What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

I want you to stop for a minute and remember a major accomplishment in your life at age 10 or younger. Do you remember learning to ride your bike, winning the spelling contest, your first solo or mastering the skill of shoe tying? Whether your moment was great or small, it was you. You learned, created or accomplished something. You still have those skills today. You can still ride a bike, spell, tie your shoes, etc. We learned many skills as children that we carry through to our adult life.

As a fifth grader, my friends and I decided to put on a play. We wrote the script, made the set, costumes and props. Our teacher was so impressed that we put on our play twice for the entire elementary school and parents. That same little girl still lives inside of me and is writing this story to you. Oh yes, I do love an audience too!

What do you want to be when you grow-up? Have you written down your goals with a plan of action on how to accomplish these goals? Why not? Most people tell me that they have an idea but they are not sure they need to write it down. Everyone who I know that has accomplished great things has written them down.

Fill in these blanks: I want to be a _____. The skills I will need are _____, _____, and _____. I will acquire these skills through hard work and diligent study. I will then become the greatest _____that_____ has ever seen.

I attended a fundraiser at my university. Everyone there, except me, had gray or silver hair. All right, so I have some gray. There was a wonderful pianist performing for us. When she was through, one of the little old ladies said, " I would give anything to play the piano like you." The pianist said, "No you wouldn't". Well, violet blue hair was shocked and stuttered, "Yes, I would". The pianist smiled and touched the old lady's shoulders as she said again, "No, you would not. You see I have been playing the piano for 25 years for 6 to 8 hours a day. You would not be willing to pay that price."

Are you willing to pay the price? The oil billionaire Hunt said, "Decide what you want and then determine to pay the price".

I am surprised at all the lottery and quiz games promising you can become a millionaire over night. Statistically, most instant wealth is all gone within eighteen months because they did not earn it slowly and get accustomed to wealth.

Yes, there is such a thing as an overnight success. I have learned that it takes about 15 years. So, now that you are an adult, be patient and persistent.

-- By Colleen Kay Watson, Career Professionals, which helps job seekers find entry-level opportunities in Management, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Finance and Administrative positions. For more information about Career Professionals, please go to http://www.gocpi.com or call 952-835-9922.