What Will I Be When I Grow Up? I Wonder…

What will I be when I grow Up? Curiously and whimsically wondering is the right approach for this essential question. Curiosity keeps our inquiry light and speculative, rather than stressful and anxious.

It’s funny how so many folks sheepishly explain their lack of success or focused clarity by claiming they’ve yet to grow up. As if facing the responsibility of adulthood automatically clears up all the confusion around finding one’s true calling. First of all, it doesn’t clear up anything. Secondly, such a heavy thought is completely the wrong approach. We need to find work that feels like play and most of us played far more as children than as adults.

What’s an approach that does work well?

SunsetImagine you’ve moved to The Enchanted Isle of Delightful Work.

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning on a lush, beautiful island with 999 others. Each of you is required to contribute only through fulfilling work that’s uniquely joyful and delightful. Pleasant and encouraging neighbors explain that the only kind of work you’ll be paid for is work in which you totally lose yourself.

If what you produce or create involves struggle or toil in any way, you will not eat or be given shelter. Indeed you’d be cast out for working too hard and you would not survive. The only requirement is that your work must naturally bring you alive and make your heart sing.

Take a moment, right now, to close your eyes and imagine such delight.

Know the answer to .. What will I be when I grow up?

You wouldn’t need to worry about marketing because your authentic value would be self-evident and highly attractive. Those who genuinely appreciate whatever you are offering will enthusiastically support you.

  • What kind of work would you do?
  • What would your unique contribution be?
  • Who would you be?
  • What could others say about you that they cannot say now?
  • If you woke up tomorrow and such a miracle happened, what would you see differently?
  • How would you feel?

Here’s your chance to be paid very well just for being your naturally wild self. You’ve joyfully grown up, so what are you?Can we have some fun with this? I dare you. Let all your untamed, unique beauty express itself through these questions. Post a comment and let your imagination run wild.

I’ll tell you a secret. This enchanted isle of delightful work is the same place you’re trying to get to anyway, probably with a lot of stress, effort and struggle. Live it first in your imagination – and who knows what wonderful blessings may transpire!
Stumble It! Stumble It!

You can read my answers to the above on this companion post.

Comments

  1. What a incredibly delightful and refreshing way to pose this always difficult question. I have never heard it asked that way before. And, it opened my eyes to things! Thank you!

  2. Lance,

    I’m glad you found answering these questions refreshing. I’ve found that fresh energy always needs to be followed through on urgently. Feel free to re-visit anytime and share the delight you’ve found in your work.

  3. Lance Snow says

    Tom,
    I think you are right about urgency. When ideas are fresh and new they need to be acted upon and acted upon consistantly. I think that has been much of my challenge. The fresh energy I found in spending some time thinking about “The Island of Delightful Work” stopped after a few days because I didn’t know how to get to the “Island”. In fact, I feel like I am stuck in the jungle trying to get to the coast. I know which way to head, but I just can’t seem to get through the quicksand and past the savages. (What a fun analogy.) Thoughts? Thank you!

  4. Lance,

    I have a question for you. Did you answer the questions and write down your answers? If you did not, do that right now. Just get started and your natural enthusiasm will return. If the story allowed you to find your passion once, it’s still there. Be playful and answer these questions. The answers hold the key to experiencing life robustly!

  5. * What kind of work would you do?
    I notice I like a lot of variety in my work, I get bored easily, I guess. Focusing on different creative outlets keeps things fresh. So I know whatever work or project(s) I choose would be dynamic, a constantly evolving thing or things, sort of like the way my schizophrenic life is now, only minus the struggle and confusion! Okay enough jabber. So my work on this isle is project based and involves a partnership or small group of people. What I do involves photography, writing and perhaps products, focused on the beauty in nature.

    * What would your unique contribution be?
    The result of my work would be inspiring people with the scenic wonder of the natural world.

    * Who would you be?
    I would be authentically and uniquely me.

    * What could others say about you that they cannot say now?
    He’s passionate, purposeful and his unique contribution inspires and touches the lives of many others who are seeking this example.

    * If you woke up tomorrow and such a miracle happened, what would you see differently?

    I would see a brighter, warmer, friendlier world.

    * How would you feel?
    Inspired.

