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“A Blessing and a Curse”

Multipotentiality is simply described by Lisa Rivero as “A Blessing and a Curse”. The first time I was introduced to the term multipotentialite was by Emilie Wapnick’s Ted Talk. Have you ever felt that there is something different about you? That is how I felt for the most of my life. It felt like an itch on my back that I could never scratch, up until when I saw the ted talk.
Suddenly everything started to make sense. Throughout my life I’ve tried so many skills and I’ve learned so many of them but I’ve never been able to commit to one. People usually learn something and stick with it for the rest of their lives but not for me!
My name is Amir Panahi and In this post I will described the term multipotentialite and then I will tell you about my experience as a multipotentialite, finishing up with some suggestions for you guys out there that might help you in your journey. If you are not interested in my experiences then you can just skip my Experiences and read the rest.

Multipotentialite

A multipotentialite is a person who has many interests and skills. Multipotentiality is a term that psychologist use for people who show aptitudes in varieties of disciplines and skills.
As Emily puts it, those who are multipotentialite can not find their true callings or at least there is not just one true calling for them to pursue unlike specialists.

My Experience

For me it started with music. I started learning piano when I was 5 then I got bored! I switched to guitar and then I got bored again! Couple of years later I realized I can play more than 10 musical instruments. By no means I was a master of any of them but I was what they consider as an intermediate player. It was enough to impress everyone around me!
Then I got to computer science. I learned how to repair computers (hardware and software) then I shifted to mobile phones and did the same there! I learned how to repair them professionally both in hardware and software levels.
Then I got bored again and I thought publishing a paper in my educational field would be nice! So, I published my first paper regarding Computer Assisted Language Learning.
Oh, did I mention that my native language is Farsi (Persian)? By the way throughout those years, I leaned English language (advanced level) as well as French language a little. Then I thought how about inventing something huh?! That would be nice right? So, I learned enough about electronics and microcontrollers and how to program them and, then, there you have it. I patented an ultrasonic-obstacle-detector glasses for blinds.
I got myself into sport and boxing and I joined the national student public sports Olympiad. Immediately after that I found myself in programming and when I learned how to program fairly in different languages like Python and JavaScript, I started learning Artificial Intelligence science and Machine Learning. Meanwhile I learned how to create a website and personalizing it using CSS and HTML.
But one thing always felt missing. I really needed a connection, something to give this madness a meaning! Something to connect them all! When I saw the Ted Talk by Emilie, suddenly everything started ticking.

I realized that I can connect it all. That was when I got serious about combining my research background, my university studies and my knowledge about computer science and programming. Nowadays I’m trying to apply my knowledge of technology into language learning and teaching as they call it Educational Technology Research.
Is there anyone like me out there? Please let me know in the comments.

Connect It All

Sit down and think about every skill that you have acquired so far and the areas of interests and challenges that you might want to tackle next. Write down those that really matters to you the most and try to find an interdisciplinary area that can combine them all together. For me it was applying technology in teaching and learning languages, for you it might be something else.

Learn how to monetize your skills

Yes, it is good to find a job and do it for the rest of your life but what if you can create different streams of income and at the same time use all of the skills you’ve acquired so far to make a living. Currently I’m teaching music, programming, English language, cellphone repair and electronics, translating, creating websites and apps for businesses, analyzing data and so many other things at the same time and so can you.
Learn how to monetize your skills, start with the one that you are most passionate about. You can even create online videos and courses and teach each and every one of them.

Here are some links that you will find useful:
https://medium.com/@ahmed.elhanboushy/multipotentiality-is-a-strength-8e9c976dd62f
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creative-synthesis/201107/multipotentiality-when-high-ability-leads-too-many-options

Here is the link to Emily’s Ted Talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZdcB6bjI8

Featured image source:
https://medium.com/@ebunoluwaadetaiwo/multipotentiality-curse-or-gift-a7470ece59eb
About me:
https://amirpanahi.com/about/