"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

「你長大後要做什麼？」

Now if you had to guess,

現在，如果你們願意猜猜看，

how old would you say you were when you were first asked this question?

你們第一次被問到這個問題時是幾歲？

You can just hold up fingers.

你們可以舉起手指回答。

Three. Five. Three. Five. Five. OK.

三歲。五歲。三歲。五歲。五歲。好。

Now, raise your hand if the question

現在，如果「你長大後要做什麼？」

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

曾讓你感到焦慮的話，

has ever caused you any anxiety.

請你舉起手來。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Any anxiety at all.

只要會焦慮都算。

I'm someone who's never been able to answer the question

我就是那種永遠無法回答

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

「你長大後要做什麼」這種問題的人。

See, the problem wasn't that I didn't have any interests --

告訴你，問題不是因為我沒有任何興趣，

it's that I had too many.

而是我有太多興趣。

In high school, I liked English and math and art and I built websites

高中時期，我喜歡英文、數學和藝術，我還架設網站、

and I played guitar in a punk band called Frustrated Telephone Operator.

在一個叫做《挫折的電話接線生》 的龐克樂團擔任吉他手。

Maybe you've heard of us.

或許你們聽說過我們。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

This continued after high school,

高中畢業後，狀況仍然持續，

and at a certain point, I began to notice this pattern in myself

在某個時候，我開始注意到自己有這種行為模式：

where I would become interested in an area

就是我會對某個領域有興趣，

and I would dive in, become all-consumed,

無論是什麼，我都會深入鑽研、全心投入，

and I'd get to be pretty good at whatever it was,

把它做到非常好。

and then I would hit this point where I'd start to get bored.

但到這個程度後，我會開始感到無聊。

And usually I would try and persist anyway,

通常我會試著無論如何堅持下去，

because I had already devoted so much time and energy

畢竟我已經投入這麼多時間和心力，

and sometimes money into this field.

甚至是金錢，在這個領域上。

But eventually this sense of boredom,

但最終這種無聊的感覺，

this feeling of, like, yeah, I got this, this isn't challenging anymore --

這種「是啊，這我已經會了，不再有什麼挑戰了」的感覺

it would get to be too much.

會變得太過強烈，

And I would have to let it go.

然後我就得就此罷休。

But then I would become interested in something else,

但此時我會開始對其他東西產生興趣，

something totally unrelated, and I would dive into that,

和之前完全不相關的東西，然後又開始深入鑽研、

and become all-consumed, and I'd be like, "Yes! I found my thing,"

全心投入，然後我會覺得： 「太好了，找到我的目標了！」

and then I would hit this point again where I'd start to get bored.

但到這個時候， 我又會開始感到無聊，

And eventually, I would let it go.

最終又只好就此罷休。

But then I would discover something new and totally different,

但在這之後，我又會發現全然不同的新東西，

and I would dive into that.

然後再度深入鑽研它。

This pattern caused me a lot of anxiety,

這種行為模式讓我感到很焦慮，

for two reasons.

原因有兩個。

The first was that I wasn't sure

第一個是，我無法確定

how I was going to turn any of this into a career.

要怎麼把這些興趣轉換成我的職涯。

I thought that I would eventually have to pick one thing,

我認為我最終必須選擇其中一項，

deny all of my other passions,

並拒絕所有其他的熱情，

and just resign myself to being bored.

然後就任由無聊的感覺擺布。

The other reason it caused me so much anxiety

另一個讓我感到焦慮的原因

was a little bit more personal.

就比較個人了。

I worried that there was something wrong with this,

我擔心是不是哪裡出了問題，

and something wrong with me for being unable to stick with anything.

是不是我自己有問題，無法專注於任何事情。

I worried that I was afraid of commitment,

我擔心自己是害怕承諾、

or that I was scattered, or that I was self-sabotaging,

或是太散亂、或是有自我破壞傾向，

afraid of my own success.

害怕自己的成功。

If you can relate to my story and to these feelings,

如果各位能對我的故事和這些感覺產生共鳴，

I'd like you to ask yourself a question

我希望各位能問自己一個問題，

that I wish I had asked myself back then.

一個我但願過去的我 也能問自己的問題。

Ask yourself where you learned to assign the meaning of wrong or abnormal

問問你們自己：你是從何處得到同時做很多事情是不對或是不正常的

to doing many things.

