FOCUS ON ONE THING IS A BIG, FAT MYTH.

Why You Should Spread Your Bets If You Want to Win

I’ve carried a deep, almost stubborn frustration for as long as I can remember.

It stems from the fact that, because of my ADHD, I’ve been told repeatedly and relentlessly that if I want to succeed, I have to focus on just one thing.
One idea.
One path.
One brand.
Pick your lane. Stick to it. Grind.

At first, I tried to believe them.
I tried to internalize it like gospel.
Because that’s what the books said. That’s what the podcasts said. That’s what all the productivity gurus screamed from their minimalist desks.

But the truth is, I’ve always known deep down that I’m wired differently.

I’m not someone who gets distracted by shiny objects because I’m lazy.
I’m someone who gets lit up by many passions because that’s how my brain is built.

I’ve always felt it in my bones: I have the capacity, the creativity, and the genuine desire to hold multiple dreams all at once.
To build across several domains.
To pour into different wells without losing myself.

And yet, the doubt always creeps in.

What if they’re right?
What if I really am wasting my time?
What if I’m spreading myself so thin that nothing meaningful will ever stick?

There’s always been that whisper.
That tiny fear that maybe I’m doing it wrong.

But there’s also a louder, fiercer voice inside me. One I trust more that shouts every time I try to shrink myself:
Life would be soul-crushingly boring if you were only allowed to do one thing.

And it’s true.

It’s not just a preference.
It’s not just an indulgence.
It’s a necessity purely for how I’m built, for how many of us are built.

This article though isn’t about my ADHD struggles.

But it’s been deeply inspired by them.

Because the more I listen to that inner voice, the more I realize:

FOCUS ON ONE THING IS A BIG, FAT MYTH.

“Just focus on one thing” sounds smart. It’s clean, disciplined, and Silicon-Valley-zen. But in real life? It’s a trap.

The truth no one really tells you: most things you start won’t work. Not because you’re not good. Not because the idea sucks. But because the timing, the traction, the terrain is all unpredictable.

And if you bet your entire identity, savings, and sanity on one big idea too early? You’re not focused. You’re exposed.

The One-Thing Mantra Is Outdated

Look around. The modern creative economy isn’t about monogamy to one idea, it’s about experimentation. It's about building fast, failing smart, and finding signal in the noise.

Creators and builders aren’t soldiers marching blindly toward a vision anymore. They’re more like scouts. They test, they tweak, they toss. The winners aren’t necessarily the most focused, they’re the ones who figured out what to focus on through trial, error, and data.

Your first idea is probably not the one. That’s not pessimism, that’s just math.

Focus Isn’t the Enemy. Blind Focus Is.

Here’s what too many hustle bros miss: focus is not a virtue if it’s aimed at the wrong thing. Focus becomes a superpower after you’ve tested the field. That’s why we need to shift from “pick one and push” to “try a few, see what bites, then double down.”

Founders like Pieter Levels didn’t hit with their first swing. He launched 12 startups in 12 months—and two stuck. That’s a win rate of 1 in 6. But those two made the whole portfolio worth it.

The lesson? You don’t need everything to work. You just need one to take off. But to get there, you’ve got to be prolific, not precious.

The Case for Many Bets (Small Ones)

You wouldn’t put all your savings into one stock. Why do that with your time and creativity?

Try this instead: think like a VC, not a monk. Launch a podcast pilot, build a one-page site for your side idea, post a TikTok about your weird niche obsession ( not the weird ones :D) . See who bites. If no one bites? Cool. On to the next. No shame, no sunk-cost syndrome.

It’s not laziness. It’s strategic detachment. And it’s how you win.

Tools > Time

We’re living in a golden age of low-effort experimentation.

Want to ship a product this weekend? You don’t need a dev team—just use Bubble, Webflow, or Notion. Want branding and visuals? Midjourney and ChatGPT got your back. You don’t even need to leave your couch.

The cost of launching something new is basically a couple lattes (Virtue Energy Drink for me because coffee sucks) and a few hours. That removes your last excuse.

And with automation and scheduling tools ( I have a friend building AI Agents for automation, DM me if interested), you can juggle 3–4 projects without frying your brain. Not because you’re superhuman, but because the tools are. The new stack is giving you creative leverage like never before.

Validate, THEN Obsess

Let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t an excuse to be flaky.

Eventually, you’ll need to go deep. Build. Obsess. Ship consistently. But don’t go tunnel-vision on an unproven idea. Let your users, audience, customers, employers, and early traction guide where your energy flows.

This is A/B testing applied to your career. Put different versions of yourself out there. Watch what sticks. Then scale the winner.

It’s Not Shiny Object Syndrome. It’s Strategic Multipassioning.

Yeah, juggling projects sounds messy. But it doesn’t have to be chaotic.

Set time boundaries. Run experiments in short sprints. Keep your MVPs lean. Define upfront what “traction” means. Then measure and move. That’s not scattered. That’s smart.

Having multiple projects isn’t a problem. Having no filter or system is. Learn the difference.

Why This Hits Harder for Our Generation

Gen Z and Millennials get this intuitively. We’re the side-hustle generation. We’ve seen too many people pour everything into one job, one path, one dream—and lose it all in a single layoff.

We’re not trying to build careers, we’re building portfolios. Our lives are a mix of revenue streams, creative outlets, and digital identities. And that’s a feature, not a bug.

A friend of mine called Kaesa, is the greatest definition of this. Follow him on IG and see for yourself. You can’t define him - he is a creator, art director, filmmaker, poet, philanthropist, gamer, model, stylist, entrepreneur, foodie, and a great friend to his circle - all at once!

We multitask naturally. We switch from Canva to Notion to TikTok like it’s nothing. So why not apply that same energy to building ideas?

Final Word: Focus Later, Not First

This isn’t anti-focus. It’s smart focus. Focus once you’ve earned it. Once something pulls you in. Once the market says “yes.”

Until then? Be curious. Be prolific. Be open.

Try. Learn. Drop. Repeat.

Your next big thing might be hiding behind four small things that didn’t work. But you’ll never find it unless you give yourself the room to explore.

So go ahead. Start that newsletter. Build that e-commerce project. Drop that random athleisure collection. Pitch that idea to your boss. Post that silly TikTok. One of them might just be the spark you’ve been looking for.

If you liked this, share it with a fellow multipreneur or young hustler. Or just tweet it into the void and let the algorithm do its thing.