As part of a leadership engagement cohort, with 12 other fabulous leading role models, one of the recent assignments was to reevaluate my individual development plan (or IDP). Might I digress for just a moment to say everyone should attend some kind of cohort of people striving to be their best. In 4 weeks, there’s been crying, laughing, cursing, and complaining. I highly recommend it!
Focus, Kel.
As a government civilian, having an approved IDP is just one of the many requirements. It is even a requirement for my team, most of whom are paid from a different pot of money yet also considered government employees. I know many people think an IDP is a colossal waste of time, that no one looks at them, and less take them seriously. Not I. I enjoy going over it with my employees as it provides a snapshot of their future plans, goals, and aspirations.
Between 2020 and 2024, my long-term goal was a PhD. In 2025, I moved it to the short term section. Now? I have a few blanks to fill.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
I love asking this question to transitioning service members, soon-to-be retirees, and anyone else on the cusp of life choices. I love how it implies we’re all growing up, and we have a vast world of options to explore. Because we do!
So I asked myself what do I want to be when I grow up? And a list developed.
1. Teach. I adore education and academia. I love to learn. I’d go back to college tomorrow.
2. There’s a specific job I look up from time to time. It’s a position I accidentally stumbled upon many years ago, but knew it was not the opportunity for me then. It won’t be an opportunity for several more years because it requires deployment cycles, travel, and a move. But it gets my heart beating overtime when I see it. I get that excited rush contemplating what it could do for my career, my mental health, and definitely my physical presence. Introducing the Fit Boss, and its fun equivalent, the Fun Boss. These are real titles. These roles assign you to a Navy big deck and send you out with 3,000 of your closest friends to maintain fitness, health, and MWR-related activities and requirements while deployed. One day, I’ll be a Fit Boss.
3. Entrepreneur. I want to open a running store / coffee house / bakery. I recognize these ideas may not align; however, tis my dream.
I’ll keep adding as I see fit, as my interests change, and/or as life gets more life-ier. Who knows. Maybe there’s an opportunity for a Fit Boss Coach Baker.
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I ask you –
Tell me – what do you want to be when you grow up?
(The post Maybe I’m a Toys”R” Us Kid first appeared here at Running on Fumes.)
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