When I Grow Up...

I think every kid gets asked at some point about their career aspirations. What do you want to be? Interesting that the people asking the question and the kids answering the question all assume an occupation is what defines us.

Typical answers are “a fireman”, “a nurse” or “an astronaut”. By the way, no kid ever said they wanted to be a CIO. Occasionally a kid will want to be the president of the United States. We train our kids early to expect the job description to be the most important thing. 

Better answers may be “I want to be honest when I grow up”, “I want to be kind”, “I want to be a good person”. My quick “preachable” moment on this is that too many people rest their identities in their occupations. This can make it really tough to deal with a layoff or job loss, as people can literally feel a loss of identtity.

So, my hope for all of you is that “what you will become” is much more than just your job.