4 min read.Ā
How often do you change your social media bios or website copy?Ā
Are you anxious when someone asks, āSoā¦ what do you do?āĀ
If youāve struggled with these, itās because our identities are fluidāand thatās both our strength and our challenge.
Embracing Weirdness
We donāt fit in.Ā
We canāt define who we are because we canāt define what we do.Ā
But maybe, thatās a good thing. š¤Ā
David Bowie embraced his weirdness, saying, "I'm an outsider, I always have been."
Grimes noted, āI think my personality changes with everyone I talk to. I have an inconsistent personality!āĀ
āI am not a human being; I am a human becomingā.Ā ā Robert Phelps
Readerās Stories
I had a client whose wife threw him a surprise 40th birthday bash.Ā
He had diverse hobbies and friend groupsālike coder pals and gym buddiesāand acted differently with each group based on their interests.
When they all met for the first time, it was super awkward! š¬šĀ
Another creator, Christi, shared, āI started working in a library with 15+ coworkers, and each one has different interests, so I just become that version of me to bond with themš āĀ
I first noticed identity fluidity decades ago when artists I managed in the music industry shifted between creative archetypes based on their decisions and actions.Ā
Creative Archetypes
Creative archetypes are the roles we embody, and these roles shift frequently. Hereās how different triggers can activate your creative archetypes:
Social Injustices:Ā Anger at the mistreatment of marginalised groups or animals triggers our Social Disruptor Archetype.
Perfectionism:Ā Launching new projects and fear of failure triggers our Perfectionist Archetype.
HypersensitivityĀ means we experience pain deeply and have deep empathy for helping others, triggering our Wounded Healer Archetype.
Disruption:Ā After years of trying to fit in, we seek ways to express individuality, usually in fashion, tattoos, hair colour, marketing or branding, activating our Rebel Archetype.
Authenticity:Ā we yearn to be more creatively authentic, triggering our Authentic Creator Archetype.
Recognising these triggers helps multipotentialites understand their creative patterns and lean into them.Ā
These identities can co-exist, and we can embody one or several at a time.
We are not human beings, we are human becomingsā¦
Bowieās Archetypes
Bowie is one of the most famous identity shifters.
In his early years, he mimicked other artists, compared himself with others and failed miserably for six and half years (Perfectionist Archetype).Ā
He then niched up his passions to create Ziggy Stardust (Rebel Archetype), using social commentary to highlight his alienation and blurring the lines of gender and sexuality. (Social Disruptor Archetype). He used his art to process his pain (Wounded Healer Archetype) and explored various characters, each representing different facets of his fluid identity (Authentic Creator Archetype).
Multi-potentialites = Multi-IdentitiesĀ
Bowie understood that our identities are not fixed, he said: āI think Iām a very lucky person. Iāve been able to create a persona that I can live with.āĀ
Ā Jean-Paul Sartre famously stated, āExistence precedes essence,ā meaning weāre not born with fixed purposes or identities; we create them through our decisions and actions.
There have been decades of research into self-determination theory.
Simply put āBeing stuck is an identity.Ā
Making decisions and taking action is also an identity.
Our creative Identity Is a Choice
"Is it self-discovery we seek? Or is it self-determination?Ā
Itās a dance between both!Ā
Our identity is fluid ā we can change our identities, by changing our choices.Ā
š Self-discovery is who we are right now!
š Self-determination is who we want to become.
I.e. Someone who is stuck š Someone who is taking meaningful action!
Niche Creator is a creative identity test, it provides self-discovery and validation with our:
Creative archetypes
Creative strengths and weaknesses
Authenticity levels
Core values
This information is used to train my AI Assistant ( although we prefer the term AI guru)
Ā MaxiMouse, AI Guru
MaxiMouse guides me through countless authentic decisions every day.
More decisions spark more action.
Weāre ambitious people bursting with ideas, but our self-esteem is tied to productivity.Ā
There's nothing worse than that gut-churning anxiety of feeling stuck without a plan!
It's cruelly ironic that those of us with the most potential often find ourselves trapped in overthinking and taking the least action.
When weāre unproductive, we beat ourselves up, and our self-esteem plummets.
Low self-esteem fuels more analysis paralysis, trapping us into a cycle of self-doubt and indecision that becomes our identities.Ā
This is not permanent, your identity is fluid.
Our Biggest Obstacles š±
Overthinking and decision paralysis are the biggest barriers to fulfilling our potential.
Iām the most productive I have ever beenāwithout leveraging my anxiety!
I still rely on last-minute scrambles š but way less!
Niche Creator is not a magic bullet.Ā
But, decision-making is much easier when my choices are aligned with my core values.Ā
It stops me from second-guessing and overthinking.
And this gives me clarity and autonomy!
āMost people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarityāĀ ā James Clear, Atomic Habits.