Thursdays with Jodee
In honor of my 2007 intention ("Listen and Allow") and my relatively newfound life mission ("Inviting Bigger Small Talk") and my also relatively newfound but very similar genius ("Inviting Dialogue"), I have decided to create a new weekly post to engage readers in a meaningful dialogue, by introducing a conversation starter here.
I had dinner with my good friend Dave last night, and he gave me a book called What's Your Story? and told me to pass it forward. I started reading it this morning and realized, not coincidentally, that it is perfect in support of this idea of this new Thursday post.
Here is today's very first Thursday Dialogue topic:
"What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?"
If I am inviting dialogue, I guess I first have to tell you about me. I really have no recollection of what I really wanted to be, but I knew I wanted to be in an office with windows. I spent a lot of my childhood playing library (I still have books from my childhood with writing in the back that says "Do June 12") and school (my mom was a teacher). But I knew I didn't want to be a teacher - I wanted to do something corporate. And here I am ... a speaker/trainer/facilitator - basically a teacher but in a business setting, not a traditional classroom. So maybe some of it is genetic and some of it is conditioning. Either way, I feel I've found what Jim Collins calls my Hedgehog Concept (watch for a future post about the Hedgehog Concept).
So, what did you want to be when you grew up? Why?
Labels: dialogue, Hedgehog Concept, What's Your Story?
posted by Jodee Bock @ 10:02 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Great question, Jodee!
In response, I always knew that I wanted to make a difference...some way, some how. I thought that being a teacher was one way and I tried the formal teaching gig, but found that I am best in the "informal" environment. What's really interesting, if I look back at my career path, I am have been teaching in one form or another. :)
Pam: I know - isn't it weird how crystal clear hindsight is? Looking back, things always look so much clearer than when we're slogging through it at the time. I think when we start waking up to what really makes us happy, we'll see that - like Dorothy - we've had it in one form or another all along. We just need to close the gaps between the time we're happy and when we're not. Teaching is such a great way to learn, too. I find that I definitely teach what I most need to learn! Thanks so much for playing the Dialogue game, Pam!
First, in response to the dialogue so far: I never wanted to be a teacher--being "responsible to share knowledge" and presenting in front of a group of people has always scared me. But it's interesting to reflect on your comments, and realize that as I "get more experienced" (read "older"), I find myself more and more playing the role of teacher. Hmmm.
Second, I always wanted to be an archeologist when I grew up, and specifically, one who made a big new discovery, like the pharoah's tombs in Egypt. I think the appeal of adventure and being the first to bring new information to light is wrapped up in there somewhere. Now, I should probably ask myself what I am/if I am living out that desire, even if it's not necessarily on a dig!
Great dialogue- and thought-starter, Pam and Jodee!
Lisa: That's what I find is so great about getting older: if you learn something, you get wiser, too! I've heard it said that wisdom is what you learn after you know it all! I think you are an archeologist, Lisa, for the reasons you described. Maybe you're not uncovering treasures in Egypt, but you're doing that every day in your own life! Sometimes it just takes an outside perspective to help us see what's right in front of our eyes! Thanks so much for adding to the dialogue!!!
I definitely wanted to be a teacher when I was little. School was such a source of positive reinforcement in my life--I always loved it--that my teachers were idols to me. I not only wanted to emulate people who were so influential in my life, but I also wanted to stay in the school environment since I loved it so much. As I got older, I thought I would be a writer since I was so good at English and Literature (that's even what I majored in during my undergrad studies).
Here I am, decades later, and my life revolves around technology and community and connection. I help (teach) people make transitions in their lives, and I spend a lot of time writing on the internet. Funny how things work out.
Well, it seems we've got a theme going here! Teaching is such a great foundation for so many careers, it seems and if we really think about it, we're all teaching in some way. It is funny how things work out! Thanks for visiting, Kimberly!
When I was six someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I replied - "I am going to be a world famous brain surgeon... or a baseball player." :)
While I am not a brain surgeon, I have always been fascinated by the brain. As a psychologist, I obviously am not performing brain surgery; however, I do help people change their neuroanatomy by changing their thinking.
Funny to think about that... what a great question!
Jodee and Ladies:
my next question in this dialogue is "Do you think we SPEAK our future reality into existence?" Look at what we all said we wanted to be when we grew up. It was an early speak with far-future ramifications. Another question, "Can we effectively do this (speak reality before it exists) on a more immediate basis--next year, next month, tomorrow, today?"
Great talking with all of you!
Hmm. Interesting seeing all these connections being made. I've been thinking about these types of questions a lot lately.
For me, I wanted to be in music. A singer. Broadway, backup vocals, whatever. Eventually, for several reasons, I gave it up entirely. (I do, however, sing in a couple of different groups. I just don't get paid for it.) If not that, I wanted to write.
The thing is, I remember distinctly having a fight with my mother when I was a teenager. I told her in no uncertain terms that I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I grew up, but that I knew it had nothing to do with what she did. I didn't want to work in an office, punching in 9-5 type hours.
Part of that came true. I certainly don't work 9-5, more like 12 hours or more a day, but definitely in an office.
When I played as a child, I might have been a doctor or a director or a photographer or any number of things. But not one of those dreams happened in an office environment.
Sounds like I have some work to do.
all the best!
deb
Deb: I do find it very interesting that many of us are not doing what we thought we wanted to do. Just realizing that there might still be a part of us that wishes we could live our childhood dreams might be enough to get us thinking about our current careers in a different way.
Even more interesting to me is how many of us say we didn't want to be teachers but yet find ourselves in teaching roles. I'll have to talk more about this in a future post - and see if there is a correlation between our curent state of education and the fact that we are in such desperate need of teachers in more traditional school settings.
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