So true about the “right” or “acceptable” messages we send our kids – and that we absorbed when we were kids. I know with my son I’ve tried to stress how much of what I’m doing in my business didn’t even exist when I was young. The internet? Facebook? Blogs? All new technology. Who knows what he’ll have available to him in 10, 15, 20 years? Star Trek here we come!

And it’s so true that what you are meant to do keeps resurfacing, even if you try to ignore it. I once wrote a purpose statement that read “To use my writing and speaking skills to tell stories that excite, inspire and teach people.”

In spite of this, I spent several years avoiding, dodging and fighting opportunities to teach. Then one day I really looked at what I wrote and shook my head. Whatever I do, I’m first and foremost a teacher. That realization transformed my business.

Parents can also be helpful in assisting children in enlarging their vision about how to best achieve their goal. For example, I wanted to help people so I became a psychotherapist because that is what you do when you want to help people, right? It didn’t occur to me until later that there are many, many ways to help people.

What I try to do as a parent is take a balanced approach to helping my children investigate what they would like to do. I validate their emotional desire but also undergo a fact-finding mission with them. For example, my son wants to be a vet because he loves animals. I certainly don’t discourage him but we also discuss the factual nature of working as a vet-the years of schooling, the possibility of having to put animals to sleep, etc. I also try to suggest other vocations he could explore in which he could his utilize his love of animals-photography, nutrition, training, etc.

No matter what, I think if you are meant to do something it will keep resurfacing over and over again. Then the question becomes-are you paying attention? For me, it becomes a matter of making myself my own research project!

What a delightful piece! During your career journey as an adult, I think it is always helpful to go back to what you liked, thought, and did as a child. Sometimes it can be very insightful. For most of us, our childhoods were untouched by the “shoulds” and the harsh realities of adult life. For me, there is something comforting (and neat) about seeing a theme over the course of your life and being able to live it out in a way that is both personally and professional prosperous.

As I was putting together my company over the last year, it hit me that what I am doing was a natural flow from what I valued and liked to do as a child. In fact, I even talked about it in my bio: http://www.SaquiResearch.com/Saqui.html!

Cheers to our childhood dreams!