Let's get one thing straight: the advice to "focus on one thing" is outdated, limiting, and honestly, complete bullshit for most young people.

The average person has around 6-8 main interests.

This could be things like lifting weights at the gym, reading books, working on a project car, traveling, eating healthy, coding apps, or making social media content.

But they typically only get to seriously pursue 2-3 of these hobbies due to life getting in the way.

For example, someone who travels frequently might not be able to eat healthy all the time because they have to resort to pre-packaged airport foods.

Or someone who is working on a project car has to work a job to be able to afford car parts and modifications, which takes away time from other hobbies like going to the gym.

This endless loop of abandoning goals because you have to focus on another area of life is an unfortunate truth that we all have to accept at some point: That in order to excel in one area of life, you have to sacrifice another.

And it doesn't help that we're constantly told growing up that it's impossible to do it all.

"Focus on one thing." "You can't excel at everything." "A jack of all trades is a master of none."

These limiting beliefs have become so ingrained in our culture that we've accepted them as truth.

But what if everything you've been told about focusing on a single passion is wrong?

I used to be paralyzed by the number of things I wanted to do:

• Go to the gym consistently

• Sports practice

• Keeping good grades in school

• Read more books

• Write a newsletter every week

• Record a YouTube video every week

• Write 3 tweets a day

• Reply to 50 tweets of other people a day

The list felt endless—to the point where it stressed me out so much that I'd opt for instant gratification activities (like scrolling on TikTok).

Every time I devoted myself to one area, I felt guilty about neglecting the others.

My computer was filled half-finished projects, my notebook was littered with half-baked ideas, and my head was filled with bucket-list hobbies that never made it out.

This sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The truth is, history's most successful people weren't specialists—they were polymaths.

• Leonardo da Vinci wasn't just a painter; he was a scientist, engineer, theorist, and an architect.

• Benjamin Franklin wasn't just a founding father; he was a writer, inventor, diplomat, and scientist.

• Aristotle wasn't just a philosopher; he was also a writer and scientist

Even today, Donald Glover is an actor, writer, and a musician.

Elon Musk is a businessman, engineer, and now, a political figure.

Shaquielle O'Neil is a hall-of-fame athlete, businessman, and a sports analysist.

The most interesting and impactful people don't limit themselves to a single passion. They've discovered a system for balancing multiple interests without burning out.

What these modern-day polymaths understand is that the human brain isn't designed for endless single-focused work. It thrives on variety, connections between domains, and strategic shifts in attention.

The key isn't choosing one passion—it's learning how to juggle multiple passions effectively.

And this past month or so, I've been experimenting with a new lifestyle framework that has been allowing me to 10x my progress through a weekly system that dedicates at least 90 minutes of focused work to 5 different domains..

It's transformed my life from scattered to strategic.

And in this newsletter, I'm going to share exactly how you can do the same.

The Truth About Being Multi-Passionate (That No One Tells You)

The highest leverage path isn't choosing one passion—it's learning how to manage multiple passions effectively.

The advice to "pick one thing and stick with it" made sense in the industrial age, where specialization was the path to job security. But in today's rapidly evolving world, adaptability and cross-domain thinking is what makes you stands out.

Here's what happens when you try to limit yourself to one passion:

1. You feel a constant sense of FOMO about the paths not taken.

2. You burn out faster because variety is what keeps work interesting.

3. You miss the innovative ideas that come from combining different domains.

4. You become vulnerable to disruption (being replaced) in your specialization.

5. You sacrifice the unique perspective that comes from diverse interests.

Most people approach multiple interests by bouncing from activity-to-activity (whenever there's "free time") with no clear structure.

Then they wonder why they're exhausted and making minimal progress.

The secret to the Polymath Advantage is understanding that time isn't your most limited resource—attention is.

When you learn to direct your attention strategically, 90 focused minutes can produce more results than 8 hours of scattered effort.

The Polymath approach is different. It's not about long stretches of time—it's about intensity, consistency, and strategic connections.

And by pursuing multiple passion, you’ll start to realize that pursuing multiple passions doesn’t distract you, it makes you more focused. This is what I call the Polymath Paradox.

You'll start to experience breakthrough moments as insights from one domain fuel advancement in another.

This isn't just motivational fluff either. Neuroscience backs this up.

When you work across different domains, you strengthen neural pathways and build more robust mental models. You create what psychologists call cognitive scaffolding—mental structures that support and accelerate learning by connecting ideas across disciplines.

The stronger and more connected your knowledge is, the easier it becomes to learn new things, solve problems, and transfer skills between subjects.

