Ever since I can remember, I have been deeply interested in a wide range of subjects. From playing guitar and producing electronic music to experimenting with physics, chemistry, and electronics, studying business and economics, understanding cryptocurrencies, diving deep into health and human longevity, learning languages, and exploring human nature.
I have never felt satisfied committing to and specializing in one domain. In fact, I have deliberately avoided it. Until this day, I have intuitively studied and learned whatever I felt drawn to, often resulting in learning and working on multiple things simultaneously.
Conventional wisdom has always told me that this approach is wrong. The prevailing belief is that one must hyper-specialize to be successful, strive in their career, and become a thought leader. Yet, this has always felt wrong to me. Even when I tried to specialize, my natural instincts led me back to pursuing multiple things concurrently in wildly different domains.
From a conventional perspective, this might make me appear less valuable – perhaps even unemployable. However, I have always thought of myself as an indispensable generalist who understands and interconnects a wide range of subjects well enough to discover value that specialists overlook.
A few days ago, I started listening to “The Polymath” by Waqas Ahmed. After listening to the introduction and the first chapters, everything started to make sense. My natural tendency to immerse myself in a wide variety of subjects is not a flaw; it is perhaps the only way to fulfill my full potential.
It is liberating to read how polymaths have led and steered the world. With this newfound understanding, I can now confidently embrace anything I feel drawn to. Learn. Study. Apply. And – what has been missing until now – Master any subject I feel a natural inclination towards.
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