What do you want to be when you grow up? Children get asked this question very often. Depending on the age of the child being asked, the answer will range from something as outrageous as Spiderman to something as practical as a doctor, lawyer, or teacher. Assuming the answer is among the latter, then when should the child begin to act on his or her career goal? To some, this may sound like a silly question. I mean, kids are kids, right? There’s plenty of time for them to career plan; for now, let them be kids, and for as long as possible. I agree. Kids should be kids, but if a child is expressing a very strong preference and aptitude for a particular career, why not get them involved in age-appropriate activities that build upon their interests and aptitudes? The majority of students I work with only begin to build a professional portfolio in their mid to late teens, most often not until grade 12, when they’re under pressure to make a decision or risk losing valuable time.
Spencer Aronfeld, is a successful lawyer working in Miami, Florida. His daughter, Sara Rose showed a keen interest to be a lawyer at a very young age. I’m sure you can guess what her reply to the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ would have been. This inspired her father to ask himself some of the very same questions I am asking. He wondered how he could support his daughter’s professional interest, and if there were age-appropriate activities she could engage in to support them. Inspired by his daughter, Aronfeld wrote a story about a kid lawyer named, of course, Sara Rose, who is ‘America’s newest super hero’. The heroin is a 9-year-old child who has a real interest in law and decides to pursue it in every way she can, which includes representing her class in front of the school board. In the process she learns what lawyers do, who the famous lawyers are in history and how to become a real lawyer when she grows up. Of course, this is fiction, but the main character of the story is not far-removed from the real Sara Rose, who pursues her interest in law through debating and public speaking at her middle school.
There is certainly no shortage of examples to support the idea that children who identify their career interests early and are encouraged to act upon them, increase their likelihood for a successful and fulfilled future. Mike Holmes, the renowned Canadian contractor, began learning the construction trade from his father, at the age of 6. By the time he was 19, an age when most young adults are still trying to determine what they want to be when they ‘grow up’, he already had his own contracting business. Billionaire investor, Warren Buffet is said to have first invested in the stock market at the age of 11. As a child, he was encouraged to pursue his interest in business and he did so relentlessly. By the time he was 14, he had filed his first income tax return.
While it is apparent that one of the reasons these people grew up to be so successful in their respective fields is the fact that they began to hone their skills at such a young age, it isn’t the only reason. What is an equally important factor is that by being immersed, as they were, in their chosen careers from such an early age, these individuals completely identified themselves within them. In other words, Warren Buffet saw himself as an investor long before he actually became one professionally. Given how young Mike Holmes was when he began to hone his trade, he probably saw himself as a building contractor long before he started working as one. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German writer, artist and politician once wrote that before you can do something you must first be something. This, I believe, cannot be overstated. In Sara Rose’s mind, she is already a Lawyer, and for this reason also, she will most likely become a successful and fulfilled one when she ‘grows up’ in much the same way Mike Holmes became a successful contractor, and Warren Buffet, a much fulfilled, billionaire investor.
If you have kids, don’t just ask them what they want to be when they grow up. Help them to be that ‘something’ now and support them as much as you can. Then doing ‘something’ will be for them a natural and effortless outcome. This, I believe, is one of the greatest gifts you can give them.