Bob Upgren ~ Author ⋅ Speaker ⋅ Master Chalk Artist

More and more, I meet people who are frustrated with their life and unfulfilled by their work. They’re forced to endure life rather than enjoy it. On the other hand, I also know people who simply love what they do and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “This isn’t what I do,” they say. “This is who I am.”  In every walk of life there are people for whom this is true, people who have discovered what I call, their “PATH” in life. Discovering your “PATH” involves doing something for which you have a natural aptitude. In short, you are good at what you do.   Really good.

But it’s more than that, it’s also about passion. You have to love it, too. The original meaning of “passion” is to suffer or endure, as in the movie, The Passion of the Christ. The modern meaning has evolved to include love, attraction, and pleasure. But passion can exist for more than just another person. Passion can also surface for a process. We can be passionate about things like music, math, cooking, sport, and teaching; whatever fires your imagination. We all have different aptitudes and we all have unique passions. The challenge is to pursue the discovery of both. It’s in the fusion of these two elements where we live our best lives, where we truly discover our “PATH” in life.

Finding your “PATH” is a journey. It often begins by enduring a job you neither feel good at or fulfilled by. Only through time, and the honest assessment of your passions and talent, you discover the enjoyment and satisfaction of a calling. It may mean switching vocations or refining the duties within a current position. Whatever the case, when you find your “PATH”, you know it. It’s a vital process where you shift from saying, “This is what I do,” to proclaiming, “This is who I am.”

If you have ever thought generation gaps were a farce, then see how this top ten list resonates with you. The next generation – students we teach and lead - is not better or worse, they are just different. Itʼs our job to connect with them on a common playing field;  a playing field that has without question, changed. Enjoy the list!

#10 White and Yellow Pages: What do you mean let my fingers do the walking? Why in the world would you need a 20-pound book just to find someone? All I have to do now is search them on my phone and I’ll have their complete profile with a satellite picture of their house.

#9 One picture to a frame: What a waste of space to have a separate frame for each picture. One digital picture frame can encompass every person you’ve ever met and everything you’ve ever done. Now, that’s efficient.

#8 Movie rental stores: “Let me get this straight dad, you actually got in your car and drove some place just to rent a movie? Are you crazy?”

#7 Film cameras: “Film” will mean nothing to the next generation. In fact, even digital cameras — both video and still — are in danger of extinction as our smart phones take over the world.

#6 Catalogs: There’s no need to send me a book in the mail when I can see everything you have for sale, anywhere and anytime. If you want to remind me to look at it, send me an email, shoot me a text or post via social media.

#5 The Paper Map: Remember when these were available for free at every gas station. They’re practically obsolete today, and the next generation will probably have to visit a museum to find one. The days of a wife sitting in the passenger seat with a map stretched out across the dash are now replaced with a phone sitting on the same dashboard talking to you.

#4 Wired phones: Why on earth would you pay $35 every month to have a phone that plugs into a wall? For the next generation, this is a ridiculous concept. Gone are the days of one “central” phone. Every person in the household will soon (if not already) have their own phone. I mean really, can you imagine calling a phone and having to ask for someone else. How unbelievably inefficient.

#3 Newspaper classifieds: One word. CRAIGSLIST. The days are gone when you have to buy a bunch of newsprints just to see what’s for sale. Why else do you think several newspapers are now giving this once coveted space away for free?

#2 Encyclopedias: I remember when people walked door to door selling these things called encyclopedias. Imagine a time when you had to buy expensive books that were outdated before the ink was dry. This will be a nonsense term for babies born today.

#1 Forgotten friends: Remember when an old friend would bring up someone you went to high school with, and you’d say, “Oh yeah, I forgot about them!”  The next generation will automatically be in touch with everyone they’ve ever known even slightly via Facebook.

BONUS: Talking to one person at a time: Remember when it was rude to be with one person while talking to another on the phone? Kids born today will just assume that you’re supposed to use texting to maintain contact with five or six other people while pretending to pay attention to the person you happen to be physically next to.

Across the United States, about seven thousand students drop out of school every day. This statistic may not have been noticed fifty years ago, but the era of a high school dropout earning living wage has ended.

By dropping out, these youth significantly diminish their chances to secure a good job and a promising future. Don’t bank on the story of “drop-out turned millionaire” either. For every one who makes it, I’ll show you one hundred struggling.

Furthermore, each class of dropouts is responsible for substantial financial and social costs to the communities, states and country in which they live.  Here are six statistics worth noting when it comes to the drop out challenge.

