Close
Premium Podcast Help Contact Dr. Laura Dr. Laura Designs Return to DrLaura.com
Join Family Premium Login Family

Letters From Listeners

What I Want To Do When I Grow Up
12/11/2015

Dear Dr. Laura,

I think it was the wrong question when we were asked, "What do you want to BE when you grow up?" I think the question should be, "What do you want to DO when you grow up?"

At age 13 I read my dad's copy of Louis Nizer's, "My Life in Court" and decided to BE a lawyer. There were no lawyers in my family, and I never saw one working up-close-&-personal, until I graduated from law school. Before that, I only read books, or saw TV and movie images of glorious summations in court. The actual day-to-day work law and the ethics of that environment were never depicted accurately. I once had a boyfriend who wanted to BE a writer. He was writing a novel that stayed half finished for at least 6 years. One day, he finally realized that he wanted TO HAVE THE NEED TO WRITE, i.e. to BE a successful writer. He didn't want to just work, he wanted to have the passion for the work that he was creating.

I hope these examples help make my point: ask your children what work they WANT to do when they grow up, not what they imagine they want to be.

Lisa



What do you think gives us false expectations for our future? Tell us, by signing up for the FREE Dr. Laura Family and send an email here.  
Tags: Attitude, Education, Job, Motherhood-Fatherhood, Parenting, Teens
PERMALINK | EMAIL | PRINT | RSS  Subscribe
< Back to Letters From Listeners Archives