Many years ago I read an article that said you should look back to your childhood for your career calling. What did you pretend to be as a kid? Were you a superhero, a mom or dad, an actor, a dancer, an athlete, a firefighter, a police officer, an explorer, a chef? Were you into Lego, video games, or puzzles? According to the article, the attributes of those roles and interests should help you pursue what you really want to do—and can be.
When I was little, my main playtime was being a librarian. Yes, maybe a strange dream job at the age of six. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t turn out to be a librarian...sort of.) Maybe I’m one of the few kids on the planet who categorized all of their books and made due-date cards (remember those?!) to stamp for imaginary patrons. On the side, I filled notebooks full of stories, too.
In high school and early in college, I worked at three different branches of the Cincinnati Public Library. It was basically a dream job then. I shelved books, helped patrons find what they needed, checked out books, and stamped due-date cards. I also answered the phone for research questions. Yes, this was way before the days of Google and people would actually call in to ask for an answer to something. Working behind the desk, it seemed that the most popular reference material was the Physician’s Desk Reference. Now, everyone turns to Dr. Google.
But what I loved most about it is that I learned something every single day. Every book I shelved and every person I encountered helped me to explore a topic I might not have ever thought about. It also tuned in my attention to detail because libraries are a science.
I was always a writer and graduated with a degree in journalism. I went to work in PR and then moved more into customer stories and eventually ghostwriting. I’ll be honest—most folks in PR don’t want to do the writing of those stories. And I found that’s where I really thrived. I loved interviewing people and, selfishly, learning from them.
With my own business that focuses primarily around ghostwriting, recommending content ideas, and managing the day-to-day business and deadlines for blogs, I found that I really have fulfilled a thread of a childhood dream. What I loved about “playing librarian” was the fact that I was learning information and sharing it at the same time—and I do the same thing now in a totally different way! It may seem a little nerdy, but every time I finish a call with a company’s customer or executive I get a thrill that I learned something myself. I even get to ask them questions and pursue my own curiosity to make their story that much better. Then it goes out to a worldwide audience to learn as well.
So if you are in marketing, sales, engineering, software development, architecture, whatever it is—take a look back for a moment. You might be amazed at how much your younger self still influences your curiosity and inspiration today. If you’re finding true joy in your career, it may be because you’ve been playing all along.
Please share how your childhood playtime influenced your career in the comments. I’d love to hear it!