Chances are you have heard this familiar question more than a few times in your life. It is not at all surprising that this particular trailhead points you in the direction of examining your younger self.
While a lot of self-help authors and podcasters encourage us to remember our childhood dreams, Robert Greene stands out as someone who inspires us to feel our way back into what really lit us up!
You might recall telling your elementary teacher or parent that you wanted to be a fireman, an astronaut or a singer. Most of us would stop there, shrug our shoulders and say “well, that’s never going to happen”. But Robert Greene encourages us to pull the thread on those big dreams. What was it about some advocation or aspiration that called to you?
Did you have a strong sense of adventure, were you fearless when your friends were not? What books did you consume like they were candy? Where did your imagination take you? Did you take things apart to figure out how they worked? Did you love to sing, play an instrument, perform solos or be in a band? Maybe you whiled away the hours writing poems, short stories, mysteries; or you sketched endlessly in notebooks and scrap paper. Did you love teaching? Did you coach your friends in baseball or magic tricks? Were you an entertainer, making your friends and parents laugh hysterically? Did you play school with your dolls and stuffed animals, having story time and spelling bees? Were you outdoors constantly – exploring nature, collecting bugs and wondering how birds were able to fly?
Robert Greene encourages us to spend time remembering what held our attention and captivated our imaginations. Can you recall how you felt when time stood still, when you were in a flow state, when doing the same thing day in and day was far from boring but rather what you loved doing the most?
Be as exploratory with this trailhead for self discovery as you were when you were young. Go back with curiosity and fascination to recall the magical parts of yourself that you’ve forgotten.
Check out this short video from Robert Greene to jumpstart your exploration: