What do you want to be when you grow up? That question should be all too familiar to all of us. We were often asked this question as children, and it would elicit responses like: cowboy, firefighter, actress, or astronaut.
Just because we’re now “all grown up”, it doesn’t mean that we can no longer ask ourselves this question.
Our lives can sometimes go off course and take us in directions that we never expected—or ever wanted. Luckily, it’s never too late. It’s never too late to change course or pick a new career.
So now I ask you: “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
The answer can help you direct your job search, or open your eyes to where your true passions lie.
If you’re in the middle of a job search, or desire a career change or transition, don’t underestimate the importance of looking for work that you’ll enjoy. Many people make the mistake of thinking that work cannot be enjoyable, or that you can’t make money doing something you enjoy. Conversely, many more people are currently making money doing just that.
And there’s no reason why you can’t as well. When you start your job search, you need to figure out everything that you enjoy doing so that you can target jobs that are related to your interests. The old idea of “I’m going to be _____ when I grow up” is dated. The average modern worker will have five different jobs in their career. That means that you have five times to discover where your professional passions lie.
“What makes you happy?”
When you make goals for your professional and personal life, make them in keeping with what you believe will make you happy. Your mood will very likely increase as you pursue your goal, because you’ll feel better about yourself for going after something you value and like. Keep this in mind in your job hunt. Make sure the position you’re pursuing is something that will make you happy.
In order to know whether or not you will enjoy and be happy in a future position, understand what makes you happy. Everyone has unique requirements for attaining happiness, and what makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy. Revel in your individuality and don’t worry about whether or not your desires are comparable to others.
So if you think that living the status quo, in a job that you despise, is good because you can’t afford to take the risk; then think again. You deserve it for yourself to take the leap and find out what you truly want out of life. After all, we all just get one shot, so we should all use our professional careers to grow, both personally and professionally, and we should definitely strive to enjoy it.