這個觀念？

I'll tell you where you learned it:

我來告訴各位這個觀念從何而來：

you learned it from the culture.

從文化來的。

We are first asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

我們被問 「你長大後要做什麼？」這個問題，

when we're about five years old.

從五歲開始。

And the truth is that no one really cares what you say when you're that age.

而事實上在那個年紀，沒有人真的在意你怎麼回答。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It's considered an innocuous question,

這被當成是一個善意的問題，

posed to little kids to elicit cute replies,

純粹為了誘出小孩們可愛的回應。

like, "I want to be an astronaut," or "I want to be a ballerina,"

例如：「我想要當太空人」或是「我想當芭蕾舞演員」

or "I want to be a pirate."

或是「我想當海盜」，

Insert Halloween costume here.

可以自行代入各式萬聖節戲服。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But this question gets asked of us again and again as we get older

但這個問題就連我們逐漸長大後也一次又一次地出現，

in various forms -- for instance, high school students might get asked

只是用其他不同的形式── 舉例來說，高中生可能被問

what major they're going to pick in college.

他們大學要主修哪一科。

And at some point,

而從某個時候開始，

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

「你長大後要做什麼？」

goes from being the cute exercise it once was

從過去的可愛習題

to the thing that keeps us up at night.

變成讓我們晚上睡不著的夢靨。

Why?

為什麼？

See, while this question inspires kids to dream about what they could be,

告訴各位，這個問題雖然鼓勵孩子夢想著自己未來能做的事，

it does not inspire them to dream about all that they could be.

卻沒有鼓勵他們思考所有可能的夢想。

In fact, it does just the opposite,

事實上，它的效果正好相反。

because when someone asks you what you want to be,

因為當有人問你未來要做什麼的時候，

you can't reply with 20 different things,

你無法給他們20個不同的答案，

though well-meaning adults will likely chuckle and be like,

雖然善意的大人很有可能會笑著說：

"Oh, how cute, but you can't be a violin maker and a psychologist.

「喔！真可愛，不過你無法同時當提琴製作師和心理學家，

You have to choose."

你得選一個。」

This is Dr. Bob Childs --

這是鮑伯查爾茲醫生。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

and he's a luthier and psychotherapist.

他是提琴製作家兼精神治療師

And this is Amy Ng, a magazine editor turned illustrator, entrepreneur,

這是艾米吳，從雜誌編輯轉為插畫家，

teacher and creative director.

同時還是企業家、老師和創意總監。

But most kids don't hear about people like this.

但大部分的孩子沒有聽過這樣的人。

All they hear

他們聽到的

is that they're going to have to choose.

都是必須選擇其中之一。

But it's more than that.

但還不只這樣。

The notion of the narrowly focused life

這種將人生狹隘地專注在某件事上的觀念，

is highly romanticized in our culture.

被我們的文化高度浪漫化。

It's this idea of destiny or the one true calling,

就是那種每個人命中注定擁有某種天職的想法，

the idea that we each have one great thing

那種我們每個人都有一件擅長的、

we are meant to do during our time on this earth,

該窮極一生去做的事，

and you need to figure out what that thing is

而你得將這件事找出來，

and devote your life to it.

並一輩子致力於這項工作的想法。

But what if you're someone who isn't wired this way?

但如果你天生就不是這樣的人呢？

What if there are a lot of different subjects that you're curious about,

如果你是那種對很多不同主題都感到好奇、

and many different things you want to do?

有很多不同的事想做的人呢?

Well, there is no room for someone like you in this framework.

嗯，這個架構之內並沒有太多空間容納像你這樣的人。

And so you might feel alone.

所以你可能會感到孤獨。

You might feel like you don't have a purpose.

你可能會覺得自己沒有目標。

And you might feel like there's something wrong with you.

你也可能會覺得自己出了問題。

There's nothing wrong with you.

其實你沒有問題。

What you are is a multipotentialite.

你只是個「多向分化潛能者」。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits.

多向分化潛能者是一種有多種興趣和創意愛好的人。

It's a mouthful to say.

這個詞有點拗口，

It might help if you break it up into three parts:

把它分解為三個部分會比較易懂：

multi, potential, and ite.

多向(multi)、潛能(potential)、的人(ite)。

You can also use one of the other terms that connote the same idea,

你也可以用任何涵義相同的詞語，

such as polymath, the Renaissance person.

