I don’t have kids yet, but many of my friends are starting to and I know my time is coming…
Dun dun dun!
So I’ve been thinking…
How would I guide my kids to find their life purpose, follow their passion, and do what makes them happy in life?
How would I help my kids using the same information I’m sharing on this blog, in my book, and in the course I’m developing?1
Conscious parenting can completely change the course of humanity’s future.
There is no better time than now for parents and aspiring parents to consider how they’re going to raise their kids and guide their development.
Because, as you will read later on, whether you consciously guide your kids toward greater happiness or not…
As a parent, you are the strongest neurological influence they’ll ever have in their lives.
This article will help you understand, scientifically, the influence you have on your child’s development, and how to use that influence to give your kids a head start on a life of greater happiness, satisfaction, and fulfillment.
You will learn:
How my childhood influenced my current life path (and how I plan to parent my kids accordingly).
The science behind how parents dramatically influence their child’s future during the years of “super learning.”
Why your kids are the future of our planet (and how purpose and passion play a role in that future).
How to start giving your kids a head start on finding more purpose, passion, meaning, and happiness in their lives.
A simple way to keep track of your child’s deepest desires and strongest passions as they grow up so you can help them make better life decisions.
How to virtually guarantee your kids find their calling early on in life.
The real secret to helping your kids find their life purpose.
And action steps you can take today to help you and your family align with more purpose, passion, and inner clarity.
How My Childhood Influenced My Life Path (and How I Plan to Parent My Kids)
I’ve been on a 12-year personal development journey and what you might call a 9-year purpose journey.
But the journey really began way before all of that. It began as I was growing up with the influence my parents and the other adults had on me.
I remember my dad at the dinner table, night after night, complaining about his work, his bosses, his coworkers, and his commute.
I remember him coming home from work, getting headaches, and needing to lie down because of the stress.
I remember my parents telling me to become a dentist, which was their way of subtly trying to influence me into what they felt was a stable, lucrative career.
Yet, as I observed my parents and the other adults around me, I realized that almost none of them were happy with what they were doing. In fact, they were stressed out and complaining most of the time.
In addition, these “stable” jobs and careers weren’t so stable. People got laid off, a LOT. I witnessed my dad coming home early from work after a few of these layoffs and spending months job hunting.
(One study shows that 40% of Americans have been laid off or terminated from a job at least once, and 48% experience layoff anxiety.2)
Those were stressful times, and they made a strong impression on me as a child.
Most people were following stressful careers they didn’t like, causing a negative impact on their health and happiness, and these jobs weren’t nearly as stable or secure as they were intended to be.
So I quickly decided that I didn’t want that for myself.
Early on, I made a decision that I was going to do what made me happy in life.
I didn’t know what that was, and it took years for me to figure it out.
But I made a strong decision that I wasn’t going to pursue a career just for the money. I was going to put my happiness first and allow the money to follow.
I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones because, with most kids, if their parents end up in jobs they don’t like, stressed out, and complaining, the kids end up in exactly the same situation.
While my parents had subtly tried to influence me to follow a career primarily for the money while I was in high school, they didn’t do that when I was in college or after college (when it really came time for me to choose a career path).
My parents have supported my decision to do what makes me happy, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that because a lot of parents in their generation don’t support their kids in this way.
The first major I chose in college was kinesiology. I had been a top athlete all my life, and I thought I might like to go into sports medicine or something similar.
My parents had no influence on that decision and let me choose whatever I thought was best.
However, after two years, I switched my major to economics. I’d taken a few econ classes, I was good at it, and I loved the subject. So I switched.
Again, my parents had no influence on that decision and didn’t try to push me in another direction.
I went on to graduate with honors as one of the top students in my major, but something happened during my senior year that shifted the course of my life.
I got an economics internship and quickly learned this was not what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
I didn’t want to sit in a cramped office, staring at spreadsheets all day, with a boss hanging over me.
I may have loved the subject of economics, but the work sucked!
It was boring and monotonous – the same type of work I’d seen my dad and the other adults around me stressing themselves over growing up.
Little did I know, I was not alone in this experience. Many people chose a major because the subject interested them, but the actual “real world” work is nothing like what they studied in school.
