This free flow of thought post was something that I needed to get out there. Off my chest if you will.
While there is science behind finding your "niche", narrowing down, and optimizing for one thing. There is also precedent, and a need, for more multi-niche creators. This is the same argument as the "specialist vs generalist" that has been going on for the last 100 years.
Ironically my meta-niche is "Polymathy", or rather as I have now come to find: It is really "Knowledge Management for Polymaths". However the point remains my topic/niche is around being multidisciplinary, and DOING MANY different things.
Doing them well.
I find myself struggling
Maybe it is because content creation is my job if you will, or perhaps it is my expertise? Both?
Meaning it is what I am trying to be every day, and I love being a creator. It is the only job I've felt that is meant for me, even in my most idealist mindset (what would I want to be). Anything that comes to mind, it has a foundation of me having a personal brand and content.
The struggle I face is that I am impatient. I'm impatient to start my next phase. What I call my next niche or focus for PolyInnovator. What my plan started out as:
- Modular "DIY" Degree
- How to Swim
- Content Repurposing/Creation
- Gaming
Later became:
- Modular Degree
- PolyCast Interviews
- How to Swim
- Swimming/Content/PolyCast/Gaming
There wasn't much completion of previous phases, and my trajectory got disrupted by the interviews. However I wouldn't be where I am now without them, and thus they fit in perfect in the grand scheme of things. However in my head I feel that I should be farther along with some of the other phases.
While they CAN interleave...
Meaning there can be more than one phase at once. It is usually supposed to be 80/20, or at least 80/10/10. As you might be sowing the seeds for the next one, or keep the fire alight for the previous one (or both).
This particular year I wanted to work on my swimming, which meant finishing the newsletter output (which I pretty much did, as I don't have much else to add), and most importantly finishing the book! Which I have not done...
Then also keeping up previous things like the PolyCast, Now Page (which isn't much work), the Polymath Newsletter, and the various short form content I have put out.
Then ALSO starting up the Content Repurposing arm, and managing to get my Gaming arm up and running as well. However the Polymathy stuff took a lot more attention than I thought it would, and I failed to write my book in time. I had put off the gaming content because of this too.
The idea behind doing all of them however wasn't so much that they'd all be front and center. Rather just building them all up this year, as they needed more foundation to stand on. Maybe I was successful at that, but in my head I wanted to be further along in each?
It isn't just juggling too many things
I don't believe in that saying, that if you spread yourself too thin. It isn't like I have much in the way of relationships or hobbies outside of my, karaoke, computer/content stuff, or gaming. Meaning I had the time and bandwidth to do it. Just a matter of energy I guess too!
Perhaps this year wasn't as much of a failure as I once thought. I started up the PolyInContent arm pretty strong, learned a lot about how I want to make my gaming content, and completely reframed how I want to market the main PolyInnovator stuff.