例如博學者、文藝復興時期的人。

Actually, during the Renaissance period,

事實上，在文藝復興時期，

it was considered the ideal to be well-versed in multiple disciplines.

大家認為精通多種領域才是理想狀態。

Barbara Sher refers to us as "scanners."

知名作家芭芭拉歇爾稱為我們為「掃描者」。

Use whichever term you like, or invent your own.

你可以用任何喜歡的詞語，或自己發明一個。

I have to say I find it sort of fitting that as a community,

我必須說，這樣也有點適合我們這種

we cannot agree on a single identity.

無法同意自己只有單一身分的人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It's easy to see your multipotentiality

大家很容易將自己的多向分化潛能

as a limitation or an affliction that you need to overcome.

視為一種需要克服的限制或煩惱。

But what I've learned through speaking with people

但我透過和別人講話

and writing about these ideas on my website,

以及在我的網站上寫關於這些想法得知，

is that there are some tremendous strengths to being this way.

這樣的人有些很棒的優勢。

Here are three

這裡有三個

multipotentialite super powers.

多向分化潛能者所擁有的超能力：

One: idea synthesis.

第一，想法的結合。

That is, combining two or more fields

也就是，結合兩個或更多領域，

and creating something new at the intersection.

並在交會處創造一些新東西。

Sha Hwang and Rachel Binx drew from their shared interests

黃沙和芮秋賓西從他們共同的興趣──

in cartography, data visualization, travel, mathematics and design,

包含製圖、資料視覺化、 旅遊、數學和設計──中取得靈感，

when they founded Meshu.

創辦了飾品公司Meshu。

Meshu is a company that creates custom geographically-inspired jewelry.

Meshu 是一間以地理位置為靈感製作飾品的公司。

Sha and Rachel came up with this unique idea

黃沙和芮秋想出這個獨特的主意，

not despite, but because of their eclectic mix of skills and experiences.

源自於他們五花八門的技能和經驗匯集，而非受其阻礙。

Innovation happens at the intersections.

創新發生在交會處。

That's where the new ideas come from.

新主意就是從此而來。

And multipotentialites, with all of their backgrounds,

而多向分化潛能者擁有這些背景，

are able to access a lot of these points of intersection.

讓他們得以進入這許多的交會點。

The second multipotentialite superpower

多向分化潛能者的第二種超能力，

is rapid learning.

是快速學習。

When multipotentialites become interested in something,

多向分化潛能者對某件事產生興趣時，

we go hard.

會變得非常認真。

We observe everything we can get our hands on.

我們會觀察任何拿得到手的東西。

We're also used to being beginners,

我們也很習慣當初學者，

because we've been beginners so many times in the past,

因為我們過去已經當過好多次初學者，

and this means that we're less afraid of trying new things

而這代表我們比較不怕嘗試新東西

and stepping out of our comfort zones.

以及踏出舒適圈。

What's more, many skills are transferable across disciplines,

除此之外，許多技能都是可以在不同領域間轉換的，

and we bring everything we've learned to every new area we pursue,

而我們會把在每個追求過的新領域中學到的東西隨身帶著，

so we're rarely starting from scratch.

所以很少從零開始。

Nora Dunn is a full-time traveler and freelance writer.

諾拉鄧恩是全職旅行家和自由作家，

As a child concert pianist, she honed an incredible ability

小時候鋼琴演奏的經驗，讓她練就了驚人的

to develop muscle memory.

肌肉記憶建造功夫，

Now, she's the fastest typist she knows.

現在她不認識其它打字比她快的人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Before becoming a writer, Nora was a financial planner.

在成為作家前，諾拉是財務規劃師。

She had to learn the finer mechanics of sales

她剛開業時，

when she was starting her practice,

得學會更完善的銷售機制，

and this skill now helps her write compelling pitches to editors.

而現在這個技能幫助她寫出極具說服力的提案給編輯。

It is rarely a waste of time to pursue something you're drawn to,

追求你感興趣的東西並不會是浪費時間，

even if you end up quitting.

就算最後是以放棄收場。

You might apply that knowledge in a different field entirely,

你可能會將那些知識應用到一個完全不同的領域，

in a way that you couldn't have anticipated.

