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there is a phrase that has always
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bothered me a little bit and the older I
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get it bothers me even more it is Jack
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of all trades master of none but today I
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want to try to convince you that that
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phrase is highly overrated what if I
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told you that jack of all trades has
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been misunderstood for a long time what
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if being a master of all trades is not
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only possible but an actual massive
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unlock for you as a creative person some
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of the most innovative thinkers creators
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and artists throughout all of history
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had lots of disciplines and we have a
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term for this it's called AP polymath
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today in tribute of the great David
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Lynch I want to talk about what it means
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to love a lot of different things and
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have all of those things help you make
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the things that you really want to make
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this term jack of all trades appeared in
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1612 when Robert Green criticized
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William Shakespeare for his many many
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diverse talents it annoyed Robert Green
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that Shakespeare was good at a lot of
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things so he called him a Johnny doit
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all by the 18th century the term that
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we're actually familiar with appeared
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jack of all trades master of none but
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often sometimes better than a master of
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one was created this phrase caught on
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and was used in literature media it was
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a big deal because it was actually a
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compliment it was saying that people who
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can learn to do a lot of things are
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valuable they're useful and they're
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versatile but some sometime in the 19th
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century the ending of that phrase was
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removed and it was only jack of all
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trades master of none this happened
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because there was a new idea of success
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in town it was the Industrial Revolution
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or an industrial economy people were
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saying you need to do one thing and you
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need to be really efficient because
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that's how you're going to be successful
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and this started a slow sneaky death of
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the polymath creative people started to
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believe that they shouldn't be scattered
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or be interested in multiple things this
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is where we get the modern concept of
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hey you better go to college and get the
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degree in the one thing or you won't be
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successful mentality of modern society
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it's all based around one thing super
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efficient no waste but the problem with
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that is Art is wasteful art takes time
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exploration it takes a lot of noodling
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around and stewing in different things
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and history shows us that in some very
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amazing examples Leonardo da Vinci
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mastered art science engineering
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painting can you imagine anyone saying
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that he was not good at those things he
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literally changed the world because he
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was interested in so much and all of
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those things came together to help
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everything that he was working in
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another example is Maya Angelou she was
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a singer and artist a poet and an
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activist she was involved in so many
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different facets of creativity and again
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every one of those things that she was a
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part of fed into the other and made her
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extremely unique Benjamin Franklin
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invented the bifocals the glass
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harmonica he
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invented electricity not really but he
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discovered it he was insanely creative
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he was a politician he was a writer he
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was a true polymath can you imagine
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saying hey you're a jack of all trades
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and you're not good at any of it one of
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my favorite examples of this is HEI
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Lamar she was a superstar celebrity
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actress in The Golden Age of film but on
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the side she loved engineering and she
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dabbled in all kinds of creative
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disciplines because of this she
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essentially created the modern
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foundations of Wi-Fi these jack of all
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trades have actually driven our society
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especially creativity and lastly the
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inspiration for this entire episode with
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his passing the great David Lynch when I
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saw the news that he was gone I went and
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looked back over work that I've always
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loved his photography his music his
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paintings his movies he's incredibly
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diverse and he even had really intense
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Hobbies like roasting coffee beans and
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going all the way to an extreme with it
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it was because of all of these interests
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that he became one of the most unique
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creative people of our entire generation
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so why is this why is it a good thing to
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be a jack of all trades and why has it
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been looked down on for so many years I
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think it's easy to answer the why has it
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been looked down on because it really is
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that industrial complex that pushing
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forward of capitalism and the Industrial
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Revolution that said efficiency equals
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money and dabbling around as a creative
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doesn't make a lot of money per hour we
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need to let that go and realize that we
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are not made to be good at one thing we
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are made to explore life in the fullest
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some of you have been discouraged your
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whole life because you feel like you
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just can't find the one thing you're
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supposed to do my encouragement for you
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today is to say there isn't one thing
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you're supposed to do an artist creates
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art and art is pulled from all around
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you the things that you love help you
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create things that other people will
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love this is important because there is
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a
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cross-pollination a literal sharing of
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ideas across disciplines just like with
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David Lynch if you watch one of his
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films you will see his pain painting he
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actually said my films are moving
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paintings with sound and I love
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listening to the soundtrack of Twin
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Peaks and knowing he designed that sound
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because he saw the paintings in his mind
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and created them through a film this is
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that cross-pollination that all of us
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should be operating in another thing is
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it makes us super adaptable we can swing
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from one thing to the other we don't
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have to depend on one successful art
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form we should be able to have our hands
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in different things and feel inspiration
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and move to it as it comes and goes and
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move to different art forms as the world
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and the community that you're in need
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certain things you can respond to what
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and who you're making something for in
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different ways as it feels appropriate I
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realized over the last couple of years
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that I really have spent 20 plus years
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really 25 years as I sat here today
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exploring tons of different creative
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disciplines I never really thought about
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it but I started on guitar that led me
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to tons of different instruments that
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led me to writing songs that led me to
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engineering in studios that led me to
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producing other people's work then I got
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into circuit design and music influenced
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my circuit designs in my guitar pedals
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and those guitar pedals have branched
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out into all kinds of other things like
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talking on YouTube and being a better
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teacher because of that then I got into
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photography because of cycling I got
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really into gravel cross country cycling
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and I wanted to take photos then all of
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that photography from the cycling taught
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me how to be a better photographer for
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the other things I do like the guitar
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industry there is a constant process of
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everything bleeding together even the
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graphic design and branding elements
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that I've learned over 17 years of
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running a business have bled over into
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other disciplines I now write I never
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thought I would do that but everything I
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mentioned before has made me a better
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writer it never ends and even my hobbies
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like cycling and even recently just
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wanting to learn to cook certain things
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have expanded my mind creatively one
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last tip don't get in a hurry it really
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has taken me 25 years to fully see and
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respect all of that cross talk and
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cross-pollination in my life and I am so
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thankful for it I didn't notice it in my
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early years and I don't think I even
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noticed it in the middle years so a lot
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of you are in that same position look
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back over all your interests forget the
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critics and think about how they're all
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helping each other and go find other
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hobbies and disciplines I guarantee you
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it will not disappoint you in the
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comments below tell me what you think
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about this and tell me all of your
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disciplines argue with me if you want to
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but I really want to hear from some of
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you about how your creative Endeavors
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and interests have all cross-pollinated
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and helped each other share this with a
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friend who's struggling to figure it out
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or make it have a great day hit like
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episodes goodbye