1. Dropouts suffer from reduced earnings and lost opportunities; there are also significant social and economic costs to the rest of the nation.
2. Over the course of his or her lifetime, a high school dropout earns, on average, about $260,000 less than a high school graduate.
3. Dropouts from the Class of 2010 alone will cost the nation more than $337 billion in lost wages over the course of their lifetimes.
4. If the United States’ likely dropouts from the Class of 2006 had graduated, the nation could have saved more than $17 billion in Medicaid and expenditures for uninsured health care over the course of those young people‘s lifetimes.
5. If U.S. high schools and colleges were to raise the graduation rates of Hispanic, African American, and Native American students to the levels of white students by 2020, the potential increase in personal income would add more than $310 billion to the U.S. economy.
6. Increasing the graduation rate and college matriculation of male students in the United States by just 5 percent could lead to a combined savings and revenue of almost $8 billion each year by reducing crime- related costs.

So let’s review. If a person drops out, you will make less money, slow the economy, burden tax payers, increase national debt, and live a less fulfilling life. It seems like that old saying of “stay in school” has real numbers behind it.

The two essential ingredients to your calling in life.

As a toddler, you snuggle in bed with mom or dad and start to dream about what life will bring.  Some call this a vocation or job, while others label it a “calling” or “life mission.”  To a three old kid though, itʼs simply a dream of something you think would be fun to do with your life. With no prompting from your parents, you share your dream to become a soccer player, an artist, or a fireman.

As an 8-year-old, at the family barbecue, your favorite uncle takes interest in your dreams and asks, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” You laugh and giggle your way to an answer filled with hope and optimism. “I want to be a teacher.“

As a twelve-year-old middle school student, a counselor analyzes the standard career assessment you just labored through and inquires, “What do you think you want to be when you grow up?” In nervous haste, you make up an answer you think will sound good, but in truth, isnʼt really even you.

In your bedroom, you’re hanging out with friends and dreaming of making it big. Everyone begins to talk about what they want to be when they grow up. Money, status, and fame are the filters now.  You want to be anything that will get you to the top. Whatever will make you successful. Even though if you were honest with everyone, youʼre a bit confused at what success really looks like.

As a high-school senior, eighteen-years-old, with graduation around the corner, you sit on the living room couch across from your parents, and they issue a one question quiz, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The reality of the situation is that you have no idea.

In a year, this question begins to feel more like an interrogation. Suddenly the fun and excitement of the question is gone. Itʼs stressful to talk about, confusing to think about, and down right avoidable. Eventually, even you begin the process of asking yourself the question,  “What in the world am I going to be when I grow up?”

Then, something changes; a moment where another person impacts your life.  This person asks the question with the same well-intentioned concern as everyone else, but in a much different context, “What do you think you were created you to be?” You pause, and for a moment donʼt know what to say. The question had always been about what you should become, not who you already are.

Then the person makes a statement that shocks you,  “You canʼt be anything you want to be.” This goes against everything anyone has ever told you in life.

“But,” the person says, “you can certainly be everything you were created you to be.” This is the moment it clicks. The lightbulb turns on and you realize a profound truth. Your job right now is not to try and figure out what you should become, but to discover who you already have been made to be.

There are two essential ingredients that create a “sweet spot” for someone. I have listed them below, with a few questions and statements to lead you toward your best path in life!

PASSION

Passion is often buried deep within us. Unless we go looking for it or are placed in a culture where it grows naturally, we donʼt find it. If we donʼt discover our true passions, we shouldnʼt expect to find purpose and meaning in life. So, let your passions rise!

• What causes your imagination to run wild?
• Listen to the whisper of your prayers.
• What do you crave?
• What motivates you?
• What do you truly care about?
• Where do you find yourself most comfortable?
• What groups of people do you find yourself enjoying the most?

ABILITY

The natural abilities that you possess are powerful evidence that become a part of the roadmap to your path in life. Over time, you are going to discover things that you naturally love to do and you naturally excel at, as well. People may even tell you that you were born to do a certain activity and that it looks effortless when you do it. Think of these things as clues to your life purpose.

• Are you someone who inspires other people?
• Do you excel in sports?
• Are you naturally talented in music, singing, or art?
• Do you like working with your hands?
• Are you mechanical?
• Do you have an innate ability to perform or act in drama?

When your passions and abilities meet, you will find meaning and purpose to what you are doing. In closing, remember your path may not look like others, but I can promise you this. If you honor who you are and honor who you were born to be, it will be every bit as fulfilling.