Often, what they learned in school doesn’t apply at all, and the work itself is not fun, engaging, or meaningful to them.
This is one of the reasons most people end up doing work that has nothing to do with what they studied and the degree they paid five or six figures for.3
At the same time as I was doing this internship, I was diving deep into personal development. I’d gotten into it during my sophomore year, and during my senior year, I was consuming a lot of this information.
I was loving it. It was empowering me like I’d never felt before.
I was more confident than I’d ever been, more excited about life than I’d ever been, more self-loving, and happier.
I was also learning about a different type of work I could do, a type of work where I would be free from cramped offices, boring spreadsheets, and bosses…
I learned that I could run my own location-independent online business and travel around the world.
Not only that, but I could also build a business that makes a positive impact on the world and changes people’s lives.
Remember my decision to do what made me happy? This is when I started aligning with that decision.
I decided not to go back to that internship for the second semester of my senior year. Instead, during winter break, I started learning about how I could start my own location-independent online business and travel around the world.
Because I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it would make me happier than anything else.
After graduating college with a degree in economics and learning that I did not want to sit in a cramped office staring at spreadsheets all day…
I started a location-independent online business, with the goal of moving to Thailand and traveling around Southeast Asia (then the rest of the world).
Four years after graduating college, in August of 2018, I achieved one of my first big life goals and landed in Phuket, Thailand to begin a ten-month journey traveling around Southeast Asia.
It was a life-changing experience, and it was during this time that I really honed in on what my purpose was and started following it.
It led me to what I’m doing now – what I’ve always wanted to do – which is to write, create courses, and inspire and empower people to live their best lives.
The years since I graduated college, started my business, and followed what made me happy (instead of going into what would’ve been a corporate rat race for me) have not all been easy and smooth sailing.
I experienced many defeats and challenging times. My business went up and down. There were health issues in my family, and I experienced some of my own health issues.
But no matter what happened, I never gave up on my dream. I never gave up on doing what made me truly happy and fulfilled in life.
And I never will.
I’m committed to my purpose. I’m committed to my passion. I’m committed to my calling, my mission, and my joy.
I’m committed to my happiness and my success in every aspect.
I never would have grown as much as I have over the last nine years if I’d gone the corporate route.
I never would have put myself in a position to help thousands of people through my content over the years.
I never would have experienced the magic I experienced in Asia and the rest of my travels.
And I wouldn’t be here writing this right now, for you.
My early years had a deep and profound effect on my life path. I saw what the corporate rat race did to my dad and the other adults around me.
So when it comes to how I’m planning to parent my kids, I plan on giving them the best head start I can to help them find and do what makes them truly happy in life, using the information I’m about to share with you in this article.
Way too many of us started too late in life thinking about what we wanted to do with our lives. Most of us only started as juniors in high school, if that.
But our childhood interests and experiences are often the breadcrumbs that lead us to our life purposes as adults.
Childhood is the root of everything that occurs in our lives afterward.
So if I want my kids to have the best life possible, I will begin to understand them as best I can the moment they are born.
By understanding them as best I can, I’ll be able to help guide them onto the path of their highest happiness in life.
In addition, by living in alignment with my highest happiness and following my most fulfilling, exciting, and joyful life path, my kids will observe and emulate that, as well.
This is one of the core reasons why I’ve been so adamant about doing what makes me happy in life.
Because I know that doing what makes me happy will put me in the best position to help my kids do the same in the future.
How Parents Dramatically Influence Their Child’s Future During The Years of “Super Learning”
I’ve touched on how parents are the strongest neurological influence a child will ever have in their lives, but let’s break down the science behind this so you can understand it better.
What I’m about to share with you comes from The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza, plus a ton of other reading I’ve done on the mind over the years.45
As a child is growing up, their mind is in a state of super learning.
Here’s how this works:
The human mind has two main parts: the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.
The conscious mind is the rational thinking mind. It’s the part of the mind that we use to solve problems, think about the past or the future, decide what we’re going to have for dinner tonight, contemplate our identity, and so on.
The subconscious mind is the habitual and emotional mind.
