“What do you want to do when you grow up?” I think every child is asked that question as early as kindergarten. While it’s fun to listen to toddlers rattle off a litany of potential careers like fireman, princess, doctor, or superhero, it’s probably the wrong question to be asking them. What would happen if we asked a different question instead? “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” Furthermore, as children grow, perhaps the question should morph to, “Who do you want to be this year? This week? Today?”
We don’t need to wait to “grow up” to be the person we are called to be. The Colonel said, “Focus on who you want to be, kid—not what you want to do. Last time I checked, the Earth is populated with human BEINGs, not human DOINGs.”
As adults, we seem to put so much emphasis on profession and title when those don’t define who we are. Regardless of our chosen profession, who we are is far more lasting than what we do. Given precisely the same parameters, no two architects, nurses, or software designers will create exactly the same end product because each of them is different in who they are, as compared to what they do. Your job function is not nearly as important as what you uniquely bring of yourself to that job.
As a professional speaker, I am always in competition with any number of other speakers who present on my topics of leadership, significance, communication, and conflict management. Each of us brings a uniqueness to the subject. Meeting planners, associations, and corporations book me because they’ve made a connection with who I am as a person in addition to my areas of expertise. Those who book one of my competitors connect more strongly with who they are.
What you do doesn’t define who you are. Your uniqueness, core values, and how you view the world will dictate how successful you are and the impact you make on your profession, coworkers, and chosen industry – the world.
So, when you think about changing careers or starting your first career, don’t spend more time thinking about the job function than you do thinking about who you want to be within that function.
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