透過你之前完全沒想到的方式。

The third multipotentialite superpower

多向分化潛能者的第三個超能力

is adaptability;

是適應能力；

that is, the ability to morph into whatever you need to be

也就是，將自己轉換為能順應當時所需的能力，

in a given situation.

以應付任何情況。

Abe Cajudo is sometimes a video director, sometimes a web designer,

阿部·卡胡多有時是導演、有時是網站設計師、

sometimes a Kickstarter consultant, sometimes a teacher,

有時是 Kickstarter 顧問、有時是老師、

and sometimes, apparently, James Bond.

有時候，很顯然地，是007。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

He's valuable because he does good work.

他有價值的地方在於他把工作做得很好，

He's even more valuable because he can take on various roles,

但他更有價值的地方在於他能扮演多種角色，

depending on his clients' needs.

根據客戶需求調整。

Fast Company magazine identified adaptability

《Fast Company》雜誌將適應能力定為

as the single most important skill to develop in order to thrive

要在21世紀發光發熱

in the 21st century.

最需要培養的重要技能。

The economic world is changing so quickly and unpredictably

經濟的世界正在快速而不可預測地變遷，

that it is the individuals and organizations that can pivot

能夠隨著市場需求

in order to meet the needs of the market that are really going to thrive.

轉變的人和組織才能真正成長茁壯。

Idea synthesis, rapid learning and adaptability:

想法的結合、快速學習和適應能力：

three skills that multipotentialites are very adept at,

三個多向分化潛能者非常擅長的技能，

and three skills that they might lose if pressured to narrow their focus.

同時也是他們被逼著要專心投注某件事時會失去的技能。

As a society, we have a vested interest in encouraging multipotentialites

身為社會上的一份子，鼓勵多向分化潛能者做自己

to be themselves.

是對我們有利的。

We have a lot of complex, multidimensional problems in the world right now,

現在世上有很多複雜、多面向的難題，

and we need creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to tackle them.

我們能需要有創意、能跳脫窠臼思考的人來處理。

Now, let's say that you are, in your heart, a specialist.

現在，假設在你心裡，你就是某個領域的專家，

You came out of the womb knowing you wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon.

從娘胎裡出來你就知道自己想當小兒神經外科醫生，

Don't worry -- there's nothing wrong with you, either.

別擔心──你如果是這樣的人也沒有任何問題。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

In fact, some of the best teams are comprised of a specialist

事實上，許多頂尖的團隊都是由專家

and multipotentialite paired together.

和多向分化潛能者的組合構成的。

The specialist can dive in deep and implement ideas,

專家可以深入鑽研和執行想法，

while the multipotentialite brings a breadth of knowledge to the project.

而多向分化潛能者負責將廣泛的知識帶入專案。

It's a beautiful partnership.

這是很漂亮的合作關係。

But we should all be designing lives and careers

但我們應該根據自己的天性

that are aligned with how we're wired.

好好設計自己的生活和職涯。

And sadly, multipotentialites are largely being encouraged

令人難過的是，我們經常鼓勵多向分化潛能者

simply to be more like their specialist peers.

學著像他們的專家同事就好。

So with that said,

所以因為這樣，

if there is one thing you take away from this talk,

如果今天各位要從這場演講中帶走一樣東西，

I hope that it is this:

我希望會是這個：

embrace your inner wiring, whatever that may be.

擁抱你內在的天性，不管是什麼。

If you're a specialist at heart,

如果你內心深處是個專家，

then by all means, specialize.

就無論如何設法專精。

That is where you'll do your best work.

這是你能做到最好的地方。

But to the multipotentialites in the room,

但對這裡的每一位多向分化潛能者，

including those of you who may have just realized

包含在過去12分鐘內，

in the last 12 minutes that you are one --

你剛意識到自己也是其中之一的人…

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

to you I say:

我對你們說：

embrace your many passions.

擁抱你的多種熱情。

Follow your curiosity down those rabbit holes.

跟隨自己的好奇心到兔子洞裡。

Explore your intersections.

探索你的交會處。

Embracing our inner wiring leads to a happier, more authentic life.

擁抱與生俱來的天性會讓你有更快樂、更真實的人生。

And perhaps more importantly --

還有，或許最重要的是，

multipotentialites, the world needs us.

各位多向分化潛能者，這個世界需要我們。

Thank you.

謝謝各位。

(Applause)

（掌聲）