Fear of Being Pigeonholed
Fear of Being Pigeonholed
I have a fear of being miscategorized. A general fear of being categorized in general.
I have what some would say is a lot of spinning plates in my life. I have a lot of hobbies, and I have more than five sources of income.
I have read all of the business books that matter. I've spoken to coaches, and taken courses. I know that if I focus on only one thing, I will get really good at that one thing. I may even someday become great. But, I'll be miserable.
The courses and the books and the people did not tell me this, it's something I know.
Every time I sit down to create my ideal schedule, I can never pinpoint the exact work I want to be doing at the exact time of day. I know it would be my preference to go to the gym every day around 10:30a, and it would be nice for me to come home after that, take a shower, and eat a good meal. But beyond that, the specifics are nonexistent.
I am a writer. I've written books in several genres. I have several big names. I even have a publishing company. I teach people how to write. I write books about writing. I thoroughly enjoy it.
But, my formal training is in health and wellness. I have 13 certifications in health and wellness. I started learning back in 2002 which is also when I started my yoga and fitness teaching career. I haven't entirely left the industry, but I did not evolve with the industry. I did not create a YouTube channel. I did not create an app. As a result, my fees had to become lower and lower, because I could not provide more than what I was providing. So, I slowly backed away.
I worked in computers for a while. By this I mean, I was a helpdesk technician for a small company, and I helped in the refurbishing department at another small company, refurbishing, small computers, and selling them online.
When Etsy was new, I sold paintings. If I had stuck with that, who knows what I would've done with my life? But, as is the custom, there was a love interest, who drew the majority of my attention, and there went all of my profit.
The point I'm getting at is your story may look very similar to mine when it comes to career, hobbies, or just the randomness of life.
It's so hard to decide on just one thing for some of us. I've always felt like I was more than one thing. More than one idea. More than one hobby. More than one skill.
There are ways to focus on just one of these things to make it a hobby, or a career. I find that when I do that, I get depressed, I end up, strangling the fun out of this task, and I end up putting it down.
I have a day job in addition to my business, and the independent contractor stuff that I do. I know this isn't for everyone. But I do this because I need the security of a day job, so I can feel the freedom of all the creative work I want to do.
If you were interested in many things, and find yourself paralyzed by indecision, when it comes to which thing to pull the trigger on, let me tell you something – you can pull the trigger on all of them when you are motivated to pull the trigger on all of them. If you are afraid of being pigeonholed, stuck in one thing, I get it.
If you try five things, and find that you are better at one of them, your immediate world may put you in a category. You do not have to agree to live in that category forever.
You can be an expert in that thing to just that group of people. You can still have a life outside of that box. So, do not be afraid to experiment with things. Don't be afraid when you find one thing that you're better off than the others. Monetize it if you can while you've got it, and don't be afraid to move on when it's time for you to move on mentally.