The rocket ain't gonna fly by itself!

Have you watched the movie “October Sky”? Jake Gyllenhaal plays Homer Hickham, the famous NASA Engineer & Rocket Scientist. It's a movie I have revisited many times to find inspiration and share with my students and many other teenagers who have a deep passion and are unable to find a way to get started on the path to materialize it.?

If a boy from Coalwood, who was destined to become a miner, can go against all odds, revolt against tradition, and convention, say “No” to an authoritative father, and fight the police with physics to prove that his rockets didn’t start a fire, go on to win a National Science fair for his impeccable Rocket design skills and become a NASA Engineer, sending many to space, then what conventions are holding you back?

Rockets don’t get built by themselves nor are they launched by some magic. If there is any magic, it's in the human spirit to dream, imagine the future for the world and for oneself, find deep passion and an unquenchable thirst to make things happen, acquire any knowledge and skills when needed, or invent knowledge if none exists.?

Conventional education keeps teens so busy and on the toes for exams, marks, and finishing curriculum that for most, the deep-rooted passions fall by the wayside before even getting a spark to kickstart.?

Many teens ask me: “Should I start working on my passion now, or wait for college?” Many college students ask me: “Should I start now, or wait for college to get over, get a job?” and many adults ask me: “Should I start now, or first earn enough money and security?” and so it goes. It's easy to find excuses to not kickstart our journey toward our passions and callings, but it all leads to future regrets and the tremendous potential that lies within oneself, counting for nothing.?

Times are changing and it's about time they do.?

Sometimes we see world-transforming impact stories like Malala’s and we wonder if it’s a rare occurrence. We have to start looking for more then. Today, teens are taking charge of their passions, and their calling, not just finding causes that matter, but taking action that moves the needle. There are so many teen entrepreneurs, activists, innovators, writers, and speakers around the world to prove that if a teenager wants to pursue a cause, and is willing to act early, there are pathways that lead to the discovery of one’s Ikigai sooner than later.?

I won’t even talk about world-famous teens here. I will pick some examples from people I know personally who are not just building their passion rocket but also launching it into a space of their own!?

Jakob, from NYC, stays in Paraguay and got in touch with me last year. He is so passionate about entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and building products that the pressure of traditional education hasn’t been able to push him back. To just keep on going, he kept scheduling update calls every now and then with me and I saw how his resilience has taken his idea to the build stage and he has access to funds now to start his own venture, at the age of 15 years.?

Then there is Diya, passionate about podcasting. Alongside managing academics and a myriad of other interests, what I was impressed with was her consistency in practicing the art of podcasting, by inviting people, and recording a podcast as a discipline and I have personally seen her skills develop and the path becoming clearer.?

Or Madhur, the shiny tale of how a teenager passionate about Design can just by 12-15 months of consistent practice, participation, doing projects and challenges can become so proficient that he went on to win the World Skills Championship!?

I know a Teen climate change activist from Sweden, a web 3.0 sensation from Germany, another from India, an NFT artist, and millionaire from India, and the list goes on!

It's not even about pursuing the path compulsorily, many teens have started practicing their passion and realized that maybe they don’t like it as much and most have been able to develop real-world skills and deep self-awareness whether they have crossed a stage or not. That doesn’t matter. The experience and learnings do, the process does, always.?

So don’t let the chains of convention and tradition, the fear of the ordinary trap you into excuses. Go beyond, find your passion, practice it, pick up side gigs, and projects, connect with someone in the industry, get started, and take baby steps. And only then you will figure out who you truly are and want to be.?

Three tangible here-and-now things you can do to explore your passion in the real world:

• Pick up an internship in the domain, even if its an unpaid one
• Connect with an industry expert and request for shadowing opportunities
• Pick up a side gig, or project and start building a solution for a problem that matters to you

Build your rocket, now!