Making money when you have a scanner personality

Ranked #4,065 in Education, #93,358 overall

Scanner People find the whole world fascinating!

This lens will help you to discover how to make income from lots of your many interests while never being bored.

Scanners (sometimes called renaissance people or dilettantes) want to learn about lots of things, and can find that they are never able to earn what they are worth because they can't 'stick' to anything long enough to make a lot of money.

Barbara Sher coined the term scanner in her 1994 book 'I could do anything...', and then wrote 'Refuse to Choose' just for us, and is an author and coach. Her books have sold millions of copies.

If you are a scanner

you'll find life so full of interest that you'll be stuck wondering what to do first

Being a scanner means that you often can't decide how to earn your living, and when you do, you then panic that you'll miss something else.

However, there are ways to have a satisfying life without starving, and one of them is to have multiple streams of income.

You may decide to have (or stay in) a non-taxing day job, and earn small amounts extra by moonlighting as self-employed.

You may decide to work part-time in one area that you love, and spend the other days 'sunlighting' with a different passion.

First of all, you'll need to know what sort of scanner you are. In 'Refuse to Choose' Sher describes eleven different types of scanners, and shows each how to have a rich and varied life.

For example, a 'Plate Spinner' likes to be challenged by keeping many projects on the go at once - never feeling rushed or overwhelmed; whereas a 'Serial Specialist' involves themself deeply in one area for many months at a time, only to suddenly up and change direction, to become a master of another field. Both of these people are scanners, but neither would enjoy the other's lifestyle.

Sher's book 'Refuse to Choose' tells each type of scanner how to identify which types you are (most people are a blend), and then describes tools and techniques to get you up and moving. The book is available below.

Barbara Sher books on Amazon

These are some of Barbara's books

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Squidoo rocks for Scanners!

How to get helplessly lost in exciting possibilities

The Internet as a whole is a vast and exciting Aladdin's Cave for scanners; and now Squidoo has come along and put a huge treasure chest right in front of us.

How do you stop surfing and dreaming, and start earning?

Answers in the next section...

How to Earn a Living, Part One

Give yourself just a little break

Firstly, it is important for you to accept that earning a living without a job, or with several micro businesses, is a perfectly acceptable way to live, and may make you very much happier.

Then you'll need to develop a thick skin, and learn to ignore or not be pressured by well-meaning friends and family. And they are well-meaning, they just don't understand our amazing minds and hearts, which can absorb and love an incredible variety of subjects.

Until you have accepted that this is OK, it will be harder for you to move and take action on your dreams. You still need to move, all the while learning these lessons, if you are not to stay stuck and dissatisfied.

Some books that can be very helpful in changing your mindset are listed below.

Helpful Books

You'll find these very helpful in learning how to change your life as a scanner

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How to earn a living, Part Two

This is where fear may stop you in your tracks

This is where you start. You have thousands of ideas swirling in your mind of how to make profits from hundreds of different topics or themes.

Where do you start? How do you choose?
Well, what is your current passion? What is dominating your thoughts just now?

Pick that topic. Don't worry about it crowding out other possibilities (you can make notes on those so you don't forget them), and figure out a way that you could earn $100 (or £50) from it. Write it down.

That is all you are committing to, earning $100 from it, and then looking back to see if you enjoyed it.

Could you do that? Then work out what the first step is. It may be as easy as looking up a phone number to go and see a craftsman to get some advice; it may be as hard as writing a whole ebook.

If it feels too hard, break it down into smaller steps. Just write an outline, or work out the title.

Now comes the hard part. Take that first step today - or at the latest, tomorrow. If you need a big push, commit to that step in the guest book below - and then come back and tell us how you did.

Then repeat. Work out the next step, make it small enough not to be too frightening, and commit. Repeat again as often as you need to, but earn that 100 bucks. Then you sit down and work out:
Was it fun?
Do I want to do it again?
Is there any bit of it I enjoyed and want to specialise in?
Can I automate it a bit and make room for another income sream?

Then, try again with another area of interest.

only one hundred bucks - so what?

Stop panicking here

No, I am not expecting you to live on 100 dollars.

But you only need ten of these income streams, and then it's a thousand. Ten more is another. Plan on some of them being less time-consuming than others, and have fun expanding those you enjoy, and replacing those that you don't enjoy.