  6. charlotte (effects of divorce blog) says

    Tom,

    This is a great way to get to the core of our passions…

    Weird, I think I would love to do many things too, I would love to sing inspiring songs for people, I would love to give people hope and insights in how to create their own happiness, I would love to contribute to a higher awareness, I would love to show people their angel inside…

    Thanks for putting it this way, Tom!

    Charlotte

  7. Charlotte, you are welcome. I get to my core desires more quickly when I use this exercise than any other way. I believe it strips us of our excuses so that we can see what we truly love. You mentioned four loves in your comment. You would be well served to just start doing one or two of them as soon as you can.

  8. sedgehammer says

    I think this is an excellent starting point for discussion and analysis. I think more valuable to me is considering the places where my heart does not always sing. Any ‘job’ I take on is going to be unsatisfactory at some point. How then, do I compromise?

  9. Sledgehammer, you have asked a powerful question. It’s one that I’ve asked myself repeatedly. You’re right any ‘job’ will eventually suck. The very nature of enslaving ourselves to another restricts our freedom of self-determination so much that it eventually kills our spirit. But even when all of our streams of income are of the self-employment variety we are still sometimes faced with varying degrees of delight.

    “How then, do I compromise?” That’s up to each individual to determine first of all what kind of financial breathing room do they require to function? Some of us do not fear risk and we’ll go for it. For others it’s paralyzing to risk anything. Each person must decide for themselves. I’ve found the route of part-time self-employment to work for many. Perhaps you don’t need to compromise at all? Perhaps all you need to do is look at the flip side of where your heart does not sing and see what will make it sing. Then go forth and somehow get into that business even if it’s in a very small way.

    Act! Act as soon as you can so you can see the benefits of what occurred or not. Tell me was this helpful?

  10. I would be a person who takes groups out into the jungle to do all kinds of adventurous things like raft, repell, explore caves, cliff dive. The we would find beautiful things in nature to take pictures of and study.

  11. I’d be the one speaking, inspiring and encouraging others to keep up the happy, good work. And most likely offering info products for sale at the end. 😉

  12. Laurie – I’d sign up for your adventures. Feel the lightness and eagerness of this description. That’s where you need to be.

    Christine – Cool, then you need to begin doing more of these activities in your life right now. The analogy is strong. You want to be an author and the best way you can do that is to more and more be an author-ity in your own life.

  13. Dear Tom,
    This is not a new vision for me, just one I have put away for a long time because if I didn’t know how to manifest it I gave up on it.
    I would be working at my “Center of Love and Joy” with the sensitive children and others who hold their highest good. I would be the “Mother” in charge, the holder of the blessed energy for all who entered. And we would teach peace, love, joy and healing.

    Irenes last blog post..WE GOT MAIL!

  14. Hey, thanks for listing my blog post!

    Irenes last blog post..WE GOT MAIL!

  15. I will set up a center of learning where I will learn from other people and share what I know. I will help people explore and express their inner passions. I will inspire them with my energy.

    Mayas last blog post..Embracing our cultural identities at work and in life can only be good for us

  16. Wow TOM! I was on this gorgeous isle….seeing myself in the most “real” mind movie in a long time. You really hit the nail on the head with this exercise. And maybe I am in a great place to receive it, but nonetheless it worked! I can actually even see the paint on the walls and the sofa in the room of my place of business! This was very powerful to me! Thanks!!!

  17. Megan – You’re welcome. It sounds like everything is now coming together for you. Take those new ideas and journal about them. Keep the energy of this experience alive in your feeling mind.

  18. If I found myself on this island I’d be looking for ways to help others have meaningful and memorable life experiences. What does that mean? It’s going to be different for everybody on the island, understanding and bringing the resources together to make it happen motivates me.

  19. Jennifer Wenzel says

    After running this scenario through my mind, I would do a variety of things:

    * Create a daily or weekly newspaper of interesting goings-on and information about what we’ve learned about the island and each other
    * Conduct wildlife behavior studies (fancy talk for watching the animals of the island and noting their activities and interactions)
    * Facilitate group discussions on planning and distributing work (helping figure out what needs to be done and who does what in shared projects)
    * Take part in the group that judges the quality of people’s contributions and kicks people off the island if they aren’t having enough joyful fun 😀

Trackbacks

  1. […] two earlier posts What Will I Be When I Grow Up ?, I Wonder and Seize Your Greatness, I advised that discovering authentic work is better approached from a […]

Speak Your Mind

*