My career choice (and journey through business) was greatly influenced by negative feedback from teachers. As a kid I absolutely loved to write but was told I can’t spell and I don’t grasp grammar. My English teacher said that perhaps I’d have better luck in Math? I also enjoyed Art but was told by family, ‘you can’t make money being an artist!’
Silly me for listening to my environment!
Crazy isn’t! What’s even crazier is that through a series of unrelated actions I eventually became a writer (in addition to owning/managing a couple companies). I currently have a couple of my own columns in magazines/newspapers. The girl that was told to ‘try math’ has also been published by over 50 different publications in 10 -20 different countries! The editors all say that I can’t spell and I don’t know grammar, but my style is ‘fresh and alive!’ One editor told me that my style ‘ is what the public want’.
Surprise, surprise. I eventually became what I always wanted to become but was told I wasn’t good enough.
As a child you’re so vulnerable. Anyone anywhere can say something and that something might stick for a long time. That something might shape an entire life. It’s sad if the things that stick aren’t in line with truth of a child. And it’s even sadder if the things that stick deflate confidence, remove hope and render the child depressed. And what’s worse is when that child becomes an adult and fails to re-evaluate whether or not they should have believed the crap they were shovelled as a kid…
Okay – enough doom and gloom! I don’t want to mess up my mascara.
So….what did you always want to do when you were a child? Are you doing it now? If not, do you wish you could do it? Are you not doing something because you were told as a kid that you weren’t good enough?
Contrary to what anyone says or has ever said – your family, your teachers, or your boss – they don’t know your truth. They don’t know what will make your heart sing – only you can figure that one out.
If you’re not happy doing what you’re doing now, you won’t be happy later. And what sense does it make to sacrifice happiness for a bit of enjoyment in the future that may never come?
If you’re not enjoying your journey now I seriously urge you to take a bit of time and contemplate what you dreamed of as a kid. What would you love to do if you could? It’s never too late. When I was in university I had a 90 year old woman taking Applied Statistics with me. It’s never too late to change and find a journey that’s worth traveling. And it’s never too late to say, ‘Teacher/Boss/Whoever – you were wrong…I am good enough!’
Okay – I’ll get off my soap box now. Smiles, x
