If you have been following the conversation, we are at the point where I lay out the path to the success, the fuel to fire the vehicle, the mythical substance that turns out all the projects of my dreams effortlessly. I have a confession to make. I discovered the answer and I don’t know what the question is.
I shared my study on principles and values because it is interesting for me and I really hoped it was a path to the question. The list of thirty-six values was like finding a chest of coins! On first opening, the excitement soon disappeared once I recognized almost all of the values are common copper coins you find everywhere. This list of values for me is not the fuel from where dreams come true. The common questions of; what is your passion, what is your vision for yourself, what do you want to accomplish with your life, what is your life’s purpose??? SUCK the air out of my soul.
I find all of these questions to be roadblocks and dead ends. They produce nothing, not even nightmares! None of these questions evokes any interest by me and in my experience; many people are left with the same empty feeling of being wrong because they don’t have an answer! What do you want to be when you grow up?
My answer was and still is I don’t know!
You will get in F if you continue with that answer. During the first third of my life, the only acceptable answer was an A! So, you make something up.
You can take tests and I took many that provided clues. The belief is that if you have certain aptitudes and attitudes plus natural talents you will be good at a number of skills and jobs. Then that is what your answer is! My experience was I made many people happy proving the theory valid. Trouble is, while I was successful and earned lots of accolades it didn’t mean anything to me. Yes it was fun and yes I enjoyed myself, I made money and good living for myself, etc, etc and there was always a but. There was always that’s it? This is all there is?
There is a lot of chatter about getting this right! If you don’t know where you are going you will …
You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there. – Yogi Berra [This statement of cognitive dissonance resonates with me. You too!?]
It’s always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you’re going. – Anthony Burgess [You can spend a lot of time investigating your past getting nowhere.]
Remember that it is not where you come from, or not even where you are; it is where you are going that matters most. – Bo Bennett [This puts the cart in front of the horse for me!]
It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going. – Brian Tracy [Another cart in front of the horse offering the power of goal setting.]
It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from; all that matters is where you are going. You can’t talk your way out of problems you behave yourself into. – Stephen R. Covey [OK. This one has a clue about behavior!]
If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, You’ll Probably End Up Somewhere Else – David Campbell [This little book is fun and more of the same cart in front of the horse!]
You don’t have to go looking for love when it’s where you come from. – Werner Erhard [This was a major clue for me!]
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. – Lewis Carroll [I think every road will take you there!!]
You don’t have to know where you are going!!!!! You don’t have to know what you want to be when you grow up! With the right fuel you can have an unlimited number of dreams come true!! You can experiment as often as you want. You have eternity to do everything!! So you don’t have to know what it is you are supposed to do! Knowing your life’s purpose appears to be a control thesis to keep you chasing your tail!
The FUEL is the answer! You don’t need to know the question either! Turns out the two sided coin that buys all the fuel you will ever need works better than any lamp, better than any genie and you can have as many wishes come true as you want!
Tomorrow I’ll share one side of the coin!
Hmmm I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, I think that is because who I am is not one task, vocation, job, income level. Life is an adventure, I’m here for the ride, I don’t know where it’ll end up. Life is what you do with it, relationships we built, things we learn, create. People are complex unique beings. Who know how we’ll react to opportunities and challenges which appear in our path. Don’t try to be someone else, trust in your core values.
I’m ok with setting goals if you put actions steps and habits to form to get there, and if along the way, you find a better way to do things, you adjust, change.
I wish people would quit trying to draw boxes around us, to define what we are, which means we aren’t everything else.
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Aptitude test is over hyped – or one dimension at best. Many won’t be happy after leaving school and swimming in real world.
When it’s all said and done what’s most important is not compromising your principles.
Awesome Heidi. I think most people are not intentionally drawing boxes around us, they mean well. I am with you on being your own best you.
“It’s always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it.” Maybe it is more important to be sensitive/cognisant/in tune with where you are. Ric http://www.orglearn.org
Interesting point of view. Personally, I need to know what city I’m going to in order to know which road to take. Curious to see your next post.