Think Like a Child

What advice would you give your younger self? There’s plenty I would tell my 18 year old self, even my 14 year old self. But what about my 5 year old self?

I don’t think I have any advice for my 5 year old self, but rather, I have a lot to learn from him.

Back in preschool, our teacher asked our class, what do you want to be when you grow up? Each of us created a poster to present to our classmates and parents. On the day of presentations, I learned about my classmates ambitions. “I want to be president!” said one boy, “I want to be an astronaut!” said another. My best friend went on stage and presented his poster to the crowd “I want to be a king!” he said grinning. When it was my turn, I paraded on stage, and revealed my poster to the audience. My poster illustrated a man in an orange apron selling a customer a lawn mower. “I want to be a home depot worker!” I announced, probably to my parents embarassment.

Ignoring my ambition to work at home depot, kids are naturally ambitious. Ask a class of graduating high schoolers the same question, no one would think of being silly enough to say they want to be a king.

Kids are not only ambitious, observe any child and we can see that children are curious, children are creative, children don’t care what anyone think, children live in the moment.

These are all traits of extremely successful people yet these are also traits of children.

What a tragedy it is that these traits have been beaten out of us by society and the education system.

I realize now that I’m trying to be how I was as a kid. I read books on thinking big and creativity, I drink in social situations so I can stop caring what others think, I meditate to be present in the moment. Yet me and everyone has the potential to have a fulfilling life.

It’s all within us, we just have to think more like a child.