to pay to achieve them. Then you’ll lose interest.
After doing this for 40 years you eventually get the point. A lot of people who let thier interest run away with them are kinda assuming they will be able to achieve what they want with reasonable time and effort. They don’t understand that the people who are inspiring you got that good by neglecting everything else in thier life. They specialized. So unless you want to specialize you have to put such nonsense aside.
There’s effort indeed, but there are cases where some people are able to get really good in a very short timespan. For example, I follow a fingerstyle guitarist who learned how to play guitar and started posting videos of his performances the very same year and he was very good at it from early on. Now, I also play fingerstyle guitar, and have done for 20 years, and yet I can’t compete with what this guy managed to achieve in just a few years.
"I want other people's creative success to be motivation for my own, not a form of sabotage." Love this. ❤
Huh, this speaks from my heart! I have many interest and I truly live the livelong-learning coming from my intrinsic motivation to obtain more knowledge and skills. Said this, I do not struggle so much in deciding on what to spend my time with. It may sound a bit strange, but I do not like to start new things. But when I start something new, I usually get out of the "valley of despair" because of my stubborness to solve problems ;)
What works good for me is to follow "old" interest/hobbies I am doing for al long time - these hobbies do not need much energy to do and I can still learn and improve my skills. But I can also do them just for recreation purposes. Knitting falls into this category. I explored knitting-related hobbies and skills like plant-dying yarn, spinning yarn myself, write knitting patterns and publish them. Following interests which are related to your current skillset makes it easier to entry those topics as you do not start from scratch. Knitting will be my priority, but those other yarn-related things spice it up a lot! A cool thing is also that one will get a bigger picture of everything and how single topics are connected.
I do the same on my professional career: After becoming an expert on a very special field in automatization I quit my "career" after 13 years and spent 2 years on following my side interests. Then I startet studying again at university in a curriculum which covers a lot of my interest I have developed the past 10 years. I am 40 now and will finish my second degree soon. This curriculum let me bring my hobby-interest to a professional level AND I can connect this to my previous career and use my knowledge.
This is how I look on my development back from now, I did not consciously made a plan.
I general, I can say it got easier for me to obtain new skills and knowledge the more I already have to build upon.
This channel has quickly become my personal favourite, keep that going
same
Grateful to hear that, thanks!
the fact i was doing a little bit of research regarding this topic just a moment ago and u just uploaded felt nice and well timed
That's great
Thank you for this video, lately has been so hard to "find" the time without become burnt out or losing interest so fast. I pride myself in having so many interest in things but so dangerous because I can get overwhelmed by it all. Again thank you for your video it gave a direction to take my interest in and start to actually enjoy them again, working with them than just giving up on them or thinking I'm not skilled enough.
This might be my favorite video of all time. Not only did it touch on every anxiety I’ve had for years, but it’s reassuring, knowing that someone achieved something that I thought was possible. a while ago I wrote out every single one of my hobbies, and then highlighted the ones that meant the most to me. in the moment, he brought me comfort I was able to settle down a little bit. But hearing you talk about your hierarchy makes me want to go back and actually focus on that same practice I started a few years ago.
Not being able to properly write down the path I've walked in the past year felt like it was sabotaging the progress I'd made on my journey to efficiency. I knew exactly why I needed to master various areas simultaneously, but failing to make the thought processes and pivotal moments that would make me efficient a permanent part of my life was consuming me. For the last month, instead of sitting and crying, I decided I needed to establish a proper note-taking + journaling system and started doing so. Beginning to note down thoughts that I felt would take me to the next level in my life, along with new learnings in my work and hobbies, changed everything. Until I watched your video, I WASN'T EVEN AWARE that I thought the progress I made in the last year was lost. Every point you mentioned in your video seemed to bring back this entire year I thought I had lost. I've never felt so understood in my life. You've made an unimaginably significant contribution to me. I will never forget you and this video. My deepest thanks to you. You've gained a new follower, supporter, and friend. May all the best be with you.
(And a little advice to those who've read this far, START A JOURNAL!)
Too many interests just gives you a shallow glimpse at any particular interest. If you care for depth stick with one and devote yourself to it. It's like having too many friends means each connection is never that deep because you simply don't have the time to develop any particular one. To truly know a person you need time to get to know them and such time is not available to you when you have about a dozen friends you have to keep up with.
I agree. At the same time, we don't have to restrict ourselves to just one or two. There's a sweet balance somewhere in the middle
this is probably one of the hardest things to do. im glad people are willing to tell others what they can do to succeed
Dude, everyday I scroll youtube looking for self improvement videos, and I've been watching tons of them every week for years, this video was so far the BEST video I've seen in a long time, I'll watch this everyday because I'm this kind of person, master in graphic designer and working as it for 17 years, professional DJ for 9 years, event producer for 9 years, actress for 12 years, percussionist and singer for 10 years, in a serious relationship with cook for 7 years and everyday I came up with a new interest to learn. The only thing I have to say is THANK YOU, your video gave me hope and a method to follow
I've always been this kind of person. Over my lifetime, I've learned to play the guitar, ride horseback, raise and train horses, become a registered vet technician, taken up kickboxing and weight training, have been a bellydancer for 16 years, have amassed a collection of well loved books, become a UA-cam content creator and recently become a fountain pen enthusiast. I've always thought that if I could have settled on ONE thing, I'd have been more successful.
