I am so excited about this discovery that it has jolted me out of my blogging hiatus. Turns out I've discovered a number of must-share resources recently so look forward to at least a few more posts before I get swept away with my life again!
Roadtrip Nation is an idea, book, PBS series, website and a curriculum for students.
It's a particularly great resource for high school and college students, meandering young adults in their twenties, and their worried parents!
"So, what the heck do you want to do with your life?
We've heard this question hundreds of times from parents, teachers,
principals, friends, relatives, career counselors, even the mailman.
Not only do they ask that pestering question, but they provide their
own answers.
"You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a teacher. Go to grad
school, go to med school. Get your MBA. Go into finance. Investments!
Investments are where it's at!" All these might be good ideas, but they
weren't ours.
We call all those misguided opinions "the noise." It's the noise of
society trying to push, pull, and tug us "tug you" in every direction.
The noise never listens to what you like and what you don't. The noise
doesn't care about what you value. The noise just distracts you from
building a life that's in tune with what you're passionate about as an
individual.
The noise says, "You can't make money playing with model spaceships."
Dennis Muren didn't listen to it. Now he has eight Academy Awards for
visual effects, including one for Star Wars.
The noise says, "There's no future dressing up your friends." Arianne
Phillips didn't listen to it. She became the head stylist for Madonna
and costume designer on films such as Walk the Line.
You can create roads that you'll be passionate about while also making a living. You don't have to be a prisoner to a job you can't stand. You have the potential to embark on a life that you can one day look back on and say, "I was true to myself every step of the way.""
Roadtrip Nation is about finding your own road by learning from others who have found their own inspired path in life. There are video interviews with hundreds of people who are doing what they love including the following: astrobiologist, founder of The Blue Man Group, Editor in Chief with Seventeen Magazine, chocolatier, track and field coach, and a plastic surgeon. Warning - these videos are addictive!!
You can find many other resouces via the website, including a guide to conducting your own interviews with passionate people, DVDs and books. I ordered both Roadtrip Nation books: Finding The Open Road: A Guide to Self-Production Rather Than Mass Production and Roadtrip Nation: A Guide to Discovering Your Path in Life.
Your kids can also apply to Hit the Road on the 2011 Roadtrip Nation trip.
Finally, Roadtrip Nation will be visiting colleges this fall in the iconic green RV. See if your student's college is on the route!
Wondering why it's important for kids to figure out what they love, besides being a feel-good idea?
The world has changed. Globalization makes the world more competitive. You have a much better chance at being great at what you do (and, therefore, more competitive) if you actually love what you're doing. In a recent interview, author Dan Pink was asked the following question:
if you were going to give somebody just one piece of advice about how to be successful in this new age, what would it be?
Dan Pink: " The best career move is to find what you love to do, what you’re great at, and pursue that. I think you will be more valuable in the workforce. If you love accounting and you’re great at it, you’re going to be okay.
I worry about the folks who pursue careers because their parents, teachers, or spouses give them outdated advice and they’re dutifully marching into careers they don’t really care about because they think it’s the way to make money. Not only is that bad for their individual self-actualization but I think it’s a bad career move, too."
"The counsel to do what you love is actually very hardheaded advice right now. It’s not just an idealistic notion. I think it’s the best way to get ahead today."