Nobody is forcing you to keep on doing what you don't want to do, unless it's yourself.

Maybe you'll need a part-time job, or to keep going with your main job, so long as you still have the energy to build up a rich and resourceful life for yourself.

Keep coming back to the lens, and I'll add ideas and extra stuff I discover. Please add your comments and ideas in the guestbook.

Visit another lens

and learn more about the $100 hour

the 100 dollar hour
Here I tell you a little more about the $100 dollar hour.

A link for Scanners in the UK

Go here:

for UK-based scanner help

if you are in the UK. John Williams runs the group and hosts fantastic monthly socials in London.

Great Stuff for scanners on CafePress

This links to Barbara Sher's own shop on CafePress
All the items display the message:
Leonardo was a scanner and so am I
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Other things you might be interested in exploring

Here are some artistic things you may want to look at

This is about artist trading cards which are miniature works of art. original paintings, collages or composites; or even prints. These have a huge following on ebay, where people can afford to buy real original art even in difficult financial circumstances.

The only rule for an ATC (artist trading card) is that its height and width measurements be 2.5" x 3.5" (64 x 89 mm). ACEOs are cards that are for sale and not just for trading.

Here's the Wikipedia article on ATCs

Reader Feedback

Share your story here

Please tell us all about your interests (and distract us from one path to another - because that makes life more fun!)

Or tell us what you have committed to - then you'll have to do it!

submit
  • Reply
    Serenia Dec 31, 2010 @ 8:19 am | delete
    My name is Serenia and I am a scanner. And I have just found squidoo. This is my second day on squidoo and have created 2 lenses already. I love this lens. I love squidoo. I am so excited about being on squidoo. It's a scanners DREAM. It's a place to do something with all my many interests and passions and earn money at the same time. Thank you for this lens.
  • Reply
    denNISI Nov 8, 2010 @ 8:49 am | delete
    @barbarasher just found your book. although i am extremely grateful for your advice and take it seriously, i feel like i have a much more extreme case of this scanner personality that you have described and now i am feeling more out of control. i believe it to be more conditioned behavior and have always treated it as a handicap that i will never be able to overcome unless the world changes. however, i do have faith that the world will change around me. in many ways i believe it to be case of being so smart your stupid or feeling like you have varying degrees of being alive. i reluctantly know that with patience and strength of spirit i will naturally fall into my direction even if it is for only two weeks haha. it pains me to believe that i will find my place in this world after i have been struggling for this long but crazier things have happened. my main issue isnt that i have not known or accepted the way that i am or given myself permission, it is because i have had way to many conflicts with the oppressive rules of society. society states you have to work 8 hours performing tasks. there are times when my mind simply does not allow me to do basic mindless functions like dishes. i would be contemplating this ingenious design of a dish drainer and end up a soapy dish in it! i assumed it to be an absent minded professor syndrome. i feel my mind is a child i have to create unusual inventive ways to sucker attention from. i have no problem doing 100 things not in life but in a week. my mind sucks information down so fast now that i cant even keep up. i am only slowed by my physical limitation and financial resources - which are the only things i ache to improve. the one thing that hit home about your book was the wasting part. not time but resources energy my breath even my love (if that doesnt seem shallow enough for you, sometimes even my concern or time of day). you know what? i am happy with the way i am because i enjoy liking a lot of things and i dont mind not being called not stable haha! i am a happy person but i admit there are more times that the world created obstacles than provided me paths to opportunities. i realized that the segregation of a personality type (ie the artist creative type) because of a monetary monotonous world needs to be addressed. in my opinion, the world would be a better place if society allowed all of us with whatever personality type we have to do what we love to do and get paid for it. instead you are forced to work 8 hours a week at a crap job despising every single millisecond because it would be suicide in these hard times to give up a good solid stable high paying job for your sanity. you can always take drugs for those right? well not me. if i am destined to be a straight A college graduate that becomes poor, drugged or homeless so be it. at least it would be chosen for me and i didnt have to choose right?
  • Reply
    KM9999999 Nov 15, 2009 @ 11:30 pm | delete
    Interesting lens. You've got a lot of stuff here I never would have thought of.
  • Reply
    Jennifer Sep 13, 2009 @ 4:13 pm | delete
    I really love this lense. I'll be visiting it multiple times this week for inspiration. Now I'm off to figure out how I can make $100 from doing something I love.
  • Reply
    Sid Jun 13, 2009 @ 5:50 pm | delete
    'Scanner' lol. I like it! I decided to continue highschool-style learning after I started working full time by dedicating each evening and the two weekend days to a different hobby or subject and limiting myself to only seven interests on the go at once. I now have 13 A Levels, a degree in maths and I'm studying towards my second degree in Economics and Accounting at the age of 25. I also have a completely unrelated 9-to-5 career that I earn my main income from and plan to continue training in to degree level also. I sell fine art and sculpture on the side (something that I could do from childhood) and recently completed and found a publisher for my seven-book novel series. I am currently working on the next set of novels. I speak three languages close to fluently and plan to start on Russian in the near future. I also play the piano and guitar to grade 8 and write my own music. I ADORE learning and studying and want to know everything there is to know about life!
  • Reply
    ciarita Apr 28, 2009 @ 7:30 am | delete
    Well, i've been lost for 27 years. Now I know that I'm a scanner, what do I do???? and what about Barcelona - Spain??? no retreats over here? humpf! I just want more!!!
  • Reply
    Mar 1, 2009 @ 8:36 am | delete
    Hi, what a nice lens,

