I’ve juggled many interests over the years, so I share the struggle. I carried the notion that I needed to put thousands of hours into any one thing to make a go at it, but I’ve released those expectations because it holds me back. I still do get spun around trying to put time into all my stuff; however, sometimes I focus on one thing for a long stretch before moving to the next.
My tentacles are probably: Music, writing, teaching, research, photography…something like that.
Hi Benno, thanks, I can relate. I decided to stop putting pressure on myself to pick one thing as well (see my post on Ikagai being trash) and have decided to just do whatever catches my interest in the moment. Still learning to work in this Octopus fashion but so far I’m liking it, it’s changing the way I view work, and it has ironically been less of a struggle than trying to pick one thing was.
"ask a young person if they’d like to work at the same company for 45 years at a high-stress job in a cubicle 9-5 every day wearing business attire, that sounds like a slow painful death" - same 🤷♀️ (I also refer to Notion as my second brain!). Love your work Dave and I look forward to your future insights.
Me too although I'm getting better at articulating what I'm up to now. It took a while to "refine the elevator pitch" so to speak. How's the unicorn life going?
I say something like: “I use the octopus as a metaphor for being a generalist who likes doing a variety of things at the same time. I’m running a career experiment to do up to 8 different jobs at once.”
I've always referred to this as the gig economy. Critical fact: the availability of health insurance makes this possible. I'm 58 and would have love to have structured my career this way, but could not. Health insurance was my barrier. I knew people who did not chain themselves to employment and died because they did not have health insurance when they got a common, treatable cancer.
Hi Tracy, this is a sad reality in the US (not in other counties that have government run “free” insurance). Obamacare was a step in the right direction in that people can now buy insurance while self-employed, but it’s expensive and often does not have care plans that are as good as what you might get while employed at a corporation. As the workforce shifts to gig work I’m hoping that new kinds of health insurance offerings will be offered, as within our lifetimes we may see gig work eclipse full time work, and the gig people cannot just be ignored and left to suffer, they will have voting power and will hope find politicians who will champion their cause. Generally speaking our health system in the US has amongst the worst outcomes for how much we spend on it, which is frustrating to everyone involved.
I recently came across this company that has a health insurance offering for solo entrepreneurs, they group people together to get into a group plan instead of everyone trying to find their own healthcare, I think there will be more services like this in the future (regardless of who's in the White House!) https://www.besolo.io
Thanks Jordan, glad you found it helpful, I subscribed to your SS, it seems we are on a somewhat similar journey to leave niche work behind and create new kind of career! Would love to stay in touch and compare notes over time.
How about one arm of your octocareer being coaching people on setting up and succeeding as an octopus? Your essays here are laying the foundation for quite a program! There is a great need for programs that can help people in high school, college and later strategize about work. Our schools offer nothing useful about this. There are a lot of tools that can help people focus in on the right content areas for all their tentacles.
Thanks I have thought about this, I feel like I need to succeed a bit more at actually living the Octopus life myself before teaching others how to do it.
That said, there seems to be a growing trend where people are “teaching as they learn”, where they do coaching or make courses for people that are just a couple steps behind them. On one hand I feel like these people are barely qualified to teach but on the other they are sharing learnings that others may find helpful.
The old mantra "See one, do one, teach one" comes to mind here. Not just "one," but it's the right sequence.
I have the sense that your writing has a lot of lived experience and thought behind it Dave. It's solid. So unlike all the gurus and snake oil salespersons out there, I think you have something to offer, kind of a paradigm for post-industrial work and career building. People are desperate for a map to navigate all this. Build it and they will come.
Here's what I've learned from helping people decide what those +/- 8 arms/tentacles should hold:
Thanks Baird, I enjoyed your essay, there are a lot of ways to figure out what to do with one’s life and I can see how young people these days might feel confused or lost, not only with all the different methods, but the world is also shifting beneath their feet as they try to figure things out. I appreciate your comments and will ponder “see one do one teach one”, I do enjoy teaching/sharing/helping people so I think I would enjoy coaching or giving webinars, it’s definitely on the radar.
I’ve juggled many interests over the years, so I share the struggle. I carried the notion that I needed to put thousands of hours into any one thing to make a go at it, but I’ve released those expectations because it holds me back. I still do get spun around trying to put time into all my stuff; however, sometimes I focus on one thing for a long stretch before moving to the next.
My tentacles are probably: Music, writing, teaching, research, photography…something like that.
