What do you want to be when you grow up?

Who hasn’t been asked that question? When we’re little kids we can dream big about being a pro athlete, a doctor, lawyer, musician, scientist, world leader, pilot, video game producer or just about anything else we can imagine.

But the thing is, as we grow older, the answer to that question is often more difficult to answer.

Back in the day, you picked a career and, if you were lucky, you were good enough at it to make a living for a lifetime. If you were lucky, you actually liked what you did. If you were even more lucky, you loved what you did.

If you were lucky.

 Today, more people than ever are asking that same question as the working world changes under their feet, seemingly every five years. How can anyone steer a steady path in this kind of environment?

We believe a key to answering this challenge is in understanding who you are first, then applying this insight to searching out what you want to be when you grow up, or where you want to go next.

Over the past 40 years psychologists have taught us that we each have a unique combination of personality traits, skills and talents and view of the world, and that unique combination that is you drives how you interact with others, how well you perform certain tasks, and, ultimately, determines how satisfied you feel with your life.

Today we have clinically proven tools that can help you understand your unique combination of personality, talents, skills and preferences, and translate that insight into action around a new career path or educational direction.

Given all of the uncertainty and change in the world, people don’t have to rely on luck when making important life decisions — not when there are tools to help them zero in on choices that will offer the greatest likelihood of success and satisfaction.

Ross Dickie, President Human eSources