    I think that picture can talk much than word
    "picture express thousand word" is it right?

    Have nice day
    Pics Money
  • Reply
    corfu08 Jan 15, 2009 @ 9:02 am | delete
    Great lens! Scanners Rule!!!
  • Reply
    andreaklee Jan 14, 2009 @ 10:22 pm | delete
    When I read Barbara's Scanner book and attended one of her Scanner Workshops in Frankfurt, it opened my eyes about my personality. I learned to appreciate my many talents, and I felt so much better about my life that I owe lots of thanks to Barbara...
  • Reply
    SuccessLeader Jan 14, 2009 @ 2:47 pm | delete
    I am a certified Scanner -- a marriage educator, web programmer, training developer, management consultant, seamstress, grandmother, Sher Success Teams Leader, author, and speaker fascinated by brain research, psychology, and character strengths. And languages. And probability. And good science writing. And city planning. And what makes education successful. And Triiibes!

    Let me invite Scanners who don't live near Barbara Sher's Registered Success Teams leaders to join us for Success Teams by telephone. www.SherSuccessTeamsByPhone.com We know Scanners.

    If you possibly can, do get yourself to one of Barbara's retreats. I have been to two, both of them incredible, freeing, passionate experiences. See her Genius Press website for info.
  • Reply
    Barbara Sher Jan 13, 2009 @ 9:31 pm | delete
    Just found this! How terrific. I'm holding my next Scanner retreat in southern France, April 19 - 24. One of the rare times I get to work personally with people on finding goals and **Resistance!** Check it out at www.geniuspress.com. There's a discount of $300 until Jan 15. That's $300 to spend in Paris or Nice afterwards, traveling with your new friends. Limit: 15 people
  • Reply
    CrypticFragments Sep 21, 2008 @ 1:12 pm | delete
    my name is Tammy and I am a scanner! lol
    lensrolled this to my Barbara Sher lens...best wishes
  • Reply
    John ScannerCentral.co.uk Jul 27, 2008 @ 3:14 am | delete
    Thanks for getting the Scanner Message out wisdom-seeker. And thanks for mentioning Scanners Night!
    John
  • Reply
    ArtSiren Jul 23, 2008 @ 12:21 pm | delete
    Thanks for this lens Wisdom-Seeker! It describes me perfectly, and I had also never heard the term 'Scanner'. So I've learned something new!
  • Reply
    The_Book_Garden Jul 22, 2008 @ 4:29 pm | delete
    Interesting! I'd never heard the term 'scanner' used before to describe people like me! I'll have to have a look at some of these books!!
  • Reply
    Zee7 Jul 21, 2008 @ 6:56 pm | delete
    interesting lens wisdom seeker, im always on the lookout for money making and money saving ideas. your lens is helpful, thanks!
  • Reply
    Jul 21, 2008 @ 11:46 am | delete
    This was a delightful surprise! I think your lens will prove very helpful to a lot of people.
    Welcome to Empowerment & Enlightenment.

by

wisdom-seeker

Hi,
I live in Kent, UK, and I am trying to make my real life as rich and exciting as my inner life.

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