What do you want to do when you grow up?

[BigPoppa]

What do you want to do when you grow up?
I got asked that question constantly when I was a kid, and I always gave some half-assed answer. Oddly, I never sat down and tried to figure out for myself what I actually wanted to do. I'm not sure that it occurred to me that I'd have to decide. Careers were one of those things that just happened to you as you got older; like wrinkles, gray hair, and watching golf on TV.

So now I am grown up and I still don't know what I want to do. I'm halfway through my working life and still can't decide. I've had all sorts of jobs, many of which I did quite well, but none of them felt like a "calling" or whatever the hell I'm supposed to feel. So I have some questions.

1) What did you want to do when you grew up?
2) Did you actively decide upon a career?
3) If so, is that the career you now have?
4) Do you have some "dream job" that you'd love to pursue but have not?
5) How old is too old to start a career from scratch?
6) Why won't Jessica Alba return my calls?

[JaBlue]

At this point there is absolutely no profession that appeals to me for when I grow up

[jfish]

i will take the lsats, i will go to law school, but hopefully i will be a millionaire fairly soon through poker and wont really have to be a lawyer.

if money didnt matter i would be a writer or a teacher. but money does matter and there is ZERO chance i could live life not being wealthy. this isnt a brag or a complaint, its just who i am [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

[carnivalhobo]

independently wealthy

[Xanta]

Dream Job: Working at the nuclear research center in Deep River, ON.

I'm pretty interested in nuclear physics (in my second year of an Engineering Physics degree) and would absolutely love to be doing cutting edge research, but I also have a passion for the outdoors which generally takes me far away from research centers. Deep River is in the middle of nowhere, somewhere up the Ottawa river, close to provincial parks and 9 hours from the nearest big city. Best of both worlds for me. Looking into getting a job there next summer.

[JaBlue]

[ QUOTE ]

if money didnt matter i would be a writer or a teacher. but money does matter and there is ZERO chance i could live life not being wealthy. this isnt a brag or a complaint, its just who i am .

[/ QUOTE ]

this attitude is the saddest part of the american dream.

buddha say: the roots of suffering...

[BigPoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
independently wealthy

[/ QUOTE ]
That's not a profession, that's a state of being.


[ QUOTE ]
i will take the lsats, i will go to law school, but hopefully i will be a millionaire fairly soon through poker and wont really have to be a lawyer.

[/ QUOTE ]
So if you become wealthy real soon you won't go to law school?
Do you want to be a professional poker player, or become wealthy enough not to have to play poker?

[jfish]

[ QUOTE ]
So if you become wealthy real soon you won't go to law school?
Do you want to be a professional poker player, or become wealthy enough not to have to play poker?

[/ QUOTE ]

i probably will go to law school to appease my parents, but will end up teaching instead. that would be my life dream.

edit: ill keep playing poker as long as it is worth my opportunity cost (which will likely be a long time). im 21 at the moment and i make more money (per hour) than my 51 year old dad who is a doctor.

[SEABEAST]

[ QUOTE ]
At this point there is absolutely no profession that appeals to me for when I grow up

[/ QUOTE ]

yeah i feel pretty much the same. and i'm in a position where because of poker giving me such a headstart and the fact i am being smart with the money, i will probably never have to do anything, and it's kind of devastating because poker is very unfulfilling and i know that even the lifestyle it will afford me won't fill the void that comes from not contributing anything meaningful intellectually to the world. i know i need to do something about it but i have no real idea what i would be satisfied doing (outside of really crazy [censored] like philosophy professor, CIA agent, political analyst, film reviewer etc, which are all a bit idealistic and would take a singleminded plan to work towards)

[adsman]

Most of the really interesting people that I know still don't know what they want to do with themselves.