长大后,我想做……

Its an ageless question. I remember playing in the sandbox1 at age four and being asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up, Danny?” I wanted to say “Superman,” but it was a grown-up asking, so I had to think of something sophisticated. I told him I wanted to be a milkman2! Our milkman, Perry, was a nice-enough guy, chatted with all the kids on the block, and sometimes brought specialties, like strawberry-flavored milk, to our house. Who wouldnt want a job like that?

Later in the sixth grade, at age 11, I had to write a report about an occupation I thought I would like. I chose aeronautical3 engineer. I had heard it on TV and it sounded very cool. I drew a great picture on the cover of my report. I got an “A.” Then at 17, my high school guidance counselor advised me: “Dan, I think you would make a great librarian.” Im sure I must have blacked out4 then, because all I remember thinking is “please dont tell anyone!” My concept of the librarians job was based solely on the little old lady down the hall, with the bun5 in her hair, finger to lips, going “shhhhh!” At 17 I was mostly interested in being cool—and Mrs. OHara did not project6 the “cool” image I was going for7!

It wasnt until age 35, after college and four progressively8 responsible but unstimulating jobs, that I made the discovery that I wanted to be a career counselor. Im sure my experience of “progressive cluelessness” had something to do with my decision. I would dedicate myself to helping others avoid the mistakes I made and thus prevent “I should know by now” syndrome9. Now, I realize, I wasnt alone in my “mid-life, career-wannabe10 crisis.”

Today, many people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and even 70s are still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Oh sure, there are those who knew what they wanted to do since they were old enough to walk. But theyre rare. The rest had to figure it out by trial and error11. Their careers happened by accident.

If you ask young children what they want to be when they grow up, theyll respond by relating what they see—a policeman, a nurse, a baseball player—as I once did. Ever hear a kid say: “I want to be a systems analyst? A landscape architect? A copy12 editor?” Doubtful. Most of us never had the exposure to the wide array of options in the world of work. Or, if we did, we were too young to pay attention. Now, as adults, were stymied13 by what we dont know.

The best career choices are made by pinpointing14 the intersection15 of your skills, values and interests. In fact, all career development research points to “interests” as the best indicator of someones satisfaction in a job. So the theory goes, if you do work that is interesting to you, you will be satisfied. No kidding! Why didnt I think of that?

While this may appear to be common sense, in actuality, you probably base your career decisions on the “skills” you possess—and what others are willing to pay for them. This is where you can trip yourself up16. If youre like most, you have an uncanny17 ability to get good at things for which you have no interest. You become very skilled at things you dont enjoy doing. And unless youve refocused your attention toward more satisfying interests, youre continuing to grow into areas where you dont want to go. Now you find yourself struggling with the question: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” How could you know? If you never figured out what you want to be when you grow up, the next five years are certain to be as aimless and dissatisfying as the past five. Is where you are today where you intended to be five years ago?

Your career satisfaction is tied to your interests and the farther you stray from18 them, the less happy youll be. If you want to know what to be when you grow up, try this. Observe a group of young children playing in a sandbox. Watch what they do when they dont have “a care in the world,” driven purely by their interests. The one who is busy scooping19 sand into a mound20; hes the architect, the engineer, the builder. The one who is making sure everyone is sharing toys and playing well together is the counselor, the social worker, the mediator21. And the one who is issuing22 the shovel and the pail and deciding what to play next? Shes the director, the manager, the team leader. Which one were you?

Maybe you cant go back to the sandbox, but you can stil re align23 your career to be closer to your natural interests. Youve still got a lot of growing up to do—and its not too late. Gather information about careers that match your interests from career Web sites like O*NET Online24 and the Occupational Outlook Handbook25. Conduct information interviews with people in your fields of interest. If you need help, locate a career counselor or coach to guide you. Spend time finding out what you dont know. The answers will come.

Most of all, have fun. If your work is going to be satisfying, then the process of discovering new work should be satisfying too. So make your discovery process enjoyable. Maybe even treat yourself to a glass of strawberry-flavored milk. Perry, the milkman, would like that.

这是一个永恒的问题。我记得四岁的时候在沙箱里玩耍，有人问我:“等你长大以后,你想做什么呢，丹尼?”我本想回答说：“做超人,”可是问话的是个成年人，所以我不得不想出一个“成熟点”的回答。于是我告诉他，我想做个送奶工！我们的送奶工佩里是个大好人，他会和街区里所有的孩子聊天，有时候还会给我们家带来一些口味很特别的牛奶，比如草莓味牛奶。有谁会不想要一份那样的工作呢？

后来到了11岁上六年级时，我得就自己喜欢的职业写一篇报告。我选择写航空工程师这个职业。我从电视上听说它的，它听起来挺酷的。我还在报告的封面上画了一幅漂亮的画。后来我的报告得了个“A”。然后到了17岁，我的高中指导顾问建议我说：“丹，我觉得你会成为一名不错的图书管理员。”我确信那一刻自己差点晕过去，因为我只记得自己当时只有一个想法——“请不要和任何人这样说我！”我对图书管理员这个工作的概念仅来自于在楼下大厅里的那位小老太太，她头上顶着小圆发髻，经常用手指抵着嘴唇,说着“嘘嘘！”17岁时的我是一心要耍“酷”的——而奥哈拉夫人并没有为我设计出我想要的“酷毙了”的形象。

直到我35岁时，从大学毕业并经过了四份责任愈加重大却沉闷无趣的工作后——我才发现自己想要成为一名职业顾问。我相信我的决定同我以前那些“日益茫无头绪”的经历有点关系。我想致力于帮助他人避免我曾犯过的错误，从而防止他们出现“我竟然现在才懂”综合症。如今我意识到，遭遇“中年事业迷茫危机”的并非只有我一个。

现在有许多人在他们30、40、50、60，甚至70来岁时还在试图弄清楚自己将来想做什么。噢,当然了，也有些人从能够迈步走路开始就已经明白自己想要做什么了。但是这种人很少见。而其他人只能从反复的尝试中寻找答案。他们的职业生涯是“无心插柳”的结果。

如果你问孩子们,当他们长大以后，他们想要做什么？他们的回答总是和他们的所见所闻有关——当警察、护士、棒球运动员——就像我曾经的那样。你有没听过某个孩子说:“我想要做个系统分析员？景观设计师？文案编辑？”不太可能吧。对于这个世界上各种各样的工作类别，我们大多数人从未完整地了解过。或者，即使我们曾经见识过，我们也因为当时年龄太小而不会去留意。如今，作为成年人，我们却被自己未知的事物所阻碍。

要做出最恰当的职业选择，就要准确地找出你的技能、价值观和兴趣的交叉点。实际上，所有的职业发展研究都将“兴趣”作为某人在工作中获得满足感的最重要指标。所以根据这一理论，如果你所从事的工作是你感兴趣的，那么你将会感到满足。真的！我以前怎么就没想到这一点呢？

虽然这也许看起来是种常识，但在实际情况中，你决定从事的事业很可能建立在你所拥有的“技能”——还有其他人愿意为此付出何种报酬的考虑之上。这也是你会犯错误的地方。如果你和大多数人一样，对自己不感兴趣的事情却离奇地得心应手，你做起自己不喜欢做的事来会无比熟练。而除非你调整注意力，将其放在你更感兴趣的方面，否则你将一直在自己不想涉足的领域里发展下去。如今你发现自己纠结于这一问题:“五年之后自己将会在哪里？”你怎么知道呢？如果你从未弄清楚自己将来想做什么，那么接下来的五年就会和过去的五年一样毫无目标，心存不满。你如今所在之地真的是你在五年前想到达的地方吗？

你的职业满足感同你的兴趣息息相关，而你偏离它越远，你就会越不开心。如果你想知道自己长大后想做什么，那么试试这个。观察一群在沙箱中玩耍的孩子,看看当他们“对这个世界毫不在意”时，他们是怎么做的,他们只单纯地依据自己的兴趣而行事。那个正忙着将沙挖起来堆成堆的孩子，他会是个建筑师、工程师、建造者。那个正确保证每个人都能共享玩具并一起玩耍的孩子，他会是个顾问、社工、调解人。而那个正在分发铲子和提桶并决定大家接下来玩什么的孩子呢？她会是个主管、经理、团队领导者。你曾是哪种角色？

也许你无法再回到沙池中去，但你依然能够重新调整你的职业，让其与你天生的兴趣更为接近。你还会经历许多次成长——永远都不算太迟。从职业网站如O*Net Online和《职业展望手册》上收集与你的兴趣相合的职业信息。向你感兴趣的领域的从业者咨询相关信息。如果你需要帮助，那就找一位职业顾问或指导员来指导你。花点时间找出你所不知道的东西。答案就会水落石出了。

最重要的是，活得开心。如果未来的工作会令你满足，那么发掘这一新工作的过程也应该让人感到满足。所以要让你的发现之旅充满乐趣。或许你甚至可以喝一杯草莓味牛奶，犒劳一下自己。送奶工佩里会喜欢的。

注释

1)sandbox n.沙箱，沙盒

2)milkman n.送奶工

3)aeronautical a.航空学的

4)black out 晕倒

5)bun n.圆髻，脑袋后面结紧的发髻

6)project v.规划，传达

7)go for 努力获得，对……特别喜欢

8)progressively ad.日益增多地

9)syndrome n.综合征，症候群

10)wannabe n.<口>想望者（含有贬义）

11)trial and error 反复试验，反复尝试

12)copy n.稿件，文字说明，此指文案

13)stymie v.妨碍，阻挠

14)pinpoint v.精确地定位，确认

15)intersection n.交叉点

16)trip up 绊倒，使失败

17)uncanny a.离奇的，不可思议的

18)stray from/off 偏离

19)scoop v.挖出，攫取

20)mound n.沙滩

21)mediator n.调解人

22)issue v.分发，发放

23)re align v.重新调整

24)O*NET Online 由美国劳工部开发出的一种新的职业信息数据库，于1998年初首次亮相，人们可以从中详尽地了解到每个职业的相关信息。如工作任务、必备的知识、必需的教育和培训等。

25)Occupational Outlook Handbook 《职业展望手册》，由美国劳工部劳工统计局编辑出版的一份职业指南，分析美国各种职业的发展趋势以及对所需人才的能力要求，为人们的就业准备和选择提供参考，每两年修订一次。