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If You Are Drawn to Various Interests You May Be a "Scanner"

What on earth is a Scanner? I came across this cool website that gives book summaries. It is called Actionable Books and you can join for free and you will receive weekly book summaries.

The book I found this idea from is called Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams

I am a person like it is described in the book.
“Use ALL of your interests, passions, and hobbies to create the life and career of your dreams.” ~Refuse to Choose!, Book jacket
My interests are all over the place and I am drawn to many diverse interests?  When I read the questions the book asks below, I saw myself reflected in the them.
"Do you love starting projects, but find you lose interest when the novelty wears off? Have you ever thought following just one career path is a recipe for total boredom?  If so, you may be a Scanner.
The book suggests that some people aren’t meant to follow just one path. I have always considered myself an odd ball and was very happy to read that I am in fact quite normal for the small percentage of people who have this scanner tendency.
“Scanners go through an amazing transformation once they begin to understand who they are and realize there’s nothing wrong with them.” ~Refuse to Choose!, page 23
What a great way of explaining it in the summary:
Scanners, by their very nature, want to do it all. However, along the way most Scanners will have encountered family, friends, teachers and even career counselors who encourage them to pick just one career path or course of education and follow it. Scanners may have felt that something is wrong with them or perhaps they’ve been criticized for being lazy, undisciplined or indecisive.
Accept yourself as a Scanner and then learn to live your life that way.

Tip for Scanners:
Keep a record of all your ideas and Create a Scanner Daybook
“The blank pages in your Daybook are where you’ll capture ideas that could otherwise get lost or keep a record of private little trips and ‘what ifs’ that are always floating in and out of a creative mind.” ~Refuse to Choose!, page 12
At the end of the day, what is a scanner to do with all those half finished projects?
“When a honeybee gets the nectar it came for, it loses interest in that flower and heads over to another one.  When a Scanner leaves a project, it’s for the same reason.” ~Refuse to Choose!, page 103 
Finish them at a later date. Pass them on to somebody else to finish for you or display them as a work in progress.

There are some tips in the summary and more in the book itself. Plus the book has many tools and tips for embracing being a Scanner as a worthwhile way to live. Non-Scanners can learn from the tips to pursue multiple creative endeavours and can learn how to accept and encourage the Scanners in their lives.



Are you a scanner or just interested in many different things? Leave a comment below and let me know how you handle your many interests and if you view this as an asset or a liability or a strength or a weakness.


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