When I was around 7 or 8 years old, sadly our elderly second grade teacher, unexpectedly passed away — so unexpected that we students were hanging around near the classroom and when all the other classroom doors closed and no one had come to our room, we all sat down and got quiet. We didn’t know what to do. When the teacher next door stopped by and offered to take our attendance to the front office for our teacher she was like … where is your teacher?
Well, we didn’t know. Yes, sadly our teacher had passed away in her sleep. We had substitutes for a while and then we got a beautiful young teacher. She was fun and bright and happy! She made teaching look fun and I just knew I wanted to be a teacher. Fast forward and while I did not become a school teacher, I have done a fair bit of training of adult learners. I have to admit, teaching is one of the things that brings me joy. I enjoy meeting new people and helping them move forward in their career.
If you do not feel like you have found your “gift” and/or perhaps you are still working your way through jobs to see what sticks. Don’t give up! I bring up my childhood memory to provide a challenge to think back to when you were 7 or 8. Age 7-8 interests are early indicators of future career paths, as children begin forming lasting impressions about work, gender roles, and their own abilities. Key interests—such as building (engineering), organizing games (management), or curiosity about nature (science)—often reveal natural strengths that persist into adulthood.
Take a few minutes and close your eyes and take a few deep breaths ….. let your mind wander back to that time and see what memories pop up. Let the memories flow. You may remember something that is key to your purpose or a strong desire. Did anything pop? Don’t worry if it didn’t … be prepared you may remember something when you wake up in the morning or in the shower.
Maybe you need a bit more information and there are quite a few aptitude tests are available. Aptitude tests will provide information on where your strengths are. Additionally some will ask questions that help you identify the types of jobs (e.g. office or working outside) you will enjoy. I will say that I did not take an aptitude test until I was in my early 30’s — I took it after I was already on a career trajectory. I have wondered if I would have taken that college orientation first instead of treating it as a “box to check”, if I may have been Director of Personnel vice a Project Manager for IT projects. However, maybe I am in the right field as it has provided a nice living for me and my son.
Maybe you say how is that a gift? I think of a gift as something that comes naturally to you, yes, you may still have to study or practice but you can do it and you are good at it. Most people have several things that would qualify as an innate talent. The economy has to also welcome those talents with jobs and salaries. That can be luck as the jobs are there where you live, it can also mean you may have go out on an adventure to find it and to find the “gap.” The “gap” is what I call the empty spot that is waiting for you to fill it and where you can make money. Maybe you really are an entrepreneur and have ideas for products to make life better for the rest of us.
Maybe it would help to know what jobs are out there, what do they and what education do you need. You might be surprised at the jobs that may only need a year of education, passing a test and getting a certification. If you want to know “what are all the things I could be”, please reference the free job aid on Bureau of Labor and Statistics BLS website for the Occupational Outlook Handbook https://www.bls.gov/ooh/ What is so great about this site is that it will not only tell you the jobs out there, it will list the desired qualifications (e.g. certifications and/or degree required), job salary ranges and locations of where jobs are growing and where they are going away. This can be extremely useful when deciding what you want to study or where do you want to live.
It is not too late to decide what you want to be when you grow up. Many people may have 3 or 4 careers over a long life time. My dad joined the military at 17, he retired after 22 years, became a mail man until he had an injury. He retired again until he go restless and he became a realtor. After this lucrative career, he is a volunteer for a small town Water Board where he and the other board members have made a huge difference for all of the residents to come (think NO Flint Michigan Water scandal here). I am sure he had no idea the way his careers would change.
You may already know what you want to do and it pays well. If you don’t know, please do the introspection to find your gift and your gap and get going!! The world needs your gift!
Feel free to leave me a comment if you have questions about how to find your gift.
References:
Google “aptitude tests for jobs” for the AI Overview for the Aptitude Tests.
Google “age 7 or 8 interests lead to future jobs” which will provide a list of interests and possible future careers.
