In high school I was in the International club, I was part of the sewing team for the drama production, I volunteered with elderly folks, ran cross country, and I even dabbled with pole vaulting for a week.  Through my many activities I was able to find what I liked and what I didn’t like.  There are many dabblers that have come before us and have rose up to become very successful.

• Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.  He dominated the arts, mathematics, and sciences. He had an “unquenchable curiosity” that lead him to pursue many interests and it lead to some great discoveries.  Due to his wide range of interests there were numerous paintings and sculptures that he never finished, but that did not stop him from becoming famous.
• Denzel Washington studied Biology and Political Science in college before he first acted in a YMCA staff talent show.  He went on to be an Academy Award winner.
• Coco Chanel was a cabaret dancer before she started designing in her mid-20’s.  She went on to found the brand Chanel.
• Thomas Edison was a dabbler. Without him, we wouldn’t have the light bulb.
• Benjamin Franklin was a writer, newspaper publisher, scientist, postmaster, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.  He certainly dabbled in many different fields, but that didn’t stop him from being one of our founding fathers and creating great inventions such as the lightning rod & bifocals.

As a dabbler we do have it in ourselves to become great just like those mentioned above.  Follow your interests, pursue your dreams, and keep trying new things even if it means leaving projects unfinished.  Through a little dedication we do have the skills necessary to become great!

I always thought to be someone of value that I had to become an expert in one area. This notion kept me from doing many things, because I knew I wouldn’t ever have a long enough attention span to become great in that one area. After years of feeling worthless, I one day just realized and accepted the fact that I would never be a world renowned expert. This acceptance freed me to step forward. I began to embrace the fact that I am a DABBLER!

I like to start new projects, lots of them.  In fact, the excitement & enthusiasm of starting a new project is one of my favorite feelings.  In those beginning moments I feel like I can accomplish anything.  I am on top of the world.  Being excited about life & trying new things is one of the greatest benefits of being a dabbler.  We have great life experiences, memories, stories, & pictures to prove it!  Dabblers are definitely not boring & people envy our enjoyment of life.

Here are some tips to embrace being a dabbler, and to learn how to deal with misconceptions you may run into.

• When you try new things, don’t give up just because others can do it better than you. Learning a new skill takes practice, effort, and time.
• If you try something and don’t like it, that’s a good thing. Some times knowing what you don’t like is more helpful than knowing what you do.
• Each endeavor you try is a learning experience: creating handmade earrings teaches you something different than taking a cooking class or training to run a marathon.
• Everything in life is a tradeoff.  If you become an expert you sacrifice missing out on other things. If you dabble then you miss out on being the top of the class.  When you feel down about not being an expert, look through old pictures & remember the great memories that you have made in the past through your enjoyment of life.
• You can be a person of value to someone else by loving them, cheering them up, or offering encouragement.  Life is about relationships.  “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”― Maya Angelou
• Whether you dabble in two hobbies or six, know that every hobby requires discipline and patience. Try to focus on one at a time, so that you can give each hobby the attention it deserves.
• Find mentors or teachers in whatever hobby you are currently exploring. They will save you a lot of time and heartache by teaching you the correct way to do something and keep you from making mistakes.
• Create a bucket list, and find enjoyment from crossing things off the list.
• Don’t compare yourself to others; you are living your own life in your own way. “Comparison is the thief of Joy”.
• Keep challenging yourself in new areas of disciplines & continue to be a well-rounded opportunist!

 Dabble on  my friends!

Strengths & Weaknesses of a dabbler.

Growing up I was always starting new project & doing different hobbies. I would have one round of tea with my dolls, then paint a picture, and then I was onto something else. The only thing that I could do for hours at a time was play board games. I loved that each game allowed me to try a different strategy. It kept me intrigued and interested well beyond my opponents attention span. My mind was always going, thinking, analyzing, and strategizing. I had these qualities as a child and I am still like that today.

My biggest struggle is with finishing projects. Starting is never my problem. I always have a notebook overflowing with more ideas than I could possibly ever execute. When I start something, and it doesn’t go perfectly, I often leave it “for later” and never return.

Embracing your strengths and weaknesses will help you to become the best version of yourself.  Knowing that my core struggle is not finishing projects, I am able to take more steps necessary to overcome this weakness.  Some steps I might take include…

• REWARDS: Giving myself a reward when I do finish.  Like taking the rest of the day off or buying that new pair of shoes.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: Having my husband or a friend keep me accountable.  If I know someone is going to ask me if I finished a project, I will be more likely to get it done so I don’t look like a failure in their eyes.
• SCHEDULE TIME:  I will set time aside each day to work on only that project without the distraction of social media.
• TO DO LISTS: Taking a larger project and breaking it down into bite size pieces helps me take baby steps.  I also love crossing things off my to-do list, so if I have more smaller takes that means I get to cross more off the list.
• NOT STARTING: Knowing I don’t like to finish things, sometimes I have to keep myself from starting in the first place.  I have to assess if it is a temporary thing I am excited about or if it is something that I have been wanting to do a for a long time.  When I don’t start new things, I then have more time to finish those projects that are only half-done.

On the flip-side, knowing that I am really great at coming up with ideas, analyzing, and strategizing helps point me in the right direction of what job I should take or what new hobbies I should try.  For example, I recently found a love for rock climbing partly because I have to analyze the route in order to make it to the top successfully.  I also worked as an accessories buyer which allowed me to constantly come up with new ideas and then find a strategy to successfully sell those items.

Embrace your strengths and weaknesses as a dabbler and use them to your advantage!

It is ok to be a dabbler…

The definition of a dabbler is, “one not deeply engaged in or concerned with something”.  A dabbler might also be known as an amateur, novice, hobbyist, indicisive, or jack of all trades, master of none. In society today these words generally have a negative connotation; they are words that we let define us as not good enough.

“Amateur” shares a Latin root with the Italian word “amore,” to love. During the Renaissance age an amateur was a virtuous lover of knowledge, no matter the form.  Somehow over the years the idea of specialism has become inherently superior. Today every book in the business section of your local chain bookstore  is about defining your purpose, developing your personal brand, focus on focusing, and pursuing your number one priority. Specialism rules.

For dabblers, the question of which path to choose can be overwhelming when so many inviting roads beckon. We may spend a few years or more trying out different jobs or fields, or going back to school to put the decision off for a while longer, while friends and family members wonder when we are finally going to find ourselves. My question is, were we ever really lost in the first place?

My goal at Dabblism.com is to change the way we perceive this word “dabbler”.  My re-definition of a dabbler is “one who engages in many different things; well-rounded”. Being a dabbler means that you are exploratory by nature, interested in many things, and are not satisfied with living a life that is focused on one area.  Life has so much to offer!

Being a dabbler is like going to a buffet and trying a little bit of all the different foods. Since you didn’t spend all your time enjoying one thing you may have missed out on some subtleties of a particular entree, but look at all the other items you were able to experience!

Life is about the journey, not the finish line, so don’t give up when your journey seems longer or different than everyone else’s…ENJOY IT!  Embrace being a dabbler!