You sound like a role model and successful person to me!
@@Luxamore oh thank you!
I was sent a notebook with marking pens to get me into note-taking and organising my interests. Due to my many interests I got too overwhelmed to even open the book. I've now opened it for the first time and dedicated the first page to my interests and which ones I want to focus on. My goodness there were SO MANY!! Like around 50!! I obviously don't have the time to dedicate to all those
This video has been the first step to me seeing some progress. Thank you so much, I'm truly grateful. I'll try time management and see if it works for me. Thank you again 🙏
I appreciate it, and hope it goes well!
Glad to see someone else is doing what I'm doing when it comes to hobbies and managing time.
also to add to the last point about the interest dip -- in my experience there are often hobbies and interests I've pursued through the pessimism dip, and while my enjoyment certainly got better once I was on the other side of that dip and into the optimistic side -- it also wasn't as high as I wanted my enjoyment to be. so (at least for me) that was a sign to hang up that hobby (at least for awhile) and go to something new, confident that I had given it a real go, struggled thru the hard parts -- had some successes along the way! -- and was ready to chase something new and shiny without guilt of "failure" or "abandoning my craft" or something
Really refreshing to hear that some break and balance from constant grind that internet promotes
Yep, too common nowadays. Many liars too. Thanks.
You are very well spoken, this video speaks to me on a lot of levels. I've always attributed my countless hobbies and barely any finished products to un-diagnosed ADD/ADHD. I've been a "space-cadet" my whole life. In my early 30's now, I see more value in my skills these days even though they aren't always apparent.
The bit about scrolling tiktok or youtube and seeing such great creations, yet feeling inadequate is undeniable. I suspect its because throughout history humans would contribute to their community, no matter the task. So its like when we see stuff like this, we are left empty because we see the finished result and weren't gaining skills through participation. This is only my suspicion, and I think it bleeds over into many other facets of the internet as well(looking at you, social media).
Thank you for sharing your experience, all the best.
Thanks, and that's a great point. We're born to be useful members of our group, and if the internet makes that group the entire world, it's easy to feel behind
I shock by how pin point accurate this video is, had to sub immediately
This is great advice, thank you so much! I think social media really is to blame for a lot of shiny object syndrome, lower attention spans, and feeling inadequate, which all combines to just jumping from hobby to hobby only ever hitting surface level before moving on.
Dude perfectly timed, yesterday I commented asking you about this in your video.
Thanks for uploading dude ! I’ve been loving your channel so far.
I'm grateful to hear it! And yeah haha I was happy to see your comment
this video stumbled across right on time! i'm a musician, artist, tarot reader, social media manager (which consist multiple skills aside from just managing s.m. for example, video prod, copywriting and more), wants to do career in psychology. i always felt lost due to distributed attention span which only paralyzed my action. i'm glad to see in comments, i'm not the only one going through this.
Real glad to hear that, hope it helps
In my opinion, it's better to be really good at only one thing than being average at several things. I also have more than 4 hobbies and it's hard to become good at all of those things.
I like to draw, I like to read, I like going to the gym, I like meditating, I like practicing yoga but I understand that I don't have that much time to focus on all those things.
I'm really getting better at drawing, meditation, workout and reading. A year ago, I had to read the same page thrice to understand the meaning of those words because of my ADHD. But after practicing it daily I got better.
And as you said, some hobbies might not be fun sometimes. Until last month I didn't enjoy drawing anymore and my dream is to become a full-time illustrator and make a lot of money with it.
And this month I forced myself to draw and start practicing the fundamentals again so that I can become a better artist.
There are days that I can't find the time to read or practice yoga, for example. And there are days that I do have a lot of time to practice everything I want but just end up spending that time watching UA-cam and doing nothing.
I really wanna get back to practicing yoga again but right now I can't do it. And if I do find at least 20 minutes before sleep to practice yoga, I don't do that because I'm just too tired.
The problem is that you have to have time for those hobbies. As an adult you gotta work and study and sometimes life gets in the way.
I think the best tip I can give you is that you need to understand that life isn't perfect and you won't be good at everything. Here in Brazil we have a saying that's like "if you accept it, it hurts less."
So, accept that you won't be perfect at everything and there will be days where you won't find the time to practice your interests or maybe you won't feel like doing it.
I don't want another hobby right now. Maybe cooking when I get out of my parents house and if I become rich one day, I'll buy a drift car and start practicing drifting 😂
Good luck, everyone!
I feel like this video was made for me as I’ve been thinking a lot about my several hobbies lately and how I can’t stop but I’ve always been told to just focus on one thing
This is one of my most asked question that hasn't been answered enough, thank you so much for this video!!!
I'm real glad to hear that -much appreciated!
The fact that the used painting (around 7:20) was painted by a hobbyist while being so professional is just amazing!!!
Wow that's a nice coincidence, I had no idea
the fuck! Vermeer was a hobbyst?
Well, it's not a checked fact. Our art history teacher was talking about the fact that he had much amounts of money reserves and that's why he could afford much better paints than the average painters. But sources indicate that despite losses, he still painted, but wanted to make profit as well. So noone really knlws, I suppose.