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The Renaissance Soul (2006)

by Margaret Lobenstine

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4511455,652 (3.92)3
How do I decide what to do with my life when there are so many things I want to do? It is conventional wisdom that there is one true path in life for each of us. But what about those with a wide array of interests, a dynamic curiosity about the world, and an ever-renewing wellspring of passions? Margaret Lobenstine calls these people “Renaissance Souls,” and in this groundbreaking book, she offers a life-planning strategy in tune with their dynamic, change-loving personalities. Renaissance Souls often get stuck, moving from entry-level job to entry-level job, degree to degree, or hobby to hobby, unwilling to settle on just one thing to do “for the rest of my life.” Or, after achieving success in one field, they yearn for new challenges and begin looking around for something different. Yet they are also afraid that if they pursue their changing interests, they will have to give up on financial security, becoming “a jack of all trades and master of none.” The Renaissance Soul, the first book devoted to this personality type, not only shows that it’s possible to design a successful, vibrant life built on multiple passions, but also gives readers the practical advice to do so. Lobenstine arms the reader with powerful life-design strategies, including how to: *Understand the exciting and powerful difference between choice and focus *Transform your day job so that it carries your dreams forward *Manage your time the Renaissance Soul way *Thrive on many interests without feeling scattered *Get paid for your passions *Learn a new field without going back to school *Get inspired by Renaissance Souls from ancient times to the present, from Leonardo da Vinci to Ben Franklin to Oprah Winfrey Stocked with creative exercises, relevant resources, and interviews with successful Renaissance Souls, this profoundly inspiring guide will show readers the way to a richer, more fulfilling life—big enough to embrace all their dreams.… (more)
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» See also 3 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
Love this book! Highly recommend, especially if you're someone with multiple passions and interests and aren't sure what to pursue. ( )
  VanessaMarieBooks | Dec 10, 2023 |
Found this really helpful in giving me a framework for dealing with my many interests. Now to the worksheets! ( )
  mktoronto | Jan 25, 2023 |
The language of this book was fairly life-coach-y, but it made some good points. I'm giving it four stars for the sole reason that it's given me great ideas on how to organize my time without feeling chained to a schedule. I have always, always hated fixed schedules, because I never know when I'll feel like getting something done. This book has helped a lot with that, and I plan to put the scheduling ideas into practice. It's also given me some ideas on how to actually get some stuff done that I'm interested in doing. ( )
  SwitchKnitter | Dec 19, 2021 |
I started out starving for this info and then slowly started to feel like I had been duped. Everybody is a renaissance soul. Everybody has multiple interests. And this whole book is nothing more but yet another book helping you “find your passions” and make time for them sold by yet another “life coach”.

By the middle of the book, I had resorted to scanning, and by the end I was just flipping through.

Maybe this book will work for folks, but it didn’t work for me. ( )
  pmichaud | Dec 21, 2020 |
Note: this is more a personal reaction than a review, so take it with a grain of salt if you're trying to decide whether to read this book or not.

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I think I was more in a space for this the first time I read it. This time, on the re-read, I found myself feeling impatient with it. Basically, I like some of the broader strategies, but all the little exercises - which always seem to have Capitalized Names in books like this - began to irritate me.

It also struck me again that what works for advice in terms of personal mental health and individual projects doesn't necessarily translate into making a living. She keeps claiming that it can, but it takes a certain sort of confident, forceful personality to make a career out of job-hopping, and I know I'm not that kind of person - especially since most of the things that interest me are not things I'm good enough at to make money at. (Believe me, I've tried.)

It rather sucks in that I had, at one point, found the perfect career "umbrella" for my interests and skills - but the market's gone for that career. So the problem for me isn't not knowing what to do (as she implies) but rather it's getting someone to pay me to do it. In a world in which employers still assume single-track skills, it's a lot harder to be employed if you have irregular work experience than she suggests. ( )
  ranaverde | Dec 24, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 14 (next | show all)
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This book is dedicated first and foremost to Renaissance Souls the world over, whose multitude of interests and talents are a gift to us all; to my late parents, who would have been thrilled to hold it in their hands; and, with such profound gratitude, to my husband, Geoff, and my daughters, Heather and Lori, who have been on this journey with me so lovingly from beginning to end.
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Do you feel a pang of envy when you hear someone say, "I've always known exactly what I wanted to do ever since I was a kid"?
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How do I decide what to do with my life when there are so many things I want to do? It is conventional wisdom that there is one true path in life for each of us. But what about those with a wide array of interests, a dynamic curiosity about the world, and an ever-renewing wellspring of passions? Margaret Lobenstine calls these people “Renaissance Souls,” and in this groundbreaking book, she offers a life-planning strategy in tune with their dynamic, change-loving personalities. Renaissance Souls often get stuck, moving from entry-level job to entry-level job, degree to degree, or hobby to hobby, unwilling to settle on just one thing to do “for the rest of my life.” Or, after achieving success in one field, they yearn for new challenges and begin looking around for something different. Yet they are also afraid that if they pursue their changing interests, they will have to give up on financial security, becoming “a jack of all trades and master of none.” The Renaissance Soul, the first book devoted to this personality type, not only shows that it’s possible to design a successful, vibrant life built on multiple passions, but also gives readers the practical advice to do so. Lobenstine arms the reader with powerful life-design strategies, including how to: *Understand the exciting and powerful difference between choice and focus *Transform your day job so that it carries your dreams forward *Manage your time the Renaissance Soul way *Thrive on many interests without feeling scattered *Get paid for your passions *Learn a new field without going back to school *Get inspired by Renaissance Souls from ancient times to the present, from Leonardo da Vinci to Ben Franklin to Oprah Winfrey Stocked with creative exercises, relevant resources, and interviews with successful Renaissance Souls, this profoundly inspiring guide will show readers the way to a richer, more fulfilling life—big enough to embrace all their dreams.

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