Your daily habits and rituals, such as brushing your teeth, are programmed into your subconscious mind. In addition, all of your emotional reactions to life are generated from programming in your subconscious mind, and it’s where all of your beliefs and perceptions about yourself, others, and life are programmed.
Your beliefs (and habits) related to money, relationships, health, your talents and abilities, your worthiness, the future, the past – all of these beliefs, habits, and perspectives are programmed into your subconscious mind.
Where do these habits, perspectives, beliefs, and emotional reactions to life come from? And how do they affect our lives?
It turns out, a vast majority are programmed into us as children during our upbringing.
They come mostly from our parents, and they direct 95% or more of our adult lives (if left unchanged).
Let’s break this down further:
Most of the thousands of thoughts we think each day are a result of our subconscious programming.
However, since most people don’t consciously change their subconscious programming as adults, they think mostly the same thoughts they were thinking yesterday, last week, and last year.
This is why most people’s lives stay relatively the same in adulthood. Their core thought patterns (programmed into their subconscious mind) don’t change that much.
When your thoughts don’t change, and your feelings don’t change, and your decisions don’t change, your life won’t change much either. This applies to every human being on the planet, no matter their age, race, religion, or country.
Our subconscious programming drives a majority of our life decisions.
For most people, the part of their subconscious programming that’s related to their work is out of alignment with what actually makes them happy.
All of your habits, beliefs, perspectives, and emotional reactions to life are programmed into your subconscious mind, including your habits, beliefs, and perspectives about what work you want to do, can do, or should do.
Here’s an example to illustrate this:
Let’s say you’re a server in the hospitality industry working two jobs and making minimum wage, but what you really want to do is pursue a career in art.
Art is your passion and it’s one of the things that makes you the most happy. And you’re damn good at it, too.
However, even though you love art and would love to pursue a career in it, whenever you think about following this passion, you also think thoughts like:
“I don’t think I can make enough money as an artist. Who really earns a living as an artist these days, anyway?”
“I’m not good enough. People won’t like my stuff or buy it from me.”
“There’s no job security in art. Who am I kidding?”
Are these absolute truths?
Can you really not make enough money as an artist?
Are there really no people earning a full-time living as artists?
Are you really not good enough?
Will people really not like your stuff or buy it from you?
Is there really no job security for artists?
Or are these just beliefs and perceptions programmed into your subconscious mind that are now blocking you from taking action on your desire?
This person could just as easily think confident and empowering thoughts about how exciting it would be to follow their passion, about the success they could achieve, and about how it would at least be worth giving it a try.
Why aren’t they?
After years of reprogramming my subconscious beliefs, I can tell you, without a doubt, that these types of thoughts are generated mostly from fear-based subconscious programming we picked up as children.
These types of beliefs and perspectives may have some basis in reality, but the other side of the coin, the positive beliefs and perspectives, also have a basis in reality. You can make a viable case for both.
So, this subconscious programming just creates internal conflict between us and our desires.
These thoughts are not absolute truths.
Where do these limiting subconscious beliefs come from?
This is one of the most important pieces of knowledge we can ever understand as to why our lives turn out the way they do, and how we can consciously help our kids direct their futures.
Here’s why:
When kids are born, from ages zero to six, the conscious mind has not developed yet. A kid’s mind is solely subconscious, and it is wide open.
When the conscious mind is not active, the subconscious mind is wide open and the individual is in a state of “super learning.”
Everything they see, hear, or experience goes directly into their subconscious mind because there is no conscious mind to block it or to think something else.
This is why we often describe kids as “sponges.” They absorb everything.
This is why a kid can become fluent in three languages (or more) before they grow up, but most adults struggle to even get fluent in a second language after many years of effort.
Everything a child experiences from ages zero to six goes straight into their subconscious mind and becomes deep-seated neurological and biological programming.
The programming we receive as children then affects just about every aspect of our adulthood:
Our health.
Our happiness.
Our relationships.
Our beliefs and perceptions about ourselves.
Our beliefs and perceptions about life and the world.
Our emotional reactions to life.
Our self-confidence, self-worth, and self-esteem.
Our fears.
The work we do and why we do it.
