Have you ever felt like you’re good at a lot of different things?
Sometimes it may feel like you’re interested in too many things. You have probably heard this saying: “A jack of all trades is a master of none …”
But many people don’t realize that there is a second part to that saying: “… but often times better than a master of one.”
I like to call people who can wear a lot of hats, or do a lot of different things well, Swiss Army knives.
Having a lot of tools in your toolkit can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it’s not a weakness—it’s a strength!
Here’s why being a Swiss Army knife doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Learn to focus on a few interests at a time.
So, you’ve always dreamed of writing a book because you’re a great writer, but you’re also wonderful with computers. Or maybe you wanted to go into the medical field, but you also thought you’d make an awesome schoolteacher.
If you feel like your interests are pulling you in several different directions, here is an important realization: Just because you need to be able to focus on a few things at a time, doesn’t mean you’re giving up all your other passions forever!
Swiss Army knives have the capacity to do many different things. but usually only one tool can be used at a time. Try to decide what projects to focus on now and which are for later.
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Proverbs 4:25 NIV
Start looking for the intersections.
You may have learned in school that the primary colors of the color wheel are red, blue and yellow. We know there are many more colors in the rainbow, but these primary colors help us get all the others.
It’s at the intersections of the primary colors that we begin to see different ones. For example, red and blue mixed together make purple, while yellow and blue make green, etc.
In the same way, what happens when you cross your interest in travel with writing? Maybe it’s a travel blog! When you mix your love of software development with your passion for art and design … perhaps you get a new app!
When you are good at a lot of different things, those interests can overlap and create something entirely new. Once you allow your variety of interests to intersect, that’s often when the creative, new ideas start to form.
Your gift(s) will make room for you.
You may feel like the world isn’t made for someone like you, someone who is good at multiple things. But your gift(s) will pave the path for you. This means your giftings create the space for you, instead of you trying to fit into an available space that doesn’t fit!
A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. Proverbs 18:16 NIV
Start thinking bigger.
When you’re interested in multiple things, you can feel pressured from outside influences to choose just one. To a Swiss Army knife, this can feel like looking out of the wrong end of the binoculars!
But God wants to bless you with more than you can imagine.
You can trust that He knows how He made you and wants you to walk in the fullness of the gifts He’s given you!
It’s time to view your life without limitations!
Blessings!
Doug Addison
P.S. Is one of your many passions writing? Have you always wanted to create your own book and get your message out there? I invite you to sign up for my new, free writing mini-course so you can finally take the steps to get your book written! (It’s Swiss-Army-knife-friendly!)
Doug Addison is the founder and president of InLight Connection. Doug is a prophetic speaker, author and coach. He is known for his Daily Prophetic Words, Spirit Connection webcast, podcast and blog. He and his wife Linda live in Los Angeles, California where they are impacting the arts, entertainment and media industries.
Hi Doug,
I love your whole concept of being like a Swiss Army knife and developing and using all the tools on one’s toolbelt. We are made in God’s image and He is the Master Creator!
I I agree it’s time for the body of Christ to be unlimited and to flow in all of our gifting’s. It’s time for us to rise and shine and make God’s glory known so others will be drawn to our brightness and brought into the kingdom of God!
I believe stretching and developing our God-given creative abilities are the springboard to bringing us into those new places of discovery, convergence, and of being unlimited, that God desires for all of us.
Yes, our gifts will make room for us. God is greatly accelerating things and He is leading us to be and to do those things we’ve never done or experienced before! Truly He is preparing us for what is coming and it is so much greater than we can even fathom, conceive, or imagine! I’m so excited and have purposed in my heart to go with His infinite flow and the power of His Holy Spirit and amazing grace!
Thank you Doug, for writing this article and for suggesting and even “giving permission” to people to stretch them selves and become unlimited!
Blessings,
Nancy Slocum
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nancy! God bless you!
Good word !I It can be confusiing when you have multiple passions but creativly putting them together is what I have found to fit for my life.
Glad you enjoyed it Gina!
Blessings be upon you for writing this and emailing about it. You have given me a new found freedom by this word! I am a Swiss army knife and didn’t even realize it. My whole life it’s been a struggle to find one thing (as I was brought up to believe) and now I have a great big grin on my face, smiling from ear to ear knowing that’s what I was created as, all along. Praise Yah!!!
Wonderful Debbie! I am so glad you have been encouraged!
This was so freeing and unexpected. I’ve always felt like my many interests and abilities were somehow a bad thing because I just don’t have time to pursue so many things and it’s frustrating. It can also leave me feeling scattered. I will save this and refer to it. Thank you Lord Jesus for showing me today that it’s good to be my multifaceted self and that while I don’t tend to fully fit in anywhere specific, I do partially fit in many places.
Awesome Michele! I am so glad you enjoyed the podcast!