Imagine trying to hang a new idea on a wall—if the wall (your brain) has a strong scaffold (previous knowledge), the idea sticks better. The more scaffolds you have, the faster and more deeply you learn.

This directly applies to the Polymath Approach because when you have multiple interests, you'll start to find ways that they overlap and intertwin with each other.

The 90-Minute Polymath System: 5 Steps to Balanced Success

Before I break down each step, let me address the biggest objection I hear: "90 minutes isn't enough time to make real progress."

People that say this often have a mindset that assumes meaningful progress requires long, uninterrupted stretches of time.

In reality, consistent, focused bursts of effort compound dramatically over time.

Consider this: 90 minutes of deep work daily adds up to 547 hours per year. That's enough time to:

• Write a novel

• Learn a new language to conversational fluency

• Master the fundamentals of coding

• Become proficient at a musical instrument

• Build a successful side business

All from just 90 minutes a day.

Now let's break down how to implement this system:

Step 1: The Interest Audit (Find Your True Five)

Even though you might be reading through this thinking that you'll be able to pursue 1 million different interests simultaneously, that's not how it works.

This common misconception is what leads to the "hobby graveyard"—a collection of abandoned projects and half-learned skills.

Instead, conduct a thorough Interest Audit:

1. List every interest, hobby, or skill you're curious about

2. Rate each on three scales from 1-10:

   • Joy (how much happiness & fulfillment it brings you)

   • Growth (how much it helps you develop)

   • Impact (how it might benefit others or your future)

3. Calculate the total score for each interest

4. Select the top five scoring interests

5. Commit to these five for the next 90 days before reevaluating

This isn't about permanently ditching your other interests. It's about creating focus for a defined period. You can rotate interests seasonally.

Step 2: Time Blocking - Sacred Spaces for Each Passion

Most people's approach to scheduling multiple interests is fundamentally flawed.

They try to find "extra time" for their passions after fulfilling all other obligations. But here's the truth: there is no extra time.

The polymath approach flips this on its head. You don't find time for your passions—you make it a non-negotiable:

1. Identify your peak energy periods during the day (morning, afternoon, evening)

2. Assign each interest to the energy level it requires (high, medium, low)

3. Every week, create five 90-minute blocks for each interest at least 1-3x days in the week (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday has time blocks set for the gym and content creation. And Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday has time blocks set for pick-up basketball and coding).

4. Treat these blocks as sacred appointments with yourself

The key is consistency over frequency. It's better to have one deeply focused 90-minute session per week for each interest than to dabble inconsistently.

Step 3: Cross-Pollination (Finding Synergies Between Interests)

This is where the real magic of the polymath happens.

Instead of treating your interests as separate worlds, look for connections between. Identify elements that are similar. Find areas where overlap.

1. Create a connection map (physically or digitally) between your five interests.

2. Identify at least one project that combines two or more interests.

3. Schedule monthly "cross-pollination sessions" where you deliberately bring insights from one domain to another.

4. Keep a cross-domain insight journal or online document/note to track ideas that jump between interests.

By finding these intersections, you could make progress on multiple interests simultaneously.

Step 4: The Progress Principle (Defining Minimum Viable Progress)

The biggest killer of multi-passionate momentum is the feeling that you're not making meaningful progress.

The solution is to clearly define what constitutes a "win" in each area.

1. For each interest, define three levels of progress:

   1. Minimum Viable Progress (what's the smallest meaningful step?)

   2. Standard Progress (what represents solid advancement?)

   3. Breakthrough Progress (what would be exceptional movement?)

2. Set a clear deliverable for each 90-minute session

By defining these concrete minimums, you'll know when a session is successful once you've completed your lever-moving task.

Step 5: System Maintenance (Weekly Reviews to Optimize)

Any system requires maintenance.

The weekly review prevents your polymath system from breaking down under life's inevitable pressures.

1. Schedule a 30-minute weekly review every Sunday

2. Score your progress in each area from 1-10

3. Identify which interest is gaining the most momentum

4. Determine which interest needs the most support

5. Make at least one small adjustment to your system for the coming week

This constant refinement ensures your system evolves with you.

This 90-Minute Polymath System doesn't promise that you can do everything.

But it does promise that you can pursue (or at least explore) multiple passions without the overwhelming guilt, frustration, and scattered results that come from trying to do it all without a system.

By embracing your multi-passionate nature rather than fighting it, you'll discover that your diverse interests aren't a liability—they're your greatest asset.

You don't have to choose. You just need a system

- Andrew