Everything!
From ages zero to six, it all goes straight into the subconscious mind.
Scientists estimate that about 95% or more of our lives are dictated by our subconscious programming.
In The Biology of Belief, Dr. Bruce Lipton writes:
“Our lives are essentially a printout of our subconscious programs, behaviors that were fundamentally acquired from others (our parents, family, and community) before we were six years old. As psychologists recognize, a majority of these developmental programs are limiting and disempowering.”
Dr. Lipton then goes on to say:
“Young children carefully observe their environment and download the worldly wisdom offered by parents directly into their subconscious memory. As a result, their parents’ behavior and beliefs become their own.”
“…the fundamental behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes we observe in our parents become “hardwired” as synaptic pathways in our subconscious minds. Once programmed into the subconscious mind, they control our biology for the rest of our lives…or at least until we make the effort to reprogram them.”
If left unchanged, our lives are largely a printout of the subconscious programming we acquired as kids from our parents, family, community, and childhood experiences.
So…what happens after age six?
From ages six to twelve, the conscious mind starts to develop. This is when you really start to see your kid’s personality come out.
This is when they start contemplating life and making their own decisions because they’re starting to use their conscious mind. They’re becoming their own little person.
However, the doorway to the subconscious mind is still wide open, meaning that from ages six to twelve, kids are still highly susceptible to external influences.
This means that a lot of their experiences are still going straight into their subconscious mind.
Not surprisingly, most parents have no clue about any of this…
Yet, day in and day out, every word, every experience, every memory (whether they remember it consciously or not later in life) is being programmed into their child’s subconscious mind and will have a dramatic influence on how their life turns out in every area.
And the primary influence on that child’s subconscious programming is none other than…
The parents.
(Whether they’re around or not! That’s the kicker!)
This is the most important knowledge for any conscious parent to understand because you can use it to your and your child’s advantage.
A lot of the reason why success can run in the family is because of the subconscious programming the children receive from ages zero to six and from six to twelve, even if the parents don’t help them at all financially once they become independent.
How many pro athletes have kids that end up as pro athletes? Or even siblings that both end up playing in the same sport professionally? It’s ridiculously hard to even have one member of a family become a professional athlete, so what are the odds of not one, but two or more?!6
It’s not just the money or the genetics.
It’s the subconscious, success-driven programming from their years of playing professionally that the parent instilled in them from an early age.
The child receives all of these high-level skills, knowledge, and mindsets during their childhood years of super learning, while most budding professional athletes may only acquire them in their teenage years or college (or never).
That’s what I call a head start, and it’s a blessing that any conscious parent can provide their kids if they understand this knowledge and learn how to take advantage of the years when their child’s mind is in a state of rapid super learning.
In terms of giving your kids a head start on a life of happiness, whatever that means for them, there is no greater understanding than this for any parent.
This isn’t to say that subconscious programming during childhood determines your fate. We are still the creators of our lives.
We can overcome any negative subconscious programming we may have received as children, or even as adults.
People must take full responsibility for their programming and absolve their parents and others of it, no matter what happened in their childhood, if they want to better their lives.
Because that’s the truth. No one can change you or your life for you. The same goes for your kids when they get older.
So…
How can you be the best influence possible on your child’s subconscious programming during the years of super learning (ages zero to six and six to twelve).
How can you be the best influence during the formative years that set your kids up for the rest of their lives?
How can you give them a massive head start on finding more purpose, passion, meaning, and happiness in their lives, if that is what they desire?
And how can you virtually guarantee they find their calling early on in life, instead of bouncing around for years as young adults struggling to find it?
How Your Kids Will Decide The Future of Our Planet
Kids are literally the future of our planet.
It’s not a cliché. It’s a fact.
If we want a happier, healthier planet, it starts with happier, healthier kids.
And purpose is a big part of that.
Allow me to explain…
Yesterday, I was doing research for my online course, The Find Your Life Purpose Course. So I went to Reddit and typed “hate my job” into the search bar.
I wanted to see some real conversations with people who were in a bad situation work-wise and could benefit from my course.
