The Next Time Someone Calls You a “Jack of All Trades Master of None,” Tell Them That’s Not the Full Quote
Then blow their mind with this.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Jack of all trades master of none.” And if you’re multi-passionate (a person with many interests, talents, and the desire to share as many of them as possible in one lifetime), you probably rolled your eyes.
Often when you’ve heard the “Jack of all trades” phrase it’s been used to throw shade at you, because you’re not able to choose one thing as a multi-passionate. It’s become a sort of cautionary tale: “Hey, you don’t want to be a Jack of all trades master of none!”
But honestly, it feels like more of an insult than a genuine moment of concern.
Get ready for your perspective on all of that to change because that’s not the full quote.
The full quote goes like this: “ Jack of all trades master of none, though oftentimes better than master of one.”
This phrase was coined way back in the old English days, circa 1390.
Imagine a time when people lived in small townships and there was one person for every job that needed to happen in that town. There was a cobbler, a carpenter, and a milkmaid; very simple roles that people filled in each community.
If you were traveling with your family and arrived at a town that already had a cobbler, and that was your only skill, you would be unemployable in that town and unable to provide for your family.
So it was actually more valuable to know how to do more than one thing. If you were a cobbler but also a carpenter, for example, you had a better chance of being hired and being able to care for your family. That’s the setting during which this phrase came to be.
So, although the quote is cut in half and used as an insult, the next time someone says it to you, you’ll have the perfect comeback:
“Actually that’s not the full quote. The full phrase goes like this: Jack of all trades master of none, though often times better than master of one. And I enjoy being multi-passionate.”
D’Ana Joi is a life coach for multi-passionates and host of the Multi-Passionate Mastery Podcast. She believes having many talents is a gift, not a burden, and helps creatives from all walks of life break free from the pressure of doing “all the things” at once so that they can enjoy being multi-passionate without burning out.
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