You can be anything you want to be

I want to share an uplifting story about our ability to change career. There's nothing we can't do and it's never too late to pursue happiness.

My little boy recently finished his school day, clearly deflated.

The normal spring was gone from his step.

The cheery smile and good humour muted.

When I asked him why, he told me that some of the other children had made fun of his love of building things. He knew a lot about the topic. He had fought back (verbally of course) but his teacher had chastised him for being combative. Obviously that teacher is now in hiding, but that’s another story.

I remember how hard my childhood was. How my autism made me very different. How my interests were deep and not like other children. How they would make fun of me and exclude me. How it made me want to try to ‘fit in’. I gave up many of the things I could have been or done because of the judgement of others when I was a child. I didn't know better then.

I took him to one side and told him firmly but gently that being different means you see the world differently to others.

They can be confused, intimidated and angry about that. It isn’t your responsibility to change your behaviour because they are ignorant.

Your differences make you very special, and harnessed they can make you very successful and make the world a better place. Be what you are, be proud of it and only change if you want to change direction. You can do anything, go anywhere. You should be and can be, anything you want. Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t be. Later on, when you are where you want to be, what you want to be, they will be unhappy and unfulfilled, not you.

I watched his little face as I imparted the wisdom of my years. I wanted him to feel validated and confident that his passions and his choices are important and I support him, what ever they are.

It didn’t go in one ear and out the other as it might have done with his unkind peers.

He frowned as he thought hard about all this, and finally said “Really? Anything daddy?”

“Yes son” I smiled, proud that he had taken the wisdom of my experience on board. "What do you want to be?"

“Can I be a unicorn?” he asked totally seriously

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the f*@#ing tree, does it” my wife muttered under her breath in the background, without looking up from her book.

Still, my point is valid. There is no time too late or place too dark to change from. All you need is to ask yourself "What would make me happy?" and spend a little time making a plan to get to that place professionally, or personally (though I find they go hand in hand). It is how I ended up in UX, it's never too late, and all that other experience will be worth a fortune in a UX career.

#ux #uxsanctuary