Ivan Bercovich Blogs

What do I want to be when I grow up? For most of us, this is an existential question that will follow us wherever we go. We are dropped in this world by a mysterious stork, which does not leave with us any hints of why are we here, what are we supposed to do, and how are we going to do it. So we begin our quest for the discovery of this existential conundrum.

We first want to be a doctor, then a veterinarian, and maybe later an engineer. But at some point along the way we lose the childish concept of a profession and we suddenly plummet into the so called “real world”. We have seen so much TV, read so much sensationalist media, and heard so many stories posed by a “friend of a friend”, that we are unable to pursue our true passions anymore. Not only have we divorced that idealistic representation of our future self, we have made a conscious effort to convince ourselves otherwise.

That’s right… the goals and dreams that we think we have as adults are just ideas imprinted by society and reinforced by our own desire to be important, to belong to something greater. Further personal conflicts arise from the fact that these choices we make as adults are in fact praised and rewarded by society. Why wouldn’t I want to be an actor, if the outcome of such a career involves wealth, women, and a lot of fans? Why wouldn’t I want to be Michael Phelps if then I would be able to get away from marijuana charges and be on the cover of a cereal box? We can make the same case for most “hot careers” of our time: Investment Banking, NBA player, Rock star, etc.

But my question for you is the following: how can you really know that is what you want? If the potential outcome of your decision of pursuing such career is so materially rewarding, how can you know you are not tricking yourself into it? You see, the problem is not that you or I chose to pursue material gains, is that you and I truly believe that this pursuit is our calling. Furthermore, we disguise this pursuit and we instead call it a passion. Noble, isn’t it? I have a passion for making a lot of money, sleeping with many women, flying on my own private jet, and being on the cover of time magazine. Right…

Now this is not to say that some people are not truly passionate about careers that happen to have really good perks. But remember, I am not here to judge your career choices and your motives behind them. I am here to ask you one, simple, question. If you are pursuing one of these high profile careers, how can you know what you are chasing today is what you REALLY want to do?