The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One
Margaret Lobenstine, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-7679-2088-9
I had a job interview with a computer programming company yesterday, and one of the questions was “so, what computer programming projects do you do when you get home from work?” I explained that I have many different interests and I pursue those interests when I get home from work so that I remain balanced, happy and learn how to apply problem solving techniques across different domains. If it had not been for reading The Renaissance Soul in the last week I might have felt like a failure for not specialising, but now I know that being able to split my time between multiple areas of interest and changing my fields of interest can be a gift rather than a burden!
Margaret Lobenstine explains that there is a continuum between the Mozart types (those who specialise and become very skilled in one area) and the Benjamin Franklin types (those who have a passion for learning and who become very interested in multiple fields either at the same time or sequentially). Renaissance Souls are the Benjamin Franklins of the world, and we can have a difficult time planning careers due to the fact that we will not lock ourselves down into one career long-term, preferring to be a perpetual beginner so that we get to enjoy the learning curve. Without discipline we have a tendency to earn less and get bored easily while at work. The gift is that Renaissance Souls can be more passionate than their specialised counterparts, and when honed, that passion can be applied to all areas of a person’s life.
I think this quote from Chapter Two sums up the positive side: “When you decide to work with your Renaissance Soul nature rather than fighting it, you actually welcome distinct economic benefits into your life. One advantage you acquire is passion, a force that attracts others to you.”
One of the techniques that Margaret explains so that a Renaissance Man / Renaissance Woman can get on track and start using their passion for success rather than being a beginner forever, is to create focus points (she suggests four) about which us Renaissance types can form temporary specialisations. I wrote about this idea in more detail in my post How to succeed when you want to do everything about a week ago. These focus points can change as often as you like as long as you choose only four at a time. I love this idea because it is easy to procrastinate when you do not focus at all, but unless a person is a sequential Renaissance Soul (where they are interested in just one thing at a time like a specialist, but change their field once they master it) Renaissance types are highly likely to be interested in more than one thing at the same time and therefore need some focus.
Another concept that Margaret writes about is using what she calls a J-O-B (a day job with a difference) to bring your focus points closer to your source of income rather than having two different realms of experience. A J-O-B can provide excess income to be diverted to your focus points, or it can provide domain experience, staff discounts for retail goods you might need or other benefits. The closer your income source is to your current passions, the more balanced you will feel. Over time it may be possible to replace your current job or a J-O-B with one which actually encompasses your focal points. Margaret Lobenstine calls these umbrella careers, because they can encompass so many different interests at the same time.
One section of the book that I found very interesting was Margaret’s views on time management. She explains how traditional time management techniques just don’t work for those of us who have too many interests, because we tend to work more organically – working on activities that suit our interests and energy levels right at that moment. We can’t for example set a regular time for making business calls at 3pm on Monday and Friday afternoons and then assume we will follow through like clockwork. Margaret writes “Your delight in going with the flow, in responding to what interests you at the moment, means that iron-clad daily schedules don’t work for you.” What she suggests instead is to block out chunks of time as focal point time, so that during that block you can choose which activities you pursue, as long as they relate to your focal points. This sounds like a great idea to me, because personally I have tried a number of time management tools and I always give up after the first week or two.
I have been enjoying reading The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One
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