Things I Wish I Knew Sooner:
Why having too many interests is actually your superpower.
We’ve all heard the advice since kindergarten: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The question implies you have to pick one thing. One lane. One label.
But what if you love everything? What if you’re into coding… but also graphic design… and maybe a little bit of creative writing?
If you feel paralyzed by having too many interests, you aren’t broken. You might just be suffering from what career expert Barbara Sher calls the “Scanner’s Dilemma”—the fear that choosing one path means giving up everything else.
The good news? The workforce doesn’t just need specialists anymore. It needs M-Shaped Professionals.
Here is the career strategy for people who just can’t stick to one lane.
Christian Gomez, SEO Technical Automation Manager
Christian Gomez brings 12+ years of digital marketing experience and co-founded his agency, XIX, in Miami. His expertise spans technical SEO, web development, workflow automation, and UX research—skills that will help us scale our marketing and reach more students.
1. The “I” vs. The “M”
The old-school advice was to be “I-shaped”: deep knowledge in one single area (like a neurosurgeon).
Then, people started talking about being “T-shaped”: deep expertise in one thing, but with a broad understanding of other areas (like a marketer who knows a little code).
The “M-shaped” future is different. It encourages you to have multiple depths (the legs of the M) covered by a roof of general knowledge.
Example: You aren’t just a “Coda Expert.” You are a “Project Manager” + “Video Editor” + “Data Analyst.”
This combination makes you rare. A coder is common. A coder who can also write persuasive copy and design beautiful UI? That’s a unicorn.
2. Don’t Ditch Your Interests—Map Them
Instead of feeling scattered, create an Asset Map.
List out every weird, random interest you have.
Anime? That’s storytelling and visual culture.
Gaming? That’s systems thinking and problem-solving.
TikTok? That’s video editing and trend analysis.
Stop looking at them as “distractions.” Start looking at them as assets you can combine to solve unique problems.
3. The “Idea Trap” (Save Your Sanity)
The biggest struggle for us “Scanners” is that we want to chase every new shiny object.
The Fix: Create an “Idea Trap.”
When you get a sudden urge to learn underwater basket weaving but you have a biology final tomorrow, don’t ignore it—capture it. Write it down in a dedicated notebook or app. Tell your brain, “I see you, I like this idea, and I will get to it later.”
This frees up your mental RAM to focus on your current “M-leg” (your main focus) without feeling like you’re killing your curiosity.
The Takeaway
Being a “Jack of all trades” used to be an insult. In the future of work, it’s a competitive advantage. The ability to connect dots between different fields is something AI struggles to do—but you do naturally.
So, stop apologizing for your scattered brain. Pick one “leg” of the M to build today, and trust that you’ll get to the others.