Good luck in the octopus game.
Hi Benno, thanks, I can relate. I decided to stop putting pressure on myself to pick one thing as well (see my post on Ikagai being trash) and have decided to just do whatever catches my interest in the moment. Still learning to work in this Octopus fashion but so far I’m liking it, it’s changing the way I view work, and it has ironically been less of a struggle than trying to pick one thing was.
"ask a young person if they’d like to work at the same company for 45 years at a high-stress job in a cubicle 9-5 every day wearing business attire, that sounds like a slow painful death" - same 🤷♀️ (I also refer to Notion as my second brain!). Love your work Dave and I look forward to your future insights.
Thanks Jessica, I’m no longer a young person and I don’t want that kind of job either! Glad you’re enjoying the posts!
"[...] pregnant pauses, smiling hesitation, and complicated answers." Ugh! That is me all the time 🤪.
Me too although I'm getting better at articulating what I'm up to now. It took a while to "refine the elevator pitch" so to speak. How's the unicorn life going?
I'm still molding it and I am getting clearer like you said. So curious, what's your elevator pitch these days?!
I say something like: “I use the octopus as a metaphor for being a generalist who likes doing a variety of things at the same time. I’m running a career experiment to do up to 8 different jobs at once.”
I've always referred to this as the gig economy. Critical fact: the availability of health insurance makes this possible. I'm 58 and would have love to have structured my career this way, but could not. Health insurance was my barrier. I knew people who did not chain themselves to employment and died because they did not have health insurance when they got a common, treatable cancer.
Hi Tracy, this is a sad reality in the US (not in other counties that have government run “free” insurance). Obamacare was a step in the right direction in that people can now buy insurance while self-employed, but it’s expensive and often does not have care plans that are as good as what you might get while employed at a corporation. As the workforce shifts to gig work I’m hoping that new kinds of health insurance offerings will be offered, as within our lifetimes we may see gig work eclipse full time work, and the gig people cannot just be ignored and left to suffer, they will have voting power and will hope find politicians who will champion their cause. Generally speaking our health system in the US has amongst the worst outcomes for how much we spend on it, which is frustrating to everyone involved.
And now, we will wait with baited breath to see where this new regime takes us.
I recently came across this company that has a health insurance offering for solo entrepreneurs, they group people together to get into a group plan instead of everyone trying to find their own healthcare, I think there will be more services like this in the future (regardless of who's in the White House!) https://www.besolo.io
Love the octopus framing! This is extremely helpful as I am putting together my tentacle strategy. Great post!
Thanks Jordan, glad you found it helpful, I subscribed to your SS, it seems we are on a somewhat similar journey to leave niche work behind and create new kind of career! Would love to stay in touch and compare notes over time.
Brilliant piece Dave! 👏
How about one arm of your octocareer being coaching people on setting up and succeeding as an octopus? Your essays here are laying the foundation for quite a program! There is a great need for programs that can help people in high school, college and later strategize about work. Our schools offer nothing useful about this. There are a lot of tools that can help people focus in on the right content areas for all their tentacles.
Hi Baird,
Thanks I have thought about this, I feel like I need to succeed a bit more at actually living the Octopus life myself before teaching others how to do it.
That said, there seems to be a growing trend where people are “teaching as they learn”, where they do coaching or make courses for people that are just a couple steps behind them. On one hand I feel like these people are barely qualified to teach but on the other they are sharing learnings that others may find helpful.
What do you think about this approach?
The old mantra "See one, do one, teach one" comes to mind here. Not just "one," but it's the right sequence.
I have the sense that your writing has a lot of lived experience and thought behind it Dave. It's solid. So unlike all the gurus and snake oil salespersons out there, I think you have something to offer, kind of a paradigm for post-industrial work and career building. People are desperate for a map to navigate all this. Build it and they will come.
Here's what I've learned from helping people decide what those +/- 8 arms/tentacles should hold:
https://bairdbrightman.substack.com/p/finding-your-right-work
I also discovered that if people skip the step of building a real business plan, they are likely to fail. That could be a part of your program too!
Thanks Baird, I enjoyed your essay, there are a lot of ways to figure out what to do with one’s life and I can see how young people these days might feel confused or lost, not only with all the different methods, but the world is also shifting beneath their feet as they try to figure things out. I appreciate your comments and will ponder “see one do one teach one”, I do enjoy teaching/sharing/helping people so I think I would enjoy coaching or giving webinars, it’s definitely on the radar.