What is a Multipotenialite?
I’ve for a long time felt like I didn’t fit in any of the boxes this world tries to put us in. I mean, I have this, but I also have that. I want to do this, and that and that and that. And this idea that your career is a complete reflection of who you are seemed so wrong to me. It is a very small part of who I am and what makes me up. Especially when I was working in information technology. I remember doing a survey as part of our work staff development stuff at one stage, and the question was something like do you feel like you get to use your skills to your full potential in your job, and the answer for me was a resounding no. I got to only use a tiny subset of my skills and abilities in that job. I was good at it, but who I am, what I love and am passionate about was so much more than writing and running test cases.
It wasn’t until I stumbled upon the term multipotentialite that it started to make sense to me and I started to feel more confident in my place in the world. A multipotentialite, a term created by writer and artist Emilie Wapnick, describes someone who loves exploring a wide range of interests and talents instead of sticking to just one career or specialty throughout their life. Multipotentialites thrive on variety and often excel in many different areas.
Here are some key traits of multipotentialites:
Curiosity: They have a strong passion for learning about many different subjects, which leads them to develop various skills and knowledge.
Quick Learners: They pick up new things fast and can become good at new skills relatively quickly.
Adaptability: Multipotentialites are versatile and can apply what they know to different areas, often blending their skills in creative ways.
Seeking New Challenges: They might feel bored or restless if they have to focus on just one thing for too long, so they’re always looking for new challenges and interests.
Connecting Interests: They often find ways to combine their different passions, creating unique career paths or hobbies that use all their talents.
Non-traditional Career Paths: Multipotentialites may have careers with many twists and turns, rather than following a straight line in one field.
Emilie Wapnick’s work shows that being a multipotentialite isn’t a lack of focus or a problem, but a special way of approaching life and work. It’s about embracing diverse interests and finding opportunities that let them explore and blend their passions. Multipotentialites bring fresh perspectives and cross-disciplinary skills, making valuable contributions to many different fields.
I grew up feeling like I had to be a specialist, that I was a jack of all trades and master of none, that there was something wrong with me for liking all the things and wanting to do all the things, but now I know it’s one of the cool and wonderful ways I’ve been wired. One of the things I have learned along the way is that its ok to like lots of things, I don’t need to have all the things I love to do as part of my job, and I don’t have to monetise them. Like my love of design, I got to design our house and decorate it the way I like, and I don’t have to do that for someone else or for money for it to be a valid love. Same with the garden design and upkeep, and singing.
Photography is one that sits on the sideline. I love being able to take beautiful photos of my family and our adventures. But I also love taking photos for friends and the occasional client. So while I do earn some money from it, and in the past it made up the majority of my income for a time, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Travel is something I’d love to learn how to make some money from, but wouldn’t a lot of people :P
At the moment when people ask me what I do, I struggle to come up with an answer. Like it doesn’t fit in a neat and tidy box with a simple title that everyone understands like teacher, or accountant or doctor. But I guess at least it’s not a conversation stopper like when I was a test analyst haha.
Multipotentialites in history
There are plenty of multipotentialites through history too. When we think of multipotentialites, we’re not talking about scattered or unfocused people. We’re talking about expansive minds, the kind that refuse to live in one box.
Leonardo da Vinci – painter, inventor, anatomist, engineer, architect, scientist, musician. He didn’t just “have hobbies.” He studied flight, dissected bodies, designed machines, painted masterpieces, and filled notebooks with ideas centuries ahead of their time. Curiosity was his full-time job.
Hedy Lamarr – Hollywood actress and self-taught inventor. While starring in films, she co-developed frequency-hopping technology that later became foundational to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Glamour and ground-breaking tech in the same lifetime.
Benjamin Franklin – printer, writer, inventor, diplomat, scientist, political thinker. He moved fluidly between civic leadership and scientific experimentation. Curiosity and public service lived side by side.
Maya Angelou – poet, memoirist, civil rights activist, singer, actress, professor. Her voice wasn’t limited to the page, it lived in performance, politics, education, and cultural leadership.
Florence Nightingale – known as a nurse, but also a statistician, social reformer, and public health pioneer. She used data visualisation to influence government policy. Compassion + mathematics.
Multipotentialites aren’t new. They’ve always been here. History just tends to remember them by the thing they became most famous for, not the full range of who they were.
