As a young man, my military career crashed upon the rocks and shoals of reality and I found myself aimless. I couldn’t be the thing that I had for years dreamt of being.
It was time to chart a new path, but I had no idea where to go. In high school, I was good in biology and chemistry, but didn’t really enjoy them and spent a year failing at biochemistry.
I spent a year as a general labourer learning the invaluable lesson that working for a living sucked.
2 years out of high school with three failed careers I had no idea where to go.
I needed clarity.
Luckily for me, the YMCA in Toronto had a careers programme. You did a battery of aptitude tests and interviews to determine (1) what you were good at and (2) what you liked. From this they created a list of top 10 careers options.
I don’t remember numbers 3 through 10, but the top two were; bookstore owner and mechanical engineer.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Fast forward 35 years and I’m no longer looking for what I want to be when I grow up. I’m emotionally done with engineering and looking for what I want to do next.
Having found clarity once before, I took stock in a very similar fashion to that YMCA careers programme.
What am I good at?
- Writing, teaching, presenting, public speaking.
- Raising little boys.
- Fitness, exercise, martial arts.
What am I interested in?
- Parenting.
- Physical and mental health.
- Sleep, nutrition, fitness, exercise, yoga, Pilates, martial arts.
Mash these lists together and what do you get?
A man creating content on the topic of
Navigating the third act, through the grey mist of depression.
