How to Find Your Niche When You Have Too Many Interests

What I wish I knew earlier as a multipassionate creator

Photo by Leeloo The First

One of the biggest struggles I had before as an aspiring content creator was that I couldn’t choose a specific niche.

I have way too many interests and every time I thought about choosing just one thing, I felt this huge fear of missing out on all of my other interests and this worry that I might just end up wasting my time and energy on the “wrong niche.” My indecision had led me to procrastinate for years and put off starting my content creation journey.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably experienced this same analysis paralysis—overthinking our decisions to the point that we end up going for what’s often the worst decision—doing nothing at all.

After spending countless hours procrastinating researching this topic, the single best advice I’ve found is this:

Stop. Finding. Your. Niche.

I stopped to think about why I even felt the need to “niche down” in the first place, and questioned whether specializing in a single field is the only way to find success.

Why It’s So Hard to Find a Niche

Humans are wired to be generalists

“Humans don’t thrive in a niche. Animals do.”
— Dan Koe

While animals are deeply tied to their ecological niches for survival, humans have evolved to thrive in a constantly shifting world. We don’t rely on a fixed niche; instead, we build tools, create new technologies, and adapt our environment to meet our needs.

We humans are wired to be generalists—our ability to adapt, innovate, and diversify our skills has been key to our success as a species. It’s no wonder then that we struggle with the idea of narrowing down our interests. So where did this idea of having to niche down and specialize even come from?

The Industrial Revolution and Division of Labor

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people handled a variety of tasks, whether in farming or small trades. However, with the rise of factories and mass production in the 18th and 19th centuries, work became much more specialized.

Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith popularized the concept of division of labor, where each worker focused on just one part of the production process. This approach made things more efficient, increased productivity, and boosted profits. Specialization became the key to success, especially in industrial economies where mastering one specific task was highly valued.

Schools also began to adapt. In the 19th and 20th centuries, educational institutions shifted to meet the needs of these specialized industries. Universities started offering specific degrees and training programs aimed at preparing students for particular jobs in fields like medicine, engineering, and law. This system reinforced the belief that to succeed, you had to become an expert in one area, which was backed up by credentials and qualifications proving your expertise.

This is how society has conditioned us to believe that specialization is the key to a successful career and that being a generalist is a weakness that will only make you end up as a so-called “jack of all trades, master of none.”

But the question is: does this still hold true to this day?

Is “Niching Down” Really the Solution?

The idea of specializing in one field throughout our career is being challenged by the rapid advancements in technology that we’re seeing today.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation has made it clear that focusing solely on one narrow skill set can make us vulnerable to being replaced. Machines can perform increasingly complex tasks, and many industries are now embracing automation to streamline operations. This was made painfully evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, where millions of people lost their jobs as entire sectors were forced to pivot online or embrace technology-driven solutions.

As AI and technology continue to automate routine jobs and processes, the value of human workers who can apply creativity, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary knowledge is skyrocketing. Those with a diversified skill set and who can quickly adapt to new opportunities, such as content creators, freelancers, entrepreneurs, digital nomads, and other generalists are now the ones who are increasingly in demand, and this trend is likely to continue in the future.

Forget About “Finding Your Niche”

Having multiple interests is not a weakness but a strength that can help us become adaptable, future-ready, and irreplaceable. We don’t have to box ourselves into a narrowly defined and elusive “niche.”

Another problem with trying to find your niche is that you’ll never really figure out what your “niche” is right from the beginning. You can only figure that out later on after you gain experience and feedback.

Take for example Ali Abdaal who is now known for being “the productivity expert” on YouTube. He didn’t even start out creating videos about productivity, but about tips on how to get into med school. He only started making productivity videos later on after receiving comments from his audience requesting him to make videos related to that topic.

That’s why Ali says that at the beginning, you shouldn’t worry about finding your niche yet. Just focus on getting started. Because how will you know whether you’ll actually like doing (and sticking to) it when you haven’t even tried it yet?

Trying it out for a day will give you much more clarity than endless hours trying to think about it in your head.

What I’ve Learned

The problem is not that we can’t think of a niche; the real problem is that we’re overthinking it and not getting started.

Instead of trying to find my niche, I tried asking myself these questions instead:

1. What’s a problem that I care about solving?

2. What’s a simple solution that I can offer to solve this problem?

These two questions helped me gain more clarity and realize that:

1. Most of my interests are better off as a hobby.

We have a lot of interests but not all of them need to become a source of income. In most cases, we might actually want them to just stay as a hobby because doing something for the pure enjoyment of it is different from having to do it for the sake of money.

Monetizing your hobby is not all fun—it will feel like work too because you’re not just doing it for yourself but also striving to give value to others by helping them solve their problems. That’s how money works—it’s simply an exchange of value. To make money doing what you love, you have to give value to other people so that they’re willing to exchange their time and/or money for what you have to offer.

If it’s not something you’ll enjoy doing for someone else, then it’s probably better off staying as a hobby.

2. The focus should be on giving value to others.

The time we spend overthinking our niche could be time spent brainstorming solutions and ways to give value to others.

It doesn’t have to be grand. Something as simple as sharing something that you found useful can make a huge difference for another person. That’s what I did too by writing this post. After struggling for so long trying to find my niche, I decided to just get started and share the lessons that I’ve learned. Who knows? Maybe this simple action can help someone out there find the courage to finally start too.

Overthinking doesn’t keep us from failing, it keeps us from progressing.

“The first minute of action is worth more than a year of perfect planning.”
— James Clear

Just get started—you’ll figure things out along the way.