Memories of dream jobs in childhood can be useful for developing a new career image if you are dissatisfied with your job.
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Astronaut, model, police officer, chef, shoe salesman, jet pilot, sometimes even Federal Chancellor – everyone has jobs that they dreamed of when they were young. Even if only very few people have realized their childhood dreams and sometimes even laugh at them today looking back, they are still valuable treasures that can help you find more fulfillment in your job. “The story of every human being naturally begins in childhood,” explains Munich career advisor and qualified psychologist Madeleine Leitner. “That’s why childhood dreams in particular offer valuable help when it comes to finding out why people are dissatisfied with their careers today. They even help with career planning.”
Wild guys, sad reality
Dream jobs from childhood often illustrate the problem in today’s reality in a surprising way: a good family man, who obediently assists his dominant superior at work, actually always wanted to become a robber baron as a child and, in contrast to today, was actually a “wild guy”. Or: A manager who was involved in fierce power struggles in management was already convinced as a child that his name would one day be on a high-rise building. A middle management employee who had fallen on the sidelines in his career wanted to become a sailor as a child, but had already realized that only captains really had something to say.
Children already have a personality with likes and dislikes. However, many people lose their core essence over the course of their lives for a variety of reasons, the psychologist knows from her experience in advising people in situations of professional change. “The memories of previous dream jobs in childhood often provide valuable clues to the proverbial core of the collaboration: Who am I actually? What do I really enjoy, what brings me fulfillment?”
