What Do We Really Want to Be When We Grow Up?
As I keep asking myself what I want to be when I grow up, I’m realizing something: the big picture is messy. Really messy. Every time I step back to see more, the picture gets bigger, blurrier, and more overwhelming — like I’ve wandered into an episode of Hoarders.
And not the fun kind where someone has 350,000 pieces of Elvis memorabilia. No, I’m talking about the one where the dishes haven’t been washed since 1972 and the pizza boxes are stacked to the ceiling.
That’s what my mind feels like when I try to sort out my “dream job.” A cluttered kitchen of ideas, passions, fears, half-formed plans, and old assumptions.
But even in the mess, I know this: If I can dig down to the floor in one corner, I can start clearing the whole house.
So the question becomes: Where is my starting corner?
🌟 The Confusing Advice About Dream Jobs
We’ve all heard the classic line:
“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
It sounds magical.
It sounds freeing.
It sounds… too good to be true.
And sometimes, it is.
I once read about a woman who loved baking pies. She followed the advice, opened a pie shop, and quickly became successful. But success meant 18-hour days of mixing, baking, selling, cleaning, and repeating. Eventually, she hated baking pies.
Her passion became her prison.
Then there’s the opposite advice:
“Don’t do what you love. Do what allows you to do what you love.”
Not as poetic. But maybe more realistic.
Because not every passion can pay the bills. If your passion is rock climbing, odds are you won’t get paid to climb rocks. But a flexible job that gives you time and money to climb? That might be the real win.
🧭 So What About Me?
Here’s the truth: I can’t think of a single thing I love so much that I’d want to do only that for a living.
And maybe that’s the point.
Maybe figuring out what I want to be when I grow up starts with eliminating what I don’t want — and getting honest about what I actually enjoy.
Which leads to the next step.
✍️ Your Assignment (and Mine)
Two Lists to Help You Understand Yourself Better
These lists are private. No one sees them but you. Honesty is the whole point.
List 1 — 50 Things I Want to Do More Often
This isn’t a bucket list. It’s about actions, not destinations.
Examples:
- Travel to new places (not “go to the Eiffel Tower”)
- Cook more meals at home
- Spend more time outdoors
- Learn new skills
- Have deeper conversations
Fifty might sound like a lot — and that’s intentional. When you push past the obvious 10 or 15, you start discovering things you didn’t realize mattered.
List 2 — 25 Things I Want to Do Less Often
Life will always include things we don’t love, but we can still reduce the ones that drain us most.
Think about your daily, weekly, and seasonal routines. What do you do out of habit, obligation, or inertia?
Name the beast to tame the beast.
🔍 The Next Step: What’s Really Holding Us Back?
I haven’t made my lists yet, but I’m already wondering:
- Could I do more of my “Do More” list without major life changes?
- Am I avoiding things I love because they’re outside my comfort zone?
- Am I filling my time with easy, low-value tasks instead of meaningful ones?
- Am I confusing “what I think I want” with “what I actually want”?
It’s hard to figure out what we want to be when we grow up if we don’t really know who we are.
But this is how we start — one corner of the mental clutter at a time.
Steady. Honest. Curious.
That’s the Steady Bunny way.