The Generalist World Pod

Why novelty-seekers hit "boreout" rather than burnout, and how a career from Siberia to Bavarian biotech to the US led to coaching, where no two days are the same

What a late ADHD diagnosis can explain, and why so many women mask until burnout or perimenopause makes it impossible

How workplaces can make space for neurodivergent people, from tools that are available to everyone to leaders who talk about it openly

Work in pulses if that's how your energy flows. Anna has stopped trying to deliver steady 9-to-5 output and instead pulls in bursts of energy for projects that need a fresh solution, fast.

Let yourself panic first, then say yes. Anna has never turned down an opportunity, from Italy to the US: she panics, thinks through everything that could go wrong, and then feels ready for anything.

Build on your strengths instead of trying to fix your weaknesses. Anna's coaching works on pull rather than push: support and what's already working, not self-punishment and discipline.

Follow your stims. Whether it's moving, humming, climbing or drawing, those behaviours help regulate your nervous system, so let yourself do them.

How a Notion consulting business grew out of organising a shopping list and building a portfolio in Notion

Why going from freelance back into a permanent role can give you the stability to learn a new skill

People are craving disconnection from digital life, and why being able to put your phone down could become a superpower

Burnout often comes from doing the wrong kind of work, not too much of it. Amy can work ten hours straight, but being told "just do it, don't think" on work she doesn't understand or agree with is what grinds her down.

Don't budge your day rate: if they can't afford you, they don't need your help. Amy found that clients who haggled before the work had even started, or who got a discount, felt they could push her around.

Find a freelance community to lean on, not just to win work. Amy's was like a work Slack when she didn't have one: somewhere to ask how to send an invoice, share memes and become known as the Notion person.

Let your other skills power up your specialism. Amy's clients didn't just get Notion know-how: her illustration, design and coding skills meant custom icons, banners and API-built features for their workspaces.

Why gathering is a craft, and how to design conversations that help people notice what gives them great satisfaction

The ingredients of a "spoiled career": luck, relationships, values, audacity and wholehearted work

How to move towards more meaningful work without quitting your job, by diversifying your identity and finding a sense of mattering

Nobody is coming to save you, and everybody is very willing to help you.

Follow what's real and keep your momentum.

Disengagement is yours to fix.

Don't quit, start.

How generalists navigate careers by knocking on doors, staying curious about people, and creating systems to stay connected

The anatomy of a cold email that works: research, genuine value, perfect timing, and multiple touchpoints

Why the best career moves come from doing the work first and claiming the role later

Do the job before you have the title or compensation.

Send the cold email, but only when you have something real to say.

Your circumstances today are not your circumstances tomorrow.

There's always a third way if you're willing to get creative.

How generalists move from isolated expert silos to becoming bridges between disciplines that create stronger solutions

Why building career decisions around a problem you care about works better than chasing job titles

How assuming positive intent transforms communication and relationships across cultures, backgrounds, and misunderstandings

Transferable skills matter more than job title match.

Assume positive intent; give everyone grace.

Surround yourself with people aligned to what matters to you.

Lean into natural cycles instead of fighting them.

Why pattern recognition in your own career is more reliable than external validation or "shoulds"

How neurodiversity shows up differently in every person, and why diagnosis is about removing shame, not changing who you are

The practical difference between designing for inclusion versus designing "reasonable adjustments"

Your wanting to leave is reason enough.

Values only matter when they cost you something.

High-functioning is masking, not capability.

Lower the floor, raise the ceiling; don't force people into your box.

How running on gut feeling and knowing what you like leads to better decisions than trying to please everyone

Why trust is a self-fulfilling prophecy in teams and organisations

How identity shifts require pruning and loss

Feedback is so radical that it feels shocking when it actually happens.

Binaries are false idols and everything lives in nuance.

Save your compliments and revisit them when doubt creeps in.

Work is a construct, what matters is time and the people you spend it with.

How genuinely egalitarian partnerships enable ambitious, multifaceted careers that wouldn't otherwise be possible

Why specialisation made sense in predictable times but generalists thrive in ambiguity and change

The power of tinkering and holding things lightly; small experiments over grand plans

Every role taught you what you needed; the lack of a plan was actually the plan.

Equal partnership with your spouse changes everything.

Fear of irrelevance can drive burnout, stepping into it can free you.

Tinkering and holding things lightly is where real learning happens.

How to build self-belief through proving capability to yourself, not through external validation

Why generalists are uniquely positioned to navigate early-stage startups and organisational scaling

How AI cannot yet orchestrate the brain of an organisation, making human judgment still essential

Throw yourself into things to learn they're learnable.

You can do anything, but not everything at the same time.

AI solves for speed and output, not orchestration.

Chief of staff isn't a pedestal role, it's a skill-set match for generalists.

Why story is the first technology and how every business is fundamentally a narrative inviting people into a new reality

How transferable skills from working across sectors create deeper empathy and storytelling ability than any single niche ever could

Why pursuing your own authentic narrative beats chasing algorithms and templates every single time

Don't fit templates because not fitting is actually your competitive advantage.

Narrative takes years, not months.

Tech is never the singular answer; some problems need human solutions.

Awareness of your own process is your superpower.