by Brian Chartier

Created on: June 20, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Is Harrass one word or two?

Well that got your attention! I hope. Carreers are funny things. Those of us who seeked higher education when we were younger thought we knew what we wanted to be. In fact many of us thought we were already fully grown-up.

When I was 18 or so, I thought I knew what I wanted. I was seeking-out a career in international business. To do that I sought the proper education and joined a large company in the mail room to finance my education. My father asked, "so do you know what you want to be when you grow-up?". I thought I did.

Twenty five years later I was with the same company, in a human resource function and loving every minute of it. I had extensive travel as part of the job and dealt with people around the world. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Well it was a couple of years later when I decided to take one of those assessment tests that I would make everyone else take. It wa then that I realized I was not doing what I wanted. I wanted something with substance and more control. I did not enjoy being told what to do and when to do it. The test proved to me that I had not fulfilled my desire to be self-made and in control.

I tried different things in the company. I changed roles and entered more of an operational world which was good at first, but still not for me. After another year or so I realized that if I did not leave while I could, I would never do what I wanted.

That night I called my father who had reached his eighties and I told him that I was seriously thinking of leaving the company. His response may have seemed a bit whimsical at first but now I realize that it was in fact quite insightful, "So you have finally grown-up and decided what you want to do with yourself!".

The point here is that human nature is such that we seek comfort and acceptance. This is what comes from working for a large company and growing with it or just moving up through the ranks. We can become quite comfortable and used to the regular pay-cheque and so forth. The fact is, for many of us, we remain un-fulfilled. There is something missing.

You may think that you know exactly what you want to be when you grow-up. This may be true of many individuals but not everyone is this fortunate. Never stop persuing your dreams or trying out things that you think you will like. Life is a journey that can end abruptly.

I have a saying, "I would hate to be lying under a truck thinking, dang, I should have had that steak last night...".

My point is, don't find yourself sitting in a rocking-chair or on a couch pondering what it would have been like to be a nurse, a fireman, a cook or anything. Sit on that couch and smile knowing that you became what you wanted to be when you grew-up. Experience living and experience working. What they say is true, if you are doing what you want every day, then it really is not work.

Nothing is out of reach if you really want it! I know a person who became a doctor and he was nearly 50 years old. Before going back to school he drove a truck. I have a friend who bought a bar when he was over 50. Not because he could afford to, but because all his life he wanted to work in a bar and talk to people.

Well some say we never grow-up. I beg to differ. We get wiser, we realize the value of money and naturally we accept that health is the essence of everything we either do or want to do. Without good health we are limited in our options and sometimes have to shif our focus on the health issue or the health issues of our loved ones.

So go out and be what you want to be when you Gow Up!

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