Multipotentialite: Traits Of This Personality
Multipotentiality, the ability to have many skills, is usually mistakenly overlooked.
12/11/2018 13:10h | Updated at 2018-11-16 08:06h
'What do you want to be when you grow up?' This is the million-dollar question that we are always asked as children. With time, this question takes on color, shape, and place, and also puts pressure on us.
It is very typical not to ever know what we want to do with our lives. Some people have so many interests that they are not capable of choosing one, but social pressure forces them to. Do not panic if you have found yourself in this situation: you may be a multipotentialite.
The way we view multipotentiality can influence and condition the development of children. In this article, we help you to deal with multipotentialite people.
What is a multipotentialite?
A multipotentialite has many interdisciplinary interests, and they have several and very diverse aptitudes. They could devote their lives to anything that produces the necessary interest for them.
This is why a multipotentialite can one day learn how to play piano and the following day write a novel. At the same time, they can be an accountant in a company as well as become interested in a specific sport.
The opposite of this type of person would be a specialist, i.e., people who are experts in a specific field.
Multipotentialite social stigma
It is called social pressure and labeling. Many times, when we do not know what we would like to do with our lives, all we get is 'you should focus', 'you have to choose', 'you are a dispersed person and you do not focus your attention and effort on something concrete' and so on.
This pressure is difficult to handle, especially in adolescence when we have to choose a branch or what career to study. The pressure exerted on which —unique— path we should take makes us feel disoriented, strange and even lonely.
Nowadays there is a need to label everything, including ourselves: 'I am a psychologist' or 'I am a lawyer'. It is hard to conceive the idea of defining oneself in a more open-minded way, without referring to a specific aspect. It is true that labels are useful when communicating, but they cease to be beneficial when they are a necessity and an imposition.
5 multipotentialite personality traits
Some of the particularities of this type of people are described below:
1. Synthesis of ideas
This refers to the ability to create something combining two or more different fields. A multipotentialite is able to merge various factors to create a new one.
2. Cognitive flexibility and adaptability
Multipotentialite people are able to adapt their thinking to the different circumstances or situations presented to them. Therefore, they have a great capacity of adaptability to changes.
3. Rapid learning
When a multipotentialite is interested in something, they put all their efforts on it. This, together with the diverse interests they present, helps them transfer their previous knowledge to what is new to learn. It is like having a database on different fields that facilitates the learning of new ones.
4. Curious and philomath
For a multipotentialite, being curious is something innate that pushes them to find new vocations and fields of interest. They are thirsty for knowledge.
5. Visionary
Multipotentiality opens the door to the new and the diverse, creating the capacity to look at the same reality from different points of view.
What if I am not a multipotentialite?
It is okay! Variety is the spice of life. As we said before, this is the case of specialists, who focus all their interest, effort and attention on a specific field. Having a vast knowledge of a particular subject is as valid as being a multipotentialite.
Therefore, whether you are a multipotentialite or a specialist, the important thing is that you always do what makes you feel happy and fulfilled, no matter what external pressures or labels are imposed on you.