HELP! What if I Want to Do It All?

This is the question I get from so many people, but especially from students, who feel that focusing on one single path in life just isn't going to satisfy their hunger for a variety of interests.

But I always have an answer ready for them, which is: If I can settle on a career path I love, so can they.

I've always had so many interests that fascinate me with so little time to pursue them, and I still sometimes wonder why days couldn't be at least three hours longer. So how did I decide on a career path that could satisfy this hunger? Especially one that had a lot to sink my teeth into?

Here are the top five reasons why my career path (which, as you know, involves helping others build theirs) works for my varied interests:

1. Career coaching has loads of variety inherently built in.  My days and weeks vary quite a bit, dividing my time between writing and reading and coaching and speaking. Plus I get to work with fascinating people of all different ages, backgrounds, locations, interests... and career fields, of course. Believe it or not, I feel as if I'm satisfying the explorer in me by living vicariously through my clients.

2. It requires me to solve a variety of complex problems that are similar in nature but never the same. This gets to the heart of what my brain needs to feel stimulated: I need lots of problems to solve that involve people. And I'm good at it too, which is probably why I like it! Success makes everyone feel energized.

3. I decided that the best way for me to be able to experience multiple interests in life was to have my own service-oriented business.  This means that when I want to gradually shift my focus I can, without feeling as if I'm totally losing ground. If I had a manufacturing business, for example, my freedom would be a bit more restricted, as changes would mean wasting inventory.

Another entrepreneurial bonus? Having my own business allows me to quench my thirst for novelty, such that I can invent new ways to do things- and incorporate more interests- like writing, travel, research, photography, art, and whatever else piques my interest. Of course, I don't incorporate everything all the time, because I don't need to.  It's all about prioritizing my interests, rather than trying to do too much and creating a piece-meal, random mess of crisscrossing paths. Which leads me to the next point...

4. Finding an essence is key. I got to the essence of what I enjoyed most about my top interests. Once I looked at all of my seemingly disparate fascinations, I realized most of them centered around psychology, human behavior and personal stories.  Career choices, aptitudes and journeys inhabit the bulk of my work, so it's a perfect match for me. It's like penning a symphony titled, "Variations On a Theme."

5. Wants aren't needs. I realized that there are certain things I like to do and certain things I need to do. In fact, this discernment is key in prioritizing your interests. For example, I like to paint, but one painting project once or twice a year will pretty much do the trick. And singing is another passion of mine, which I really enjoy doing. Performing about once a week plus light rehearsing seems to be a good frequency; however, I found that doing it everyday, on a professional level, proved to be a bit much.

So as far as the needs are concerned: I need to read- a lot.  And reading human interest stories and career journeys (mostly found in biographies) is just something that I do for fun, whether I'm paid to read them or not.  I'm truly drawn to this type of information gathering. My other needs: to write, share ideas and to help people on a personal level. If I don't accomplish these things very regularly it's difficult for me to feel like I'm making a difference.

So you might be wondering, are there other career fields out there-entrepreneurial or not- that have variety built in?

The answer is a resounding "Yes!"

But...

All career paths require the person with multiple interests to think and plan creatively. Beyond finding-or creating- a single dynamic career path, satisfying a variety of interests entails carving out special time to do important activities that really don't need to be done every day, all day, on a professional level, but that still need a place in your life.

And that's okay, because your ideal career, no matter how varied, will never satisfy everything on your ever-evolving list of interests. But it can, if crafted with careful consideration, satisfy the fascinations you want to grow and develop the most.

Photo credit: Creative commons via Flickr