Unsurprisingly, the answers showed that most people don’t end up doing what they really wanted to do as a kid.
My almost seven year old daughter recently told me that she wants to be a part-time vet, part-time teacher and part-time flower shop assistant. She’d previously wanted to be a chicken holder, nurse and singer.
I remember wanting to be a gardener, psychologist, writer, cricketer and architect. Mum tells me the one consistent thing I did say was that I didn’t want to work in an office all day.
And a specific piece of career path advice my dad gave me was “Don’t be an accountant!” A career he’d been in for decades.
So why, after all that, I chose to study business and went straight into an office job for five years is still beyond me! A lot of people, myself included, tend to just go with the current and end up in an unsuitable career.
A majority of comments in response to my recent article, I don’t love my work, do you? were from people who really do love what they do every day. From this, I’ve deduced that starting a business is what people do once they know what they love.
I eventually managed to make a career out of writing, something I do enjoy, but only after several jobs that I didn’t.
What about you? Are you doing what you always wanted to do? Given the chance, would you choose a different career path? Please let us know.
“ A specific piece of advice my dad gave me was “Don’t be an accountant!” A career he’d been in for decades. ”
Peter Crocker is a director of Flying Solo responsible for marketing and advertising. As a business copywriter he partners with digital agencies and corporate clients on websites and digital content. He’s the co-author of Flying Solo Revisited – How to go it alone in business.
