Some of us were never built to be one thing.
You know the type. Always tinkering. Learning something new. One week it’s photography. The next, laying decking. A web design project here, a homemade candle business there. The kind of person who gets excited by possibility and doesn’t feel quite right coloring inside the lines. The world tells these people to specialize. “Pick a lane,” they say. But what if that lane feels too narrow? What if being many things is not a flaw—but a feature?
Welcome to the age of the jack of all trades. And here’s the truth they don’t tell you nearly enough: self-employment isn’t a dead-end for the indecisive. It’s a playground for the multi-talented. A wide open door.
Via Pexels
Redefining The “Jack Of All Trades”
It’s a phrase that follows us around. Usually with a raised eyebrow and a slight shrug. “Jack of all trades, master of none.” Like being curious is something to grow out of. But what people forget—maybe conveniently—is the second part. The bit that rarely makes it into the conversation: “…but oftentimes better than master of one.” There’s something poetic about that, isn’t there?
Not everyone wants to live inside one label. You can be a photographer and an electrician. You can repair bikes and code apps. You can design logos and dig garden beds. Being a generalist isn’t some sort of identity crisis. It’s the freedom to shape a working life that actually feels like you.
Some people just aren’t wired to do one thing forever. And guess what? That’s more than okay. It’s actually kind of brilliant.
Why Self-Employment Empowers The Multi-Skilled
Have you ever work in a job where you were told, flat-out, to “stay in your lane”? Maybe you were good at solving problems, great with customers, and had a talent for spreadsheets—but you were hired to stock shelves or answer phones. So that’s all they let you do.
Self-employment flips that idea on its head. Suddenly, there is no “lane.” There’s just the road you make. You get to use every tool in your box, every trick up your sleeve, every weird little skill you picked up over the years because you were curious enough to learn.
One day you’re helping someone redesign their living room. The next, you’re fixing a shed roof. Later that week, maybe you’re setting up someone’s Etsy store or editing wedding videos. It might look messy to someone on the outside. But to you, it makes perfect sense. It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing what fits.
And the best part? No one’s telling you to sit still.
Building Your Personal Portfolio Career
Call it a patchwork. A quilt. A living, breathing map of all the stuff you’re good at. Some people call it a “portfolio career,” but really, it’s just living with intention. Not in a flowery, Instagram-quote kind of way. In a practical way. You use what you’ve got.
Maybe you do a bit of consulting. Build websites. Walk dogs. Sell handmade jewellery on the side. Paint murals when someone asks. And when it comes to landscaping, you’re not just hacking away with any old trimmer — you’ve got the best tools for the job. You’ll research the sharpest blades, the quietest motors, and yes, you’ll spend that bit extra on a proper edger because if you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it well. It’s not about showing off. It’s about having standards.
It’s not just about money. Although, let’s be honest, having more than one income stream never hurts. It’s about momentum. About trusting yourself to figure it out as you go. Some months, one part of your work might slow down. Another picks up. You shift. Adjust. Adapt.
That’s not instability. That’s agility.
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The Rise Of The Skilled Generalist
In the world, there’s a quiet revolution happening. You can feel it in coffee shops turned coworking spaces. Hear it in the buzz of online communities where people swap freelance gigs and troubleshoot DIY plumbing disasters. More and more people are stepping outside traditional job titles and saying, “Actually, I do a bit of everything.”
And guess what? That’s not looked down on anymore.
The world needs more generalists. More people who can do a bit of this and that. Especially in local communities, where small businesses are stretched and startups are scrappy. If you can build a table and also build a brand—you’re gold. If you can fix the leaky tap and then build the plumber’s website—you’re a unicorn.
It’s about being useful. Not in a boring, self-sacrificing way. In a resourceful, get-it-done kind of way. People like that don’t wait to be told what they are. They show you.
Dealing With The Challenge Of Choice
Now, let’s be honest for a second. When you’ve got ten ideas in your head before breakfast, it’s easy to feel like you’re constantly starting and never finishing. That’s the double-edged sword of being multi-skilled. You see all the potential—and sometimes get stuck at the crossroads.
There’s no perfect fix. But there’s a way forward. Start small. Let your work evolve naturally. Let one idea lead to the next. You don’t have to monetize everything at once. You don’t need a 5-year plan carved in stone. You just need enough direction to get going—and the freedom to pivot when it makes sense.
Don’t let productivity culture bully you into thinking you’re doing it wrong. This isn’t about being constantly efficient. It’s about being creatively alive.
Structure helps, sure. But don’t strangle yourself with it. Find a rhythm, not a routine. Use what works, bin what doesn’t. That’s the gift of self-employment—you get to tweak the system until it fits you.
You Get To Define Success
This might be the most important part. Success doesn’t look the same for everyone. For some, it’s six figures and a waitlist. For others, it’s being able to pick the kids up at 3pm and still make enough to cover the bills. It’s painting on Tuesdays, fixing fences on Wednesdays, and not dreading Mondays anymore.
When you’re self-employed and multi-skilled, there’s no roadmap. And that’s the point.
You carve it out. You experiment. You try things. Some stick. Some don’t. You learn. You tweak. You grow.
There’s freedom in that. Scary, sometimes. But also exhilarating. You wake up knowing that today, you get to choose what kind of work you do. And tomorrow, that choice might change. But the power to choose—that’s what makes this path worth walking.
No, you’re not one thing. You’re many. And that’s not messy. That’s magic.
Final Thoughts
Being a jack of all trades isn’t about being unsure of who you are. It’s about being fully who you are. Complex. Capable. Curious. Multi-dimensional. Self-employment just happens to be one of the few places in life where all of that is welcome.
So go for it. Do the weird combination of things that only you can do. Build furniture, make music, teach coding, design gardens, restore old bikes. Whatever makes sense to you.
