“The things that make you strange are the things that make you powerful.” — Ben Platt
As a grokkist, you’re used to living in the in-between.
You’ve spent your life collecting experiences, skills, and interests that don’t always seem to fit together.
The world may see you as a generalist, someone who dabbles in many things but doesn’t quite fit into one. You may have been told you’re too much or that you need to narrow your focus, to pick one lane and stay in it.
But that’s not who you are.
You’ve moved through a squiggly path, weaving through different roles and enthusiasms. accumulating expertise that doesn’t fit into a tidy, linear story.
From the outside, it can look fragmented, even chaotic. But from within, you’re beginning to see the bigger picture. You’re not scattered—you’re multidimensional, a mosaic made up of all the parts of yourself that come together to form something whole.
It can be tough to locate yourself in a world that values specialisation and labels.
You may feel proud of your range but frustrated that the world struggles to recognise it. Without clear benchmarks, it’s hard to communicate your value in a way others can easily grasp.
Moving from generalist to grokkist is the moment you stop apologising for not fitting into conventional boxes. It’s the shift from feeling fragmented to recognizing that there’s no single box that can contain your multidimensional self—and that’s where your power lies.
Moving from generalist to grokkist is the moment you stop apologising for not fitting into conventional boxes.
When people ask, “So, what do you do?” it can feel like a trap, as if you have to fumble for a tidy answer that reduces the richness of your identity.
But you don’t have to play that game.
As a grokkist, you can learn to improvise, to draw from your repertoire and offer something that’s true for now, knowing that it’s always evolving.
You’re not stuck in one story—you’re living many, all at once.
The very things that make you feel like an outsider allow you to see connections where others see boundaries, bringing together perspectives that create something new.
The key isn’t to contort yourself to fit into someone else’s container but to expand beyond it. When you stop trying to fit into what others expect, you step into your power. You don’t need to be less.
You need to be more—more of yourself, in all your dimensions.
Which parts of me have I been hiding or holding back, and how can I start embracing them?
How can I start seeing my strangeness as a strength rather than a flaw?
How does being a multidimensional misfit create connections and possibilities that others might miss?
What would stepping into my power as a grokkist look like?
Embrace your inner outlier
For a real-world example of embracing your multidimensional misfit identity, listen to Brittany Cole Houston on the Still Curious podcast. Brittany, a non-traditional educator and silversmith, shares how she reclaimed different parts of herself—from growing up in an unconventional family to navigating autism education, trauma work, and metalworking.
Danu Poyner
Explore further
If you’re curious to dive deeper into how all the parts of your life and identity connect, explore The Red Thread. This article unpacks the idea of how seemingly disconnected experiences are woven together to form a cohesive, meaningful story. It’s an invitation to reflect on how your unique journey, with all its twists and turns, is part of something larger.
Danu Poyner