007 Finding Identity in Multiple Disciplines

The question "what do you do?" creates an identity dilemma for those of us with diverse interests spanning analytical and creative pursuits. Rather than choosing between these seemingly opposing paths, I've discovered ways to embrace all facets of my multi-passionate nature while maintaining focus and purpose.

• Balancing creative and analytical tendencies
• Identifying historical polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci and José Rizal who excelled across multiple disciplines
• Managing multiple interests by categorizing them based on necessity, desire, and learning opportunities
• Implementing the "slow burn" productivity approach to gather ideas for various projects over time
• Creating a unified purpose statement that threads through all endeavors regardless of discipline.

Episode Transcript

Richmond (00:05):
Hi, you're listening to Pockets, a podcast about
finding joy, meaning and purposein life's simplest moments.
I'm Richmond Camero.
Let's dive into today's journey.
The question I find hard toanswer is what do you do?

(00:27):
Should I tell them about mycurrent role in my day job?
So I'd say I'm a QA team leadat Cambridge University Press
and Assessment.
I lead people, test software,write code and engage with the
information technology community.
Should I tell them about mypassion for writing and
creativity?

(00:47):
In which case I'd answer I'm awriter of several stories and
books in the science fiction,fantasy and crime and suspense
genre.
I write and perform poetry andI also do this podcast.
Or should I tell them aboutother things that I'm exploring
for myself or hobbies that I'mpursuing?

(01:09):
So I'd answer I love to journaland read books.
I collect stickers and foundevents.
I study productivity, self-helpand stoicism.
I also practice sketching anddrawing.
With all of this, what do I dothen?

(01:29):
What is my identity?
A manifestation of thisdichotomy was during my college
application.
In the application for theUniversity of Santo Tomas, I had
to choose what my major was andI had the option to select two.
So my first choice was computerscience and my second choice

(01:54):
was literature.
Yep, that's right.
These are two unrelated coursesthat are from opposing sides of
the spectrum.
The idea of having interestsfrom different sides was a
consistent thought in my head.
One time I brought this outinto the light was during my
TEDx talk a few years back.

(02:14):
It was called Two Lives theCreative and Analytical Mind and
it was my attempt to understandhow would these two hemispheres
of my life meld into one.
The balance I would find isthat whenever I would feel
overwhelmed or I am bored in oneside, the other side would be
my escape, which works, by theway, in this way, I am still

(02:38):
continually leaning into both ofmy tendencies.
However, when I think about thedetails, it's not as easy as
going back and forth.
As I shared in the start ofthis episode, I have multiple
interests, meaning, with thecreative side, there are several
more parts under that Same.

(02:59):
For the analytical one, thereare several sub-disciplines for
my technical side that I want toexplore.
So what, then, is the solutionfor this?
Would I need to drop myinterests and be a master of one
?
Perhaps not exactly.
It starts with knowing myselfand how I want to work.

(03:22):
With knowing myself and how Iwant to work.
I know I want some variation inwhat I do.
A few examples I like that mydesktop and phone wallpapers are
rotating every 30 minutes, butI only have a certain set of
wallpapers that I like.
I like Muji pens, but I want torotate between different colors
.
Even reading books.

(03:43):
I'd like to read multiple booksat a certain time and change
between them depending on mycircumstance.
Same with work.
I want something different or acertain amount of challenge in
my day-to-day.
This goes to show that I don'tlike monotony.
Of course, I don't want thingsto be too random.

(04:05):
I still like certain things,but I want some variation
between those things I like.
If you look at some prominentpeople in history, they also
engage in multiple disciplines.
Leonardo da Vinci is known forhis paintings.
However, he also excelled indiverse fields, including

(04:25):
sculpture, architecture,engineering and science.
Even our national hero, JoseRizel, practiced multiple
disciplines, includingophthalmology, writing, painting
and the sciences.
I believe that, even thoughthese disciplines are different
from each other, some skills aretransferable to the others.

(04:47):
For sure, there are somebenefits in having different
interests, but the question ishow do I effectively manage them
?
One technique is identifyingthem based on priority.
They can be something I need todo or something I want to do or
something I'm still learning todo.
For instance, let's look at mywriting projects.

(05:10):
I like to switch betweenwriting projects as well.
Something I need to do mightlook like the actual manuscript
that I'm writing Outlining forthe next book will fit in
something that I want to do, andthen something I'm still
learning to do might be tryingout a different genre that I
haven't written.
When I look at this as a whole,they contribute to my goal of

(05:35):
being a writer, but they alsooffer variety.
The second principle is the ideaof slow burn in terms of
productivity.
This is an idea I learned fromTiago Forte, the author of
Building a Second Brain.
Slow burn means slowlygathering ideas in the
background and over time.
It's building and collectingpiece by piece so that when I'm

(05:59):
ready to do the project, Ialready have the information I
need.
For me.
This is especially helpful forthe projects that I'm not
confident with or are not yetclear to me.
With a slow burn, I'm able togather ideas for those different
projects that I'm interested in.
Lastly is to find what's thecommon purpose and value that

(06:21):
binds my different interests.
Like what Simon Sinek saidthere is only one.
Why there's no such thing as apersonal or professional, why I
remember one of the careerworkshops I attended last 2023.
It required us to craft ourpurpose statement an
encompassing purpose regardlessof what we do.

(06:43):
Encompassing purpose regardlessof what we do.
We identified what wasimportant for us, our core
values and what we can do tohave impact to the world.
This is my purpose statement.
I am a storyteller who offers asafe space for others to help
them discover the richness intheir lives, and this is true

(07:03):
regardless of what discipline Iengage in.
Stories are an important partof who I am.
In writing, I want to offer anescape to readers.
In management and leadership, Iwant to help others write their
own stories.
In learning and philosophy, Iwant to understand the story of
the very life we're in.

(07:23):
My purpose statement keeps megrounded and it provides clarity
in whatever discipline I engagein.
Curiosity is one of my corevalues and it is the one thing
that made me explore thesedifferent ventures yes, I did
drop some of them along the wayand it made me closer to who I

(07:45):
want to be.
May you continue to explore thedifferent paths in front of you
and may you find your bliss andbe the person you are supposed
to be.
You've been with Pockets.
Thank you so much for sharingthis space with me.
Now go embrace the moments,build your pockets of meaning

(08:06):
and keep curiosity as you'reguide.