Jack of all trades but master of none?

For the first time, I'm unapologetically a generalist.

What was your hobby as a teenager? One of mine was building websites. It’s something I’ve continued to dabble with as an adult. I've built so many over the years - some purely for fun and others to see if I could make some money (spoiler alert: I didn’t). Here's a few:

• Crazy Fun (a website with games for us to get around the blocked sites at school)

• Bored of Boredom (similar to above but more than just games)

• Deanie.net (an old personal homepage)

• TNDTV (videos that my friend Toby and I made)

• Goo On The Loose (a blog for a Cadbury competition I later won)

• Efficient Energy Tech (an attempt to create a blog talking about tech with affiliate links)

• Live Like the Queen (to search for and buy products with the royal stamp of approval)

• Video Call Games (a place to search for fun games to play on Zoom during the pandemic)

• Time in Loo (a calculator to see how much you earn whilst using the toilet at work)

I'm sure there are more I can't remember! I'm assuming that's more websites than the average person has made but I didn't become a web designer by trade. And while I understand the basics of HTML (a code used to build websites) I'm also not a software engineer.

13 year old me probably building a website or playing Rollercoaster Tycoon

Some other things I've turned my hand to in the past 20 years include mobile discos, technical theatre, acting, pizza making, event management, presentation design, public speaking, mystery shopping, project management, live streaming, laser tag marshalling, market trading, filming, team leadership, radio hosting, teaching, pulling pints, video editing and more.

In almost every job I’ve had, I’ve built (or have tried to build) some kind of side hustle, and often just for fun rather than money. My most financially successful was designing presentations for clients on a site called Fiverr. The most enjoyable was live streaming a game show during the coronavirus lockdowns. The most fulfilling was hosting events with Cancer Research UK (more about that in this LinkedIn post).

Given all the above, it's probably no surprise that I've struggled most of my life and career to define what I ‘do.’  Until now.

I've come to realise that this is just how I thrive. I'm not good at choosing favourites. I like doing lots of different things and I'm now the most comfortable I've ever been about that. One of the main reasons I made the leap to work for myself was because I wanted more variety.

For the first time, I'm unapologetically a generalist. A jack of all trades. A Swiss army knife. While I won't be focused on making money from every skill I've learned over the years, I'm happily going to take on a variety of work by leaning into 1) areas of greatest strength (e.g. training, presentation delivery, etc) and 2) things I'm happiest doing for work (e.g. helping people, sharing knowledge, etc). 

Jack of all trades but master of none?

The problem with calling myself a generalist is the worry that people might think I'm not good at anything as opposed to being skilled in many areas.

So, why the confidence to share this so openly now? Well, truthfully, I'm still not entirely confident about it, and my stance might change, but I've committed to sharing openly so that's what you're getting! Having said that, I'm more confident about being a generalist now because I've realised not everyone I work with has to be interested in everything I do. In other words, I can have different audiences for different work.

Here's what this looks like so far - I am:

• Managing a local company’s website

• Working with Google on a few projects relating to training 

• Creating how-to videos on YouTube focused on productivity and presentations

• Coaching other business owners on scaling their success

• Writing this weekly newsletter to share my journey into entrepreneurship

• Providing some 1:1 presentation coaching sessions for free to understand whether to offer that as a paid service in future

Almost all business advice tells you to 'niche down' by choosing a specific thing you can do for a specific audience. I’m just thinking about it a different way - multiple niches for multiple audiences - and there will absolutely be overlap.

Reflection

Last week I shared some questions which helped me reflect on making the decision to leave my job and go it alone. This week, to help consider what lights you up, I’d like to share the Japanese concept of ikigai.

I first read about ikigai in a book called Shine: Rediscovering Your Energy, Happiness and Purpose* (a great read). In short, your ikigai is a passion that gives value and joy to life. If you’ve heard of it before, you’ve probably seen a Venn diagram like the one below which makes the idea more tangible.

In doing some research for this post, it seems that Marc Winn created this diagram by merging the concept of ikigai with the western idea of purpose. Regardless, I think it’s a helpful tool to consider your direction in work and life.

Take a moment today to think about the four areas:

• What you love

• What you’re good at

• What the world needs

• What you can be paid for

You won’t figure it all out in five minutes but I’d love for you to share any initial insights this brings you. You might even spark inspiration and help someone else!

Next week

Over the years I’ve realised that almost everything in any kind of relationship (both at work and in life) is about expectations. Communicating those expectations is key. Next week I’ll share more about my experience as a leader and how expectations continue to be hugely important in the freelance world I’m now operating within.

You could be working on your side (or main) hustle but instead you’ve taken 5 minutes to read this. Thank you - I really appreciate it!

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases using this link.