Multipotentialites don’t just benefit themselves either, they quietly strengthen the ecosystems they’re part of. Because they’ve explored different fields, they’re often the ones who can see patterns across them, spotting links and opportunities that more narrowly trained minds might miss. They’re natural translators, able to bridge conversations between specialists and help ideas move between industries, communities, or ways of thinking. Their adaptability makes them steady in times of change; when the landscape shifts, they pivot rather than panic. They tend to think in systems, considering how one decision ripples outward, which leads to more holistic solutions. And perhaps most importantly, they expand what’s possible, modelling that a life (or career) doesn’t have to be linear to be meaningful, and that innovation often lives at the intersections rather than in the silos.
Multipotentialite burnout
Burnout is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress and feel under constant pressure. Multipotentialite burnout can come from trying to honour every interest at once. When you’re wired for curiosity and possibility, it’s easy to feel like you should be building the business, studying the course, renovating the house, learning the language, launching the podcast… all at the same time. There can be this quiet pressure to “do it all” because you genuinely can see how it could all work, and you want to! But capacity still matters. The key isn’t shrinking your interests, it’s sequencing them. Choosing what’s in season. Allowing one or two passions to take the front seat while the others rest without being abandoned. Creating rhythms of depth and rest. Multipotentialites don’t need to become smaller, they need structure, self-trust, and permission to move in waves rather than all at once.
There’s also a nervous system piece here that often gets overlooked. Many multipotentialites live in a near-constant state of mental stimulation: ideas firing, possibilities expanding, new projects forming. Without intentional regulation, that ongoing activation can tip into overwhelm. Learning to downshift becomes just as important as learning something new. Simple rhythms: time offline, embodied movement, time in nature, unstructured rest, all help signal safety to the body so creativity doesn’t turn into chronic stress. And for women in particular, recognising cyclical capacity matters. Energy, focus, and social tolerance naturally fluctuate across the month and across seasons of life. Instead of forcing consistent output, multipotentialites thrive when they plan in waves. Initiating and building when energy is high, refining and restoring when it’s lower. Sustainable creativity isn’t about pushing harder; it’s about working with your biology, not against it.
Want to explore your own path as a multipotentialite? Let’s chat. I offer coaching for multi-passionate humans who are ready to embrace their full, beautiful selves. Especially if you feel like you’ve been dancing with burnout or have been struggling to find your place in this world.
See the quiz below to find out if you might be a multipotentialite.
Are You a Multipotentialite?
Take this quick quiz to find out if you might be one of the beautiful, curious souls with many passions!
Instructions:
Answer each question honestly. Count how many A’s, B’s, and C’s you choose.
1. When someone asks, “So, what do you do?” you:
A. Stumble, give a long-winded answer, and feel a bit awkward.
B. Say your job title, but it doesn’t feel like the whole story.
C. Proudly list 2 or 3 things you’re passionate about!
2. Your ideal week would include:
A. A mix of totally different activities—creative, intellectual, physical, spiritual.
B. Mastering one area of expertise and seeing progress in it.
C. Juggling several projects at once—thrilling but sometimes chaotic.
3. When you discover something new and interesting, you:
A. Dive in, research everything about it, then move on to something else.
B. Add it to a list but rarely explore it deeply.
C. Start a project or course immediately and tell everyone about it.
4. How do you feel about the idea of doing one job for the rest of your life?
A. Terrified. That sounds like a slow death to your soul.
B. Comforted. Stability and expertise are important to you.
C. Curious, but you’d want the job to evolve constantly.
5. Your desktop or bookshelf looks like:
A. A beautiful mess of diverse ideas: photography, gardening, business, astrology...
B. Clean and minimal, just the essentials for your chosen focus.
C. A hybrid, there’s some chaos, but it all has a purpose.
6. Your superpower is:
A. Connecting dots between totally unrelated topics.
B. Mastering skills through repetition and focus.
C. Starting exciting new things and inspiring others to join.
Results
Mostly A’s:
You’re a Classic Multipotentialite!
Your curiosity knows no bounds, and you're happiest when you’re learning, creating, and exploring. Embrace your many passions. You’re wired for a life of rich variety.
Mostly B’s:
You Might Be a Specialist—or a Multipotentialite in Denial.
You may lean toward depth and focus, but you probably still crave variety now and then. Try weaving new interests into your life. You don’t have to choose one path forever.
Mostly C’s:
You’re a Hybrid!
You thrive with variety, but you also crave some structure. You’re likely a “multipotentialite with a system”, and that’s a powerful combo.
