Finding Your Way

When did you know what you wanted to do – to be?

Confession: I never experienced that "click" where the universe grabs and shakes you at the collar and yells "This is your life's pathway!" Instead – with apologies to W.B. Yeats, Joan Didion, and Joni Mitchell – I "slouched."

Surely some revelation is at hand / Surely it's the second coming

And the wrath has finally taken form / For what is this rough beast

Its hour come at last / Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born

Slouching towards Bethlehem to be born

I started out as a math major in college because I had done well in my math courses in high school. If you had asked me at the time "What does a math major do?" my unintentionally snarky reply would have been "Dunno!" I had no idea other than being able to help my parents determine how many gallons of paint to buy for a room of a certain size. Thank you, geometry....

Half a semester later, I was a history major. And after that a high-school history teacher; then a textbook editor and marketer; then a publisher of textbooks and technology; then a publishing executive; a career coach; a podcaster; and a co-author of a book on how to lead effective change in schools.

There was no goosebump inducing, revelatory moments like when The Eagles' Glenn Frey and Don Henley explained to a "60 Minutes" interviewer why they knew at an early age that they had to write and play songs. "I couldn't have done anything else," offered Frey. Henley added, "I just wanted to hear myself on the radio." No slouching for them. They were sitting upright in their chairs. They knew their life path early on.

Me? More of a passive trip for many of the years. There is a strong river that runs through all of those careers, but I was often just accepting promotions and shifts as they came along.

As I said: "slouching."

It's not that my journey has been unsatisfactory. Not in the least, but I still have that nagging feeling that it's somehow been by accident; that I missed or ignored a cue; that my real purpose here on terra firma remains locked behind a mental door.

And I don't have the key. "Yet," as Carol Dweck would advise.

And I suspect it is that way with a lot of kids. Most schools still spend the bulk of their time feeding kids content instead of a more balanced diet of life skills, and social and emotional awareness. As a result, college is still seen as the de facto post-high school path, and kids still go there to figure out life and career. And like me, many waste time and money. Often a lot of time and money.

But there are some healthy changes to this paradigm taking place in the world of education.

Superintendent Ken Wallace, an earlier guest on our show, started a program in his three high schools whereby kids can link up with one or more of 650 internship partners to help them explore career options before they jump to college. And maybe by doing so, they decide not to go to college.

Next week's guest, Gregg Brown, is the network coordinator for CAPS – the Center for Advanced Professional Studies. Similar to Ken's program, The CAPS Network of schools provides high-school kids with opportunities for self-discovery and exploration, professional-based learning, and skills development.

And that brings us to this week's podcast guest, Patrick Cook-Deegan, the Founder and CEO of Project Wayfinder. Project Wayfinder imagines a world where adolescent education is designed for all students to develop lives of meaning and purpose. It partners with educators to design innovative learning experiences that foster meaningful connection and guide students to navigate life with purpose.

Central to the curriculum is the idea of belonging: feeling connected to yourself, the people around you, and the larger world you’re part of. No slouching! Not a bad goal in this era of distancing and isolation, eh?

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for stopping by. We appreciate the connection.

Jeff can be found at www.queticocoaching.com and [email protected]