All the Potential You Can Be | Slashie Generation

"I finished reading Matt Haig's book The Midnight Library a few weeks ago and it left me with a mix of hope and melancholy. The book tells the story of a woman who is unhappy with her life and regrets not living up to her potential, and who, after attempting suicide, visits possible versions of her life. As you read the book, you understand how seemingly insignificant or emotionally driven choices can affect our lives.

I was impressed by the end of the book even though it was very predictable. But the way the author convey the message was touchy.

Another reason why the book touched me is that I can identify with the protagonist. I have always been someone who wants to be everywhere and try everything in life. I even took the positive intelligence test and the result is Restless. It is someone who can't stand still gets bored with what they're doing, always wants to try something new and jumps from one thing to another.

This is a character type, yes but first of all, it is very tiring. And secondly, when you ask yourself what you are doing with your life at the end of the day, you think you are everywhere but in reality, you are nowhere, and you find yourself in a vortex.

That's why in the last two years I have started to reduce the number of things I channel my energy and time into. I don't have a goal of focusing on one thing because I am still uncomfortable with the idea of focusing on only one thing. Also, if I had the choice of only one thing, I wouldn't know if my life would be enough to decide:)

This is how I am, I can't deny my personality but I can at least start reducing my options. So that I can live my life in a more satisfying way rather than being a spectator of my own life."

What is Slashie?

The term "slashie" refers to someone who has multiple careers or income streams at the same time. This can be done through a side hustle, such as content creation, coaching, or teaching, while also having a traditional 9-5 job. The name comes from the use of a slash (/) between the different titles or professions that a person holds.

For example, a LinkedIn headline or Instagram bio might read "writer/teacher/engineer" and so on. I think it's quite similar to the Japanese concept of "ikigai" which is having a meaningful and fulfilling side hustle besides your full-time job.

With the pandemic, it is becoming more important to consider what we want to do with our lives, how we want to live, and how we want to spend our time because we may have missed opportunities that we had planned to do before the pandemic. This trend is more common among the younger generations and it is normal for people who have not found their potential at a young age to explore different fields and interests. However, it is important to have a limit to the number of things you do, and it should not create stress but rather bring joy and satisfaction.

Keep in Mind if You're a Slashie...

Don't Push Yourself Hard

An important thing to consider when working in multiple fields or having multiple interests is to not put too much pressure on yourself to be excellent in everything or to expect to achieve great things in all your side hustles.

For instance, if I want to be on the list of the most listened-to podcasts in Turkey, I need to either make it my one and only job, which is not the case for most people, or I need to dedicate 80% of my time to it and set goals accordingly. If I cannot do that, I should not put too much pressure on myself and set realistic goals.

Try To Do a Healthy Comparison

As Thomas Edison said, "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves." It's important to remember why we started something and to review our goals, and most importantly to make a healthy comparison with others. Social psychologist Festinger's theory of social comparison is also important to consider when comparing ourselves to others. Here is my article about Social Comparison Theory if you are interested in learning more about it.

Manage Your Time Wisely

If you have multiple pursuits, it will naturally take more of your time. So, it is important to make a proper plan and prioritize in order to allocate time for yourself and your loved ones as well as for your multiple jobs. If you'd like to improve your time management skills, feel free to contact me for coaching.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness practices also play a role in my approach to managing multiple interests. It helps me to calm down and be in the moment. Plus it also helps me to organize my thoughts while millions of thoughts crossing in my mind.

In the booklets that I distribute in mindfulness-based stress reduction courses, there is a line that has had a great impact on me. It is a question from poet Mary Oliver:

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Simplify Your Life Mentally and Physically

The first step to answering this question, in my opinion, is to simplify. Because when you allow yourself to stop trying to do everything and stop saying yes to everyone, that's when you simplify mentally and physically. When you start putting effort into providing the highest contribution to the things that truly matter, whether you're a slashie or focused on one thing, you have a clearer stance on the question "What am I doing with my life?" I'm not saying you will find the answer easily, as I don't believe there is a clear answer, but at least you won't be overwhelmed by the question.

Spend More Time To Discover Your True Potential

Another important question I think is related to this is: What should we do to discover our potential within ourselves? Note this question and think about it. It's not easy to find something we've turned our back on for years. Everyone is more or less aware of themselves, but we need to find a way to discover the potential that lies within us.

Getting to know yourself, knowing your interests, and desires, what makes you feel alive in life, and what is meaningful to you, basically self-discovery is very important. Knowing what you can do in the conditions you are in, how much you can adapt, what you can start over again, and what you can leave behind is important. If you need more details here you can find the 6 tools of Self Discovery article. Alternatively, you can contact me for Professional Coaching.

Bring Your Creativity In

Open up the space for your creativity. I have started to work a lot on this because I realised that the protective thought pattern that has been protecting me for years from taking risks, also limits me a lot.

If we look at what is happening in the world, what people are doing, and how they are earning their livelihoods by finding their own passions, we will get great inspiration.

Let Yourself Get Bored

Do we really need to try to fit more activities into our over-scheduled lives? I don't think so. We need to accept doing nothing. As I mentioned in the Performance Society article, we don't question why we do things. That's why we need to question and also have free time so that we don't waste our potential and regret it later.

What else can we do?

One of the first books I will recommend on this topic is Greg McKeown's Essentialism. The book gives good tactics to lighten your load, both physically and mentally, and to focus on what is necessary. Some of the things I highlighted are:

Discover and Evaluate

We do some things just because we think they will be helpful to us, but we don't question whether we really like or enjoy them or not. What I mean is, for example, a master's degree. Ok, the education system is certain, we studied and graduated from a program that we were not really interested in. But how many of us did a master's degree in the field that we are truly interested in? Or, did you complete your master's in business, marketing, etc., and channelled your time and energy into different places just because it would look good on your CV and help us get into good companies? And then, we drag ourselves to the job we don't enjoy just because we started it once. That is called sunk cost fallacy

That's why one of the important questions we need to ask ourselves before doing something is: "Will this activity or effort provide the highest possible contribution to my goal?"

Eliminate

Interestingly, research shows that we tend to place more value on things we already have and it is harder to let go of them. For example, if you have a job or a relationship that you are not fully utilizing your potential in, but you continue to do it because you have already started, you can ask yourself the following question: "If I didn't have this, how much effort would I put in to get it now? How excited would I be about doing this?" Rate it on a scale of 1-10 and see what comes out.

To establish a routine, after identifying and eliminating unnecessary activities and efforts. Maintaining a sustainable system to efficiently achieve our intentions by consistently performing the activities and efforts that provide the highest level of contribution. This can be accomplished by creating a morning or daily routine.

In summary, to discover and utilise our potential, we need to be honest with ourselves about what we truly enjoy and find meaningful, eliminate unnecessary commitments and distractions, establish a routine to sustain our focus, and find time for self-reflection and self-discovery.

Additionally, it's important to ask ourselves what we would be willing to do for the things we want, and what version of ourselves we long to become. Finally, a reminder to take care of yourself and to keep exploring what matters to you.

Thanks for reading Mindfully Yours newsletter, I hope you enjoyed the topic. Here are some ways to access more mindful living tips:

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Warmly,

Emine