Deciding Who You Want to be

I find it interesting that we ask children what they want to ‘be’ when they grow up, instead of what they want to ‘do’.

But the answer we listen for is a profession.

So they’re conditioned to connect their profession with their identity.

And then we’re surprised that teenagers become crippled by anxiety over which jobs to apply for as though they’re swearing a blood oath to a mercantile guild.

Because they still haven’t figured out who they want to ‘be’ for the rest of their lives.

And we’re even more surprised that adults go through a crisis of identity when they lose their job or encounter some situation that makes them realise that they were wrong when they were six and the precise job they happen to ‘do’ right now isn’t exactly who they want to ‘be’.

Separate who you want to be from what you want to do.

Each deserves focus but it’s important to remember that what you do at any one time doesn’t define you. You can stop or change what you do at any time and who you are is still the same.

So figure out who you want to be.

We jam about stuff like this in my course Career Hyperdrive.

There are tangible career problems we tackle but also good doses of psychology and philosophy.

We talk about mimesis, identity, goals, cognitive biases, decision-making, skill development, etc. Http://careerhyperdrive.com