Not a “good” song but the first one that came to mind…
When I Grow Up – Pussycat Dolls
When we were all in primary school, family, teachers and friends constantly asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. If you were anything like me, the answer to that question changed quite drastically, quite often. (That is if you had an answer at all…)
At my kindergarten graduation, I proudly, and much to the surprise of my mother, announced that unlike my female classmates who wanted to be doctors or ballerinas, I wanted to be a policewoman (emphasis on the woman). By elementary school I’d moved on to a more traditional veterinarian, only to develop an allergy to cats. During middle school, I wanted to be a pop singer. In junior high, a criminologist. And by college, I happily followed the degree track for public relations.
At those times in my life, my goals and decisions were based solely on perception. I have no idea where the policewoman came from but for everything else, those careers seemed cool and were (somewhat) related to my interests. I loved dogs so obviously I was supposed to become a vet. Music has been a long time passion of mine and I have a pretty good singing voice (patting myself on the back) so a pop singer it was.
Due to my analytical and potentially scientific mind and far too many episodes of Law and Order and CSI, a criminologist sounded pretty cool. The idea of being a (functional) part of the justice system and proving people wrong without having to carry a gun or put myself in any real danger sounded like a great idea to me.
Our senior year high school counselor for whatever reason suggested I consider public relations. I understood little more than the concept of a publicist but with a little research, PR sounded like a good fit. I studied it for four years, learned just how relative it was, felt confident I had the necessary skill sets and GOT A JOB a month after I graduated!!! Three years of loyal service was simply not enough to keep me employed during the “Great Recession.” Working in a non-essential industry when your clients are facing financial and employee losses is not a good place to be… LAID OFF!
A couple of months later, I was fortunate enough to land a position in economic development for a prosperous city. And there I am. Very interesting, right? Ok, probably not so much but my point is I have no better idea what I want to be when I grow up now than I did in kindergarten. The only thing that’s really changed is having a better idea of what I DON’T want to be.
I’ve worked in areas that I was “good at” but that I didn’t find all that interesting. In other words, I could do it but didn’t really want to. The idea of becoming an “expert” in those areas sounded like a chore, rather than a goal. A possibility, not a passion.
This concept of becoming an expert in my job is neither to my credit nor discredit. It’s a part of my current boss’s mantra. She wants her staff to be more than just “good” at what we do. She wants us to strive to be and to also be considered by other people experts in our areas. For the sake of her/our business, that goal makes complete sense. In an industry/job equally influenced by skill AND perception, we need to be experts on the topic or at least on the experts. The concept being sound there are still two very important questions to ask: 1.) Can YOU become an expert in your area? and 2.) Do you WANT to? It’s okay if you can’t say immediately say yes to either but you should be working your way toward a definitive answer.
I have a strong feeling I’m not in my final career path. Who knows where life experiences, tv shows, personal suggestions and random encounters will take me? All I can hope is they’ll all lead me to a place I love and want to be. I hope to be able to do more than sufficiently answer the question. I hope to be able to find ways to get you to ask the question just so I can answer it with more information than you knew you wanted. 🙂 To be a fountain of knowledge, however useless it might be. I’ve started that collection of random information in relation to contemporary music. But maybe I should work on identifying a more “realistic” or at least useful subject. I need another passion.
Two questions for you: What are you an “expert” in and is that in any way related to your current occupation?
Jo’van
The Truth: According to Jo'van 