The third Thursday of April is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day -- one of my favorite days of the year. I love going to work with my dad, 4 a.m. wake-up call and all, it's something my younger brother and I truly look forward to each year. There's a bunch of reasons why it's a great day. For one, I think my dad works at a really cool place -- a TV network. Also, it's the one day of the year when I get to spend time with my dad's colleagues and their kids. And, who doesn't love to learn new things, meet new people, and miss school and not have to feel guilty about it? But the best thing about going to Take Your Kids to Work Day is seeing my dad do something he truly loves to do.
My dad found "it" and he's lucky he did, because finding "it" is truly important in life. "It" is figuring out what you really want to do in life, going for it and doing it. It's earned success, finding out what makes you happy, working at it, and achieving it. Earned success can be anything you want it to be -- writing beautiful stories, being a musician, painting, being a doctor, helping others, bankers, lawyers -- something that brings value to your life, and other people's lives. For most people, earned success is one of the most gratifying and satisfying feelings in the world.
This weekend for science homework, I had to watch Steve Jobs' 2005 Commencement address at Stanford University. It hit home for me. If you haven't seen it, it's on YouTube. Steve Jobs said, "You've got to find what you love." Basically, just go for it, earn your success, live every day like it's your last, love life. There's going to be more than a few stumbles along the way, but "you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards" and "you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
Entrepreneurs and innovators already know this. For them, it's really not all about how much money they make, or even how many times they fail before making any money. The average entrepreneur makes approximately $45,000 per year, and fails 3.8 times before succeeding. It's their desire for earned success, doing something that they love, and the satisfaction and happiness that comes with it, that keeps them motivated.
Gloria Steinem and the Ms. Foundation for Women founded the Take Our Daughters to Work Program in 1993, and in 2003, boys were included. The idea is to expose children to different jobs and careers at an early age, with the hope that this could help them in the future find a career they are passionate about. Today, more than 37 million children and adults participate in the program. You know what, you may not find your dream job when you go to work this week, but you'll have a lot of fun looking for it in your parent's desk drawer (maybe not the best idea). But if you follow Steve Jobs' advice, someday in the future, you'll look back and be able to connect this dot to your dream job.
Peace Love Profits,
Blake