As a child growing up, I remember being asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. What a huge question to ask a child! Most of the adults I know, can’t even answer that question!
Now that I am nearly a senior and have just recently discovered what I believe I want to be right now, it has occurred to me how much time and effort we spend pursuing an answer to that question. In grade school, we may have discovered what we were more interested in math, science or team sports. Perhaps we even met with a Guidance Counselor that gave us a test to determine our aptitude towards certain careers.
Statistics suggest that the average person will make a career change 5 to 7 times during their working life. About 1/3 of the total workforce will change jobs every 12 months, and by the age of 42 you will probably already have had about 10 jobs.
If you are average like me, in spite of all the different jobs I had, personality tests taken and university degrees and courses completed, I was really just slogging along through life. I was not listening to my true inner authentic self.
As I now take the time to reflect on life and have conversations with other women, it seems that the primary reason we are guilty of not listening to ourselves is because as adults we become consumed with our roles and responsibilities – wife, mother, daughter, caregiver, etc. Once we are set going down a certain path, it is hard work to change direction. Not only do you have to work hard to change, but in some cases our ego may get in the way – if I do this, how is it going to look to others?
I’m going to suggest that we start changing the question we ask from “what do you want to be” to “who do you want to be”. Most children in Kindergarten won’t have an answer to the question, and neither will a lot of adults. That is okay! There is no need to be embarrassed. Life is a journey of self discovery, and once we understand who we are, we will be able to identify and follow our passion.
That now leads us to the next question – how do you find your passion? Melissa Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love suggests we follow our curiosity. The dictionary defines curiosity as the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness. Following your curiosity may lead you down a lot of different paths, but to paraphrase Gilbert – “follow your curiosity – it will give you the clues as to what you are passionate about” .
Everyone loves stories. It’s the way we connect and understand each other. Nearly every great story has a moral or lesson that can be applied to our own lives. Starting on October 27, 2016, I will be starting a 3-month journey to Asia and Australia. While I’m away I will be writing about how women transition and transform as we move through the various stages in our life. I will share with you how curiosity has led them to their passion, or how perhaps how they are still searching. Please join in on the conversations by sharing your own story, or forwarding to others who may find the topics interesting.