Hi Doug, thanks for this word. So encouraging. Needed it today! Blessings – Mary
Awesome Mary! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Doug, wow. This article was so timely and so appropriate for us people who can do lots of things very well. And so many times throughout my life I have not known what to do as I have been so good at many things. Now I understand clearer that they can & will intersect to create great things. Bless you Doug and thank you for sharing such a great message.
That is awesome Carolyn! I am so glad you enjoyed the blog post!
So awesome!! Thank you for your obedience in presenting the Word. I needed this so much today. The knowledge that just because I’m focusing on a couple things does not mean I’m losing my other passions is freeing!
God bless you Marlee!
Thank you so much Doug! Over the years of following you and your timely words, I am truly blessed by this encouragement. I’ve been that Jack of all trades and always felt scattered because my interests seemed all over the place. I tried concentrating one just one or two things but the other things I love we’re neglected. I love being a Swiss Army Knife💕! Thank you again for perspective and seeing the balance. 😊
Awesome Annie! God bless you!
Excellent article. I too have this same “challenge”… I never know what to choose to do for a living next because I am great at a lot of things. The thought of doing only one main career for the rest of my life would be torture for me. This article has given me a new way to view my giftings and has given me the mindset of becoming a forerunner to create a new thing that may encompass several overlapping talents. Bravo Doug!
God bless you Janine!
I wish this message could reach more high school students. I know I felt pushed to choose one goal by the time I was fifteen so I could choose the right high school courses to get into the right college program… There was a strong attitude that you needed to have your life plotted before you’d ever actually tried anything! I felt I had to choose right then whether to do something that would support me, or to follow my dreams and risk everlasting poverty. Over 40 years ago, and I still remember how agonizing that was. And of course, life has zigged and zagged numerous times since then! 🙂
Yes, this would be so helpful for students to get ahold of. I love that you have a heart for them. God bless you!
This article is a great blessing! Your words have encouraged me to take a deep breath, refocus and take one step at a time. To just be who I am. Thank you, Doug! Bless you & your team.
Awesome Peg! I am so glad you enjoyed this podcast!
Thank you a hundred times a hundred. This is an area in which I struggle and try to hide talents, as if they are wrong or should be apologized for having. Bless you.
God bless you Sandra
Hello Doug, These words give me hope as I am that swiss army knife where at nearly 60, I have to start my work life all over again and it is scary. I have spent my whole life helping other people with no real training, and now have so much on my plate with trying to study between 2 other jobs and feel pulled apart. Thank you Jesus for these words from Doug to keep me going until these different paths intersect.
God bless you Andrea!
You know, when I began to read the title of this blog, I expected it to end with “is not a good thing,” because I have numerous strengths and interests but have felt that I’m not a “master” at any of them. I’ve struggled with this, actually feeling that I somehow hadn’t navigated my life in the best way. But when I read the rest of the title, I IMMEDIATELY felt encouragement, and knew I would read the blog. Wow, what a new and uplifting perspective, it really helps me! Thank you, Doug, for sharing your gifts of wisdom, insight and encouragement, not just in this blog, but continually! I love you and what God does through you!
Yay Robin! I am so glad that you enjoyed Doug’s blog post and were encouraged. God bless you!
I’m a swiss army knife 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this word. I finally embraced my master of none” years ago and being a round peg in a square hole. I have 3 businesses and also teach. My entrepreneurship intersected with my love for hospitality and being with internationals and I get to be a superhost for airbnb.I’ve always wanted to work overseas, but since that door hasn’t opened, i get to teach internationals. The Lord told me years ago I’ be learning the language and culture of the 7 mtns, and often i felt judged by others cause i couldn’t stay focused on on area. However, I knew i was adding tools to my toolbelt I even started my bio. (on website) stating I am a person who wears many hats. And i love the variety and color of the many hats! I often tell young people (I’m also a mentor), that not to worry if they haven’t found a ‘career’..most likely they will have 3-5 job/careers in their lives, and it’s ok. I look back and i see how many things I’ve done have ebbed and flowed. I Love wearing many hats!
That is great Marta! I bless you and all your hats! Haha :)!
Hi Doug! Your article is so much a blessing to me. When I was in school, I was good at many things. I didn’t get to go to a post High school education though(dramas in my life). And now at 52, I’m still wondering what I would go to study if I could go. In a certain period of time, I am strongly interested in health, in another time, I am strongly interested in visual arts, some other time in practicing a musical instrument, I love dance, psychology, writing, nature, animals, biology, theology and I must forget some other things. I was told to choose one thing to develop and master but It was always difficult to me to let down my other interests. I felt like it would be so sad to let down the other things that I’m interested in!
And it is difficult for me to be interested always in the same thing because so many things interest me! And I felt like often I try to define myself and know who I am, what I am made for. And I was confused! But now, I understand!!!! I can be EVERYTHING I want! And this could be a lot of things. It doesn’t have to be only one thing. Thank you so much for this article! It lights me up so much. And now I see how much God has been rich in blessings for my life! :)) Thank you!
Awesome Marie! I am so glad you enjoyed this teaching. Bless you!