The truth in kids’ dreams

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Alexandre Chamberland, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.

Back when you were a kid, what did you dream of being? Did you run around, pretending to be going on an adventure? Maybe you imagined yourself making your way through the woods, building emergency shelters and crafting makeshift tools? Or perhaps you saw yourself as a commando crawling in the mud, a cop protecting the innocent, or an astronaut exploring the limits of human reach?

Then again, maybe you liked to pretend that you were helping someone through a hard time? Perhaps you were seriously explaining to your plush duck why it shouldn’t have done something and how it made the plush bear sad? Or maybe you preferred organizing tea parties and balls or mixing baking soda with vinegar and suddenly shouting that you had found a cure for the deadly Martian plague?

How do you feel when you think back on those times? Do you smile, remembering the feeling of accomplishment or the excitement of being part of a great endeavor? Do you long for that feeling of usefulness, for the thrill of piecing together the answers to daunting problems, or for the peace you felt upon completing the tasks?

What stood at the core of the joy you experienced? Peeling away the visual of the imagined scenes, beyond the surface acts, what part of this activity made it so enticing? With what fundamental part of your being were the goals, the means, and the imagined environments of those scenarios so perfectly aligned?

You probably wouldn’t have been able to tell as a kid, and you might not have been able to see it as a teen either. However, through trial and error and all your experiences, you most likely found common elements in the many activities and tasks that you once found enjoyable and the ones that you enjoy today. You may now be able to see the string connecting them and leading back to that feeling of profound joy—to the fundamental elements that energize you and truly make you come alive.

Does your current occupation give you even a sliver of this sustaining energy? Are you truly comfortable in your situation, or do you often long for more? If you are amongst those who have been lucky enough to find their true calling, then live it fully and may it empower you to accomplish great things. However, a tremendous amount of people languish from a poignant lack of fulfillment, while some have entirely given up and drift along in an increasingly discoloured world.

If you didn’t have to work, if money wasn’t an issue, how would you occupy your time? Once you had taken care of the personal issues that fill your thoughts and had gotten bored of sitting on a beach, playing games, camping, reading, or doing whatever else you crave, what would you do? Where would you do it and with who? What would your perfect, gratifying day look like?

If you dream of calm days spent working on various personal projects—maybe restoring a wildlife habitat, crafting things, or writing—then you probably wouldn’t be happy working in public relations. People who dream of spending their days devising solutions to issues that they care about and of implementing them in the field probably wouldn’t enjoy working in administration. As kids, we were carefree and we naturally did what felt truly satisfying without having to think about it. As adults, we need to learn to put aside our preconceptions and social constructs to see the paths that can allow us to not only earn money, but also meet our other needs, be it through existing organizations or by making our own path.

While we can nurture the natural tendencies of our kids, help them find concrete ways of meeting their needs through real-life actions, and teach them to seek and connect with people who can help them grow, our education and experience has already forged us into the beings we are. We can help them ensure that all options remain open to them and encourage them to dream, to validate their ideas, to explore, and to take initiative, but it takes commitment to acquire these reflexes later on. We can make sure that our kids don’t develop a systematic aversion to risk while learning to make educated choices, but it takes great effort to change our own ways.

However, with help and determination, anyone can make it through and become what they were meant to be.