長大后,我想做……

It’s 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 wouldn’t 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.” I’m sure I must have blacked out4 then， because all I remember thinking is “please don’t tell anyone!” My concept of the librarian’s 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. O’Hara did not project6 the “cool” image I was going for7!

It wasn’t 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. I’m 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 wasn’t 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 they’re 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， they’ll 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， we’re stymied13 by what we don’t 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 someone’s satisfaction in a job. So the theory goes， if you do work that is interesting to you， you will be satisfied. No kidding! Why didn’t 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 you’re 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 don’t enjoy doing. And unless you’ve refocused your attention toward more satisfying interests， you’re continuing to grow into areas where you don’t 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 you’ll 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 don’t have “a care in the world，” driven purely by their interests. The one who is busy scooping19 sand into a mound20; he’s 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? She’s the director， the manager， the team leader. Which one were you?

Maybe you can’t go back to the sandbox， but you can stil re align23 your career to be closer to your natural interests. You’ve still got a lot of growing up to do—and it’s 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 don’t 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.

這是一個永恒的問題。我記得四歲的時候在沙箱里玩耍，有人問我:“等你長大以后，你想做什么呢，丹尼?”我本想回答說：“做超人，”可是問話的是個成年人，所以我不得不想出一個“成熟點”的回答。于是我告訴他，我想做個送奶工！我們的送奶工佩里是個大好人，他會和街區里所有的孩子聊天，有時候還會給我們家帶來一些口味很特別的牛奶，比如草莓味牛奶。有誰會不想要一份那樣的工作呢？

后來到了11歲上六年級時，我得就自己喜歡的職業寫一篇報告。我選擇寫航空工程師這個職業。我從電視上聽說它的，它聽起來挺酷的。我還在報告的封面上畫了一幅漂亮的畫。后來我的報告得了個“A”。然后到了17歲，我的高中指導顧問建議我說：“丹，我覺得你會成為一名不錯的圖書管理員。”我確信那一刻自己差點暈過去，因為我只記得自己當時只有一個想法——“請不要和任何人這樣說我！”我對圖書管理員這個工作的概念僅來自于在樓下大廳里的那位小老太太，她頭上頂著小圓發髻，經常用手指抵著嘴唇，說著“噓噓！”17歲時的我是一心要耍“酷”的——而奧哈拉夫人并沒有為我設計出我想要的“酷斃了”的形象。

直到我35歲時，從大學畢業并經過了四份責任愈加重大卻沉悶無趣的工作后——我才發現自己想要成為一名職業顧問。我相信我的決定同我以前那些“日益茫無頭緒”的經歷有點關系。我想致力于幫助他人避免我曾犯過的錯誤，從而防止他們出現“我竟然現在才懂”綜合癥。如今我意識到，遭遇“中年事業迷茫危機”的并非只有我一個。

現在有許多人在他們30、40、50、60，甚至70來歲時還在試圖弄清楚自己將來想做什么。噢，當然了，也有些人從能夠邁步走路開始就已經明白自己想要做什么了。但是這種人很少見。而其他人只能從反復的嘗試中尋找答案。他們的職業生涯是“無心插柳”的結果。

如果你問孩子們，當他們長大以后，他們想要做什么？他們的回答總是和他們的所見所聞有關——當警察、護士、棒球運動員——就像我曾經的那樣。你有沒聽過某個孩子說:“我想要做個系統分析員？景觀設計師？文案編輯？”不太可能吧。對于這個世界上各種各樣的工作類別，我們大多數人從未完整地了解過。或者，即使我們曾經見識過，我們也因為當時年齡太小而不會去留意。如今，作為成年人，我們卻被自己未知的事物所阻礙。

要做出最恰當的職業選擇，就要準確地找出你的技能、價值觀和興趣的交叉點。實際上，所有的職業發展研究都將“興趣”作為某人在工作中獲得滿足感的最重要指標。所以根據這一理論，如果你所從事的工作是你感興趣的，那么你將會感到滿足。真的！我以前怎么就沒想到這一點呢？

雖然這也許看起來是種常識，但在實際情況中，你決定從事的事業很可能建立在你所擁有的“技能”——還有其他人愿意為此付出何種報酬的考慮之上。這也是你會犯錯誤的地方。如果你和大多數人一樣，對自己不感興趣的事情卻離奇地得心應手，你做起自己不喜歡做的事來會無比熟練。而除非你調整注意力，將其放在你更感興趣的方面，否則你將一直在自己不想涉足的領域里發展下去。如今你發現自己糾結于這一問題:“五年之后自己將會在哪里？”你怎么知道呢？如果你從未弄清楚自己將來想做什么，那么接下來的五年就會和過去的五年一樣毫無目標，心存不滿。你如今所在之地真的是你在五年前想到達的地方嗎？

你的職業滿足感同你的興趣息息相關，而你偏離它越遠，你就會越不開心。如果你想知道自己長大后想做什么，那么試試這個。觀察一群在沙箱中玩耍的孩子，看看當他們“對這個世界毫不在意”時，他們是怎么做的，他們只單純地依據自己的興趣而行事。那個正忙著將沙挖起來堆成堆的孩子，他會是個建筑師、工程師、建造者。那個正確保證每個人都能共享玩具并一起玩耍的孩子，他會是個顧問、社工、調解人。而那個正在分發鏟子和提桶并決定大家接下來玩什么的孩子呢？她會是個主管、經理、團隊領導者。你曾是哪種角色？

也許你無法再回到沙池中去，但你依然能夠重新調整你的職業，讓其與你天生的興趣更為接近。你還會經歷許多次成長——永遠都不算太遲。從職業網站如O*Net Online和《職業展望手冊》上收集與你的興趣相合的職業信息。向你感興趣的領域的從業者咨詢相關信息。如果你需要幫助，那就找一位職業顧問或指導員來指導你。花點時間找出你所不知道的東西。答案就會水落石出了。

最重要的是，活得開心。如果未來的工作會令你滿足，那么發掘這一新工作的過程也應該讓人感到滿足。所以要讓你的發現之旅充滿樂趣。或許你甚至可以喝一杯草莓味牛奶，犒勞一下自己。送奶工佩里會喜歡的。

注釋

1)sandbox n.沙箱，沙盒

2)milkman n.送奶工

3)aeronautical a.航空學的

4)black out 暈倒

5)bun n.圓髻，腦袋后面結緊的發髻

6)project v.規劃，傳達

7)go for 努力獲得，對……特別喜歡

8)progressively ad.日益增多地

9)syndrome n.綜合征，癥候群

10)wannabe n.<口>想望者（含有貶義）

11)trial and error 反復試驗，反復嘗試

12)copy n.稿件，文字說明，此指文案

13)stymie v.妨礙，阻撓

14)pinpoint v.精確地定位，確認

15)intersection n.交叉點

16)trip up 絆倒，使失敗

17)uncanny a.離奇的，不可思議的

18)stray from/off 偏離

19)scoop v.挖出，攫取

20)mound n.沙灘

21)mediator n.調解人

22)issue v.分發，發放

23)re align v.重新調整

24)O*NET Online 由美國勞工部開發出的一種新的職業信息數據庫，于1998年初首次亮相，人們可以從中詳盡地了解到每個職業的相關信息。如工作任務、必備的知識、必需的教育和培訓等。

25)Occupational Outlook Handbook 《職業展望手冊》，由美國勞工部勞工統計局編輯出版的一份職業指南，分析美國各種職業的發展趨勢以及對所需人才的能力要求，為人們的就業準備和選擇提供參考，每兩年修訂一次。