131 - Embracing the Power of Being Multi-Disciplinary

The Gyst Life - A podcast about how to live your best life

We often feel pressure to specialize, to fit into neat boxes that others can easily understand. But some of us are wired differently. We move fluidly between disciplines, evolving and expanding our skills in ways that don’t replace what came before but augment it. This piece explores the unique strength of being multi-disciplinary, the challenge of communicating that value, and the importance of creating our own paradigms, rather than squeezing into outdated ones.

Hi David here,
It's been a while since I recorded something
So here's my update!
I'll try and keep it short.

For those who might be listening for the first time and don't know me or my wife maya, we run a company called The Bear and Unicorn Creative. We've been working in brand, design and marketing, coaching our clients how to communicate their value, tell their story and market their services for 15 years. And we've worn all the hats to make that work.

It's been an interesting year of digging into creativity and defining and refining my body of work more deeply. I still find myself jumping around, trying my best to herd all my precious ideas and projects to move in the same direction.

At the end of 2023 Maya and I made some choices to try our best to streamline our efforts and stop doing so many things. We decided to work more intimately together and align our efforts towards a single focus, leaning into our talents more intentionally. Using our creative energy to build something for ourselves.

And just when we thought we were done "adding more" Painting murals became a big focus of ours this year. And while it might seem like a radical step in an unrelated direction, it's actually quite aligned with who we are and what we seek to do more of on many levels.

I definitely plan to talk more about the exercise of painting murals and why we decided to do this work in the future.

But in this conversation I want to talk about being multi-disciplinary. I am going spend a little to pull apart what it means, the struggle it can be to communicate that complexity to others, the internal conflict that occurs, and what we can do to break free from the conventional ideas that keep us from truly embracing who we know ourselves to be.

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Being a multi-disciplinary myself, I have done and continue to do a lot of different things. It's been a natural way to live, like breathing. But for most of my career, I've struggled to communicate my value in a way that honors that depth and resonates with those I seek to support and co-create with.

I've heard others say that from the outside, it looks like I’m constantly shifting focus. It might feel like I can't or won't commit, always replacing one discipline with another in a convoluted game of hot potato.

There's been conversations with others and with myself where after I've caught myself believing something was wrong with me for being this way, spiraling into self-doubt and self-sabotage. This impulsive reaction at the well intentioned feedback of others really did a number on any momentum I had created. But this is also mine to own.

I've been banging the drum of embracing creativity and I often talk about just how multi-faceted we humans really are. Even those who've settled into a specialty engage in many other things. No one is ever doing the exact same thing all the time. This is our creativity in action and its a fundamental aspect to being human.

And there are some of us who have embraced our tendency to be multi-disciplinary as our specialty. As our way to be compensated and sustain our lives.

What we forget is that our diverse skills don’t operate well in the isolated echo chambers like that of our specialists’. No, our collection of talents are woven together into a unique pattern, one that only we are responsible for understanding and making sense of. Others can provide guidance and direction, but the real work can only be done by you, because only you see the world like you do. And it's on you to learn how to communicate that value to the world.

As I embrace this ideology, and commit more time to understanding how this special way of operating works for me, the better my skills come together.

Like a well-oiled machine, the jacks and jills of many trades are fundamental contributors to society and the marketplace in surprising and unexpected ways.

But we need to be intimately aware of each gear and learn to switch between them at the right time. And the only way to really know this is to build and create and put it out there for others to interact with.

So consider this: you’re not confused, you're just not committing. And you don’t have commitment issues, you just can't do everything at once. So decide, right now, who you will be moving forward. Own the fact that you see the world differently. And moving in and out of disciplines doesn't cancel each other out. You’re not replacing skills; you’re evolving and augmenting them to achieve outcomes even you might not fully comprehend yet. You just need to spend time to better understand how each skill, each gear is best optimized for use.

When I look at all the things I do, I don’t see them in isolation but as part of a full spectrum of parts that represents my value in it's entirety. Every element contributes to the whole.

Of course if you're an entrepreneur like me, the challenge comes in how to market and sell "what we do" to others. This is where we often fall into the trap of trying to trim down or fit our value into a neat little box to look like a specialist in a specific field.

But we’re not specialists. And everytime we try and cut off parts of ourselves in an attempt to "focus", we prevent our true selves from being seen and contributing. If this is you, take a breath and recognize the magnificence of all that you’re capable of.

The real work lies in understanding how to articulate the depth of your experience and the value it brings to others. And that understanding only comes when you’re willing to put it out into the world and see how others interact with it. But this exercise is only meant to achieve one thing, to help you see the gaps, and where you need to simplify and declutter how you present your ideas as it relates to the work you love doing the most. The work you have a natural disposition for, the work your diverse talent thrives in.

This isn’t about squeezing your value into current industry paradigms, but about you standing out. It’s about realizing how your unique contributions are creating new paradigms that complement industry—and even create new markets.

In a world that rewards specialization, it can feel overwhelming to show up with a diverse set of skills and experiences. But we are not here to fit into the boxes others create for us. We’re here to create something entirely new—to weave our unique collection of abilities into something that brings value in unexpected ways.

Your journey may look different from others, and that’s your strength. By embracing the full spectrum of who you are, you’re creating a new way of being, a new way of contributing.

So...

Take a moment today to reflect on all the skills, experiences, and passions that make up your life. Write them down. Look at how they connect. Start to see the bigger picture. How can you bring these together in a way that adds value to the world around you?

You’re ready to start sharing that value—whether through projects, collaborations, or new ventures—put it out there. Don’t wait for the perfect time. Don’t wait for the industry to understand you. Be the one who creates new paradigms, new opportunities, and new ways of working.

It's a journey that you must do for yourself, but that you don't need to do alone.
So reach out to me on social or through my website if this resonates with you, or if you’re ready to explore how we can collaborate and bring your unique vision into the world.

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