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I believe we should continue to explore what we want to be when we grow up. We have to realize that no dream is too far away if we really desire to make it happen and we are still living.
During my last round of recruiting top level talent for No Limit Agency* and 1851 as a response to initial applications, I emailed several questions back to candidates, testing them on their commitment to creativity, writing, speed of reply and personality.
Among the questions I asked was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I was hoping to gain insight into their dreams and aspirations. I was also trying to get a feel for what would happen if I could continue to give them a creative and positive environment—would they be the ones to stay for a long time?
Some of the answers were creative and clever; some were realistic; and some were, well, boring.
The creative and clever responses included “astronaut,” “famous chef” and “a more sophisticated version of myself, but only if I have to grow up.”
The realistic ones included, “I am already grown up, my career has dictated the direction I will go,” and “in the future, I see myself becoming a creative director or building my own design studio; hopefully both.”
The boring ones are not worth sharing.
If you asked me what I want to be when I grow up, I would say a successful entrepreneur who speaks around the world to aspiring entrepreneurs and is known for creating an incredible technology platform that changed the communications landscape. If I were telling you my impossible dream, it would be to be a professional basketball player—but the only problem would be I am not that good.
I believe we should continue to explore what we want to be when we grow up. We have to realize that no dream is too far away if we really desire to make it happen and we are still living.
I heard someone recently say they were going to start life over tomorrow; they wanted to change everything and try to win the next day. While maybe not as easy as it sounds, if we dream and continue to fight for what we want to be when we grow up, whether nine or 90, then we will continue to find joy in the competition of life.
I hope my team continues to ask themselves what they want to be when they grow up, and I hope that I can be a part of it—whether or not they stick around at our company. Life is way too short to not fight for = happiness. There is absolutely no excuse why tomorrow can’t be the best day of your life, or, at the very least, a great step toward making your dreams come true.
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About the Author
Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.
