What I Want to be When I Grow Up
What do you want to be when you grow up? If you think back to your eight-year-old self you’ll likely recall this question from parents, uncles, grandmothers, and teachers. For some the answer was specific and tangible (“a basketball player”); for others more vague (“famous”). But in either case, it is unlikely that your answer then is what you are now. Maybe not even close (especially if your growth “spurt” stopped at 5’7” and basketball became something you watched not played).
So what’s the point of even wanting to “be” something when we grow up? After all, our goals and ambitions change as we grow. At age eight, I wanted to be a Big Wheel champion. Years later that “grow up” vision changed-–multiple times. Here’s my meandering journey:
Age 11: I wanted to be a pilot
Age 16: I wanted to be a radio station program manager
Age 22: I wanted to be an award-winning writer
Age 32: I had no clue what I wanted to be
Age 48: I wanted to be CEO
I never became any of those. So in one sense I failed. But in another way I succeeded in becoming all of them.
I’m a Big Wheel champion because I still strive to have fun; I’m a pilot because I try to build trust; I’m a radio programmer because I seek to fulfill an audience’s needs; I’m am an award-winning writer because sometimes someone reads and enjoys my words; I still have no clue what I want to be yet sometimes I try new things and fail; I am a CEO (of me) because I make choices every day about how I live.
There is a little piece of each of my “grow up” ambitions that lives on in who I am today. What that has taught me is that “what I want to be” is less of a “what” and more of a “who” and “how.” I can choose who I am as a person and how I choose to behave. Now, age 50-ish, I’m again wanting to “be” something else: a coach, advisor, helper. As I reflect on that, I understand it is not so much a destination (a “what”) but my path: “who” I am—someone who listens and cares; and “how” I will proceed—by trying, failing, and trying again.
What did you want to be? Maybe what you wanted to be has changed as frequently as the Michigan weather; maybe you regret your past path choices or believe you missed that one special opportunity. I suggest you re-think that thinking. Instead, the next time you think you failed on your path to becoming “something,” remind yourself you can always choose, every day, the “who” you want to be and ”how” you decide to live. And even though you may never become CEO you can still “be” that kid on the Big Wheel with the grass-stained jeans.
Notes:
Re-think resource: Think Again, Adam Grant
Find more insights on the Forty-Two Consulting “Thinking Out Loud” blog.
