If you’re the sort of person who has many different interests and feels like you’ll never find one satisfying career path, I recently read a book called “Refuse to Choose!” by Barbara Sher [1] that says you might be what she calls a “Scanner”, someone who has “[i]ntense curiousity about numerous unrelated subjects … [is] endlessly inquisitive … [and] doesn’t want to specialize in any of the things she loves, because that means giving up all the rest.”
If this definition sounds like you, the author explains, you’re not alone or wrong, and that rather than trying to fit yourself into one perfect career box, you’d be much better off (and happier!) if you let yourself follow all of your interests and find a “Good Enough Job” to support them.
Whether you’re an actual “Scanner” or just someone with a lot of interests, there were a lot of great tips in this book about how to pursue as many of your interests as possible while having fun and holding down a job. Here is a list of a few that struck me:
1. Start a “Scanner Daybook” i.e., a blank book devoted to what you do each day. This is a great way to capture your best ideas, your own version (according to the author) of the Leonardo da Vinci notebooks.
2. Stay in a job, or follow an interest, until you feel you’ve gotten what you came for (even if the job or project is not technically “finished”). The author references a great Buddhist riddle to illustrate her point and to help you figure out when you’re done with a particular job or activity.
Koan n: a Zen Buddhist riddle used to focus the mind during meditation and to develop intuitive thinking
Q: How long should you stay at something?
A: However long it takes to get what you came for.
Q: How do you decide what you came for?
A: You don’t, you discover it.
Q: How do you discover it?
A: You notice what isn’t there anymore when you feel like leaving. [2]
3. For everything you’re interested in, start a three-ring binder and put all of your ideas related to that topic into the binder. This will help you (a) keep track of your ideas (b) give you a sense of accomplishment and (c) allow you to put an idea off to the side and pursue other interests, but make it easy to come back to.
4. If you’re the type of person who sometimes feels overwhelmed by so many interests that you can’t get started on any one particular interest and end up doing nothing, the author recommends that you set a daily, weekly or monthly schedule for yourself and goes on to describe several specific types of schedules. [3]
5. According to the author the “best friend” of almost every Scanner is the “Good Enough Job.” “It isn’t your dream job; it’s the one that funds your dreams,” she writes. I think there’s a lot to this idea and, if you’re someone who doesn’t want to give up on your search for your dream job, the Good Enough Job might help you get there by allowing you to pursue your interests along the way and figure out what really works for you.
There are a lot of other great ideas in this book (including tips to help you identify what type of “Scanner” you might be) and I highly recommend it for anyone who wonders why they haven’t found “the one” right job.
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1. Thank you to Victoria Moran who mentioned this book in her weekly newsletter, The Charmed Monday Minute, and who posts a blog at Beliefnet.com.
2. She also recommends that you try to figure out what your particular “rewards” are in any endeavors you choose and suggests that once you identify your rewards, it will be much easier to figure out when you’re finished with a particular interest or job (i.e., the moment you receive your reward is the moment you’re done with the activity). Possible rewards are endless and vary with each individual, but a few that the author cites include: learning something new, having impact, creating something that didn’t exist before, and helping others.
3. One schedule that appeals to me is called the “School Day Life Design Model” where you set aside an hour or two each day to work on a particular activity or interest. With this schedule the author suggests that by my making daily appointments for yourself, you’re more likely to get things done, and by doing a little bit each day you make tons of progress in the long run.
This is so great! I can definitely relate to have so many interests that I can’t choose one over the other. I like the idea of the 3-ring binder to keep track of them as they develop especially if they are longer-term interests.