How old do you feel inside?
Don’t think about birthdays. Or your aches and pains. Or your insecurities. Think about that person inside you, the one other people cannot see. How old is that version of you?
Right now I am about 28. On the inside.
I remember so clearly my first real job out of college. I was 22, cute as a button with long hair down to the middle of my back. I wondered how soon everyone around me would figure out I was a fraud, unqualified to sit in that chair. I felt about 14 inside. Maybe 15. No matter that I was already married, a college graduate and earning a real paycheck. Inside I felt like a kid pretending to be an adult.
My inner child grows a little older every year but not nearly as fast as I do.
We all have an inner child who represents the person we once were or the person we want to be. We see the real inner child released at social gatherings when old folks crowd the dance floor like the dancing fools they were when they were young. Young people gather around the dance floor shaking their heads at their elders. At those moments, time is relative.
The point is the similarities, not the differences.
The energy. The enthusiasm. The sharing.
We are all just faking it in a way. Our inner child moves forward hopefully with enthusiasm and wonder to apply what we’ve learned and internalized along our journey to the new challenges and opportunities we did not plan for and are probably not prepared for.
What are you doing to learn something new to keep your inner child stimulated? Are you learning new technology? Are you curious about life around you? What have you learned that can propel your career forward?
Wisdom teaches us that continuous learning is the way to keep our inner child stimulated so we continue to engage with the world around us.
We all have an inner child looking out at a world passing at breakneck speed. If we treat each other as individuals, colleagues, and peers then we increase the chances we will get to know and value what each of us bring to the table.
What can you do today to listen better to someone with a different perspective on time? Let’s continue this conversation in social media today!
If you find holes in your relevance in the modern workplace, we can help. Just contact Katherine at InterviewDoc.com to see how we can help you be more effective and more relevant to extend your vitality in the workplace.