If Lockdown has taught us anything it is that you need to diversify your life. Join Neil today as he discusses the importance of polymathy and why learning new skills and jobs can make us become more interesting. Neil discusses famous polymaths and their impact on the world, how learning new skills can be fun and how to split your time to meet all of your drivers.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Polymathy means “knowing a lot about many things”. We seem to be encouraged to become totally focused on “our thing”, and that specialisation is good. However, this should not come at the expense of broader learning and expertise. Focus like a laser and become outstanding at what you do primarily, then add more skills, more learning, and more fun.
The upshot of recognising and embracing dichotomy is that from the moment you wake up, to the moment you go to sleep, you’re absorbed, fascinated, and having fun doing what you love.
An unexpected outcome of lockdown is the realisation that you need to diversify your life. The brain wants to solve a puzzle, the hands need to feel the satisfaction of working and the brain needs to develop new skills.
Being widely read and interested in a whole bunch of things makes us more interesting, we have references beyond our speciality and lessons from all over the place, parallels to draw, similes and comparisons, insights and treasure. Without diverse interests and activities, we can all grow stale: having multiple interests, jobs, work and activities gives us different perspectives, often insights from one field apply elsewhere.
You may already be an expert teacher. However, for someone who is already an expert in-field, your next breakthrough will probably come from outside of your field. Ideas which are common “over there” are unthinkable “over here”.
BEST MOMENTS
“If each thing you do adds an income stream, too - happy days!”
“but that could also mean a narrowing of my vision – where’s the fun in that?”
“I’ll be grinning every step of the way because it’s fun to be so interested in so many things.”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Listen to The Tutor Podcast on the Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-tutor-podcast/id1369191372)! Build Your Online Course Week 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
Course Planning Week 2: Who Am I?: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/build-your-online-course/id1369191372?i=1000477109724
Who are They? (Know Your Punters): https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/who-are-they-know-your-punters/id1369191372?i=1000478984529
Read the Weird Things Guitarists Do book by Neil Cowmeadow, which is available now on Amazon. Link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weird-Things-Guitarists-Do-Misconceptions/dp/1519026579/
Contact Neil via this website - com!
ABOUT THE HOST
Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!
CONTACT METHOD
info@neilcowmeadow.com
