When I grow up...

So, part of my journey now that I'm 40 is assessing where I am and where I want to go. I signed up for career coaching with a friend from my LINK days, Brent, to figure out what kinds of work I'd best enjoy/be suited for/wouldn't bang my head against the wall whilst doing. I've shared this news with a variety of people and got a number of reactions, but the common question is, "So, have there been any surprises?"

To me, that question itself is a surprise because I've been hoping that this process would reveal something incredibly new and exciting and my whole life would transform into this happy bubble of unicorns and lollipops. But I guess that, by now, there are very few true surprises left, since I've spent 40 years getting to know who I am. Which is both comforting and depressing.

In all honesty, I don't know that I ever had a "when I grow up, I want to be..." moment. I spent a lot of time around my grandparents, for whom doing well was a big deal. I was encouraged to go into computers because they saw this as a good ticket to success, not because it was necessarily something I was good at or liked.

So, I guess that, despite the wide variety in things I've done for fun or for work or "just because", it is surprising that my interests gravitate toward teaching or leading other people. The Top 10 list that was generated by the surveys I took came out with "librarian, top executive officer, military officer, corporate trainer, ESL instructor, college instructor, college professor, chef", some of which I've actually done (I'll leave it up to y'all to figure out which ones) and leave me wondering where I'd be if I had pursued those paths further than what I had done.

Thankfully, this is just another step down the whole path for me. That list isn't a straight-jacket for career options, and my mind is already playing around with what's possible given everything in my life (experiences, interests, actual skills, etc.).

More to come...