What do I want to do when I grow up?

What Do I Want To Do When I Grow Up? By: Diane Lang

For some people, their passion/purpose comes to them. Some even knew what they wanted to be when they grew up as a child.I always envied those people. For the rest of us, we keep asking the question: What do I want to do when I grow up? For others, you started with your purpose/passion and somewhere along the way, you lost interest and the question comes up again: What do I want to do when I grow up? It’s one of the most popular questions I hear from my clients and also one of the most frustrating. If you find yourself stuck or desiring a change in career, here are eight tips to help you find your purpose/passion.  1. What causes you pain? For many of us, what brings up the most pain and discomfort also brings us our purpose. For example: If you have an injury/illness, that might lead you into helping others with a similar situation.  2. What causes you to feel envy? Social media has some negatives but let’s put that negative to use. When you are scrolling through your social media feed, what brings up the emotion of envy or jealousy for you? Instead of judging yourself for feeling that way, ask what it’s trying to teach you. What’s missing/lacking in your life? Does someone going back to get their degree or a certificate bring sparks of envy? Does someone opening up their own business bring the pangs of jealousy? use this emotion/information to make changes going forward.  3. Ask yourself the following spiritual questions: Does the work you do make you feel you’re contributing to society/making the world a better place? Does your career match your value system? Does it create a sense of flow? Does it give your life meaning?  4. Re-evaluate your career. At some point your career might have matched your values, gave your life meaning and flow but no longer does. We are always changing and growing so what worked for you 5 or 10 years ago might no longer work. That’s ok just check in and see how you feel and make changes accordingly.   5. Childhood- think back to childhood dreams, what did you want to do when you grew up? Sometimes, we are driven off path by life circumstances, society or parents encouragement or the pursuit of external goals such as money, fame, status and power. As we get older, we actually feel more satisfied with accomplishing internal goals.   6. Fear – for many of us, we know our true calling but fear has stopped us. If this is the case, it’s time to deal with the fear. Fear can paralyze us, the best way through is to acknowledge the fear but move forward anyway with small baby steps. It doesn’t mean quitting your job and running after your dream tomorrow. It does mean, acknowledging your dream, writing down your goals and setting action steps to move forward.  7.Know the “Why” behind your dream/goal. Why do you want it? When we know why the motivation comes much easier. 8. What are your strengths? gifts? abilities? These are clues. If you don’t know what they are, take a personality test which will help you uncover your strengths and