The conversations I found were astounding…
One person said they hated one of their previous jobs so badly they weren’t sleeping or eating because of the stress. Because of this, they developed epilepsy and started getting seizures. Then their doctor put them on medication.7
Luckily, the person left that job and found one that was way better. Ten years later, the Redditor said they haven’t had to take the medication since because their seizures never came back.
In their words:
“I haven’t taken an epilepsy pill or had a seizure in 10 years since leaving that place. Toxic environments can and will affect you physically.”
If a person hates what they do for a living, if it’s unfulfilling and unsatisfying, if it drains their energy every day, if they feel like what they’re doing doesn’t matter or isn’t important, if they feel like they’re not living up to their full potential…
What kind of position is that person in to make the world a better place?
What kind of position is that person in to attract the love of their life?
What kind of position is that person in to take care of themselves and their well-being?
What kind of position is that person in to raise healthy, happy kids?
I’ll tell you:
A sh*tty one!
And they’d probably agree with me!
They’re in a position to be angry, bitter, resentful, and pessimistic, and that is not the foundation for a happy, healthy future for our planet.
Now, let’s flip the coin…
If a person loves what they do for a living, if it’s fulfilling and satisfying, if it energizes them and excites them, if they feel like what they’re doing matters and is important, if they feel like they’re living up to their full potential…
What kind of position is that person in to make the world a better place?
What kind of position is that person in to attract the love of their life?
What kind of position is that person in to take care of themselves and their well-being?
What kind of position is that person in to raise healthy, happy kids?
I’ll tell you:
An amazing one!
Our work and our health go hand-in-hand. Our work and our happiness go hand-in-hand.
Work that makes you happy can change your entire outlook on life. It can positively affect every area of your life.
People who are happy in their work are more excited about life, they’re more willing to help others and lend a hand, they’re utilizing their gifts, talents, and abilities, they’re passionate, they’re driven, they’re enthusiastic, they’re generous, and they spread joy everywhere.
When someone isn’t happy in their work, the negative impact on their life ranges from low energy/enthusiasm to downright mental, emotional, and physical dis-ease.8
Like the Redditor from before, going from work you hate to work you love can literally heal you mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Going from work you hate to work you love can literally heal you mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
People who are healed and in a good place naturally spread that goodness to the world around them. They contribute to a bright present and future for our planet.
If everyone on the planet loved their work (and I optimistically believe this will happen sometime in the future), our planet would completely transform.
You, as a parent or aspiring parent, hold in your hands the key to this future. It’s your kids and the powerful influence you have on them during their early years and throughout their lives.
(Sidenote: Writing that last line made me tear up. That’s how important this is to me.)
Don’t underestimate the power you have as a parent and the power your kids have to make a positive impact on the world.
You are not small. Your kids are not small.
You are MASSIVE. Your kids are MASSIVE.
You and your kids are walking, talking balls of energetic power that can create positive ripple effects through space and time if you intend to.
You and your kids will decide the future of our planet.
By helping your kids find their purpose, follow their passion, and do what makes them truly happy and fulfilled in life, you will help create one of the brightest futures (and presents) humankind has ever seen.
By helping your kids find their purpose, follow their passion, and do what makes them truly happy and fulfilled in life, you will help create one of the brightest futures (and presents) humankind has ever seen.
Start Here to Give Your Kids a Head Start on Finding More Purpose, Passion, Meaning, and Happiness
Here’s where I would start as a parent to give your kids (and mine) a head start on a life of purpose, passion, meaning, and happiness:
Start with your mindset as a parent.
What do you want for your kids, truly?
Because, as any child with parents who pressured them to follow a certain career path will tell you, whatever you want for your kids will be projected onto them and will likely influence their entire direction in life.9
If you genuinely want your kids to be happy, that will be projected onto them early and often throughout their childhood and become deep-seated subconscious programming they’ll carry with them into adulthood.
If you want your kids to follow one of three major high-income career paths (i.e. doctor, lawyer, programmer), regardless of whether it makes them happy…
That will be projected onto them early and often throughout their childhood and become deep-seated subconscious programming they’ll carry with them into adulthood.
This is serious stuff!
Studies show that about half of people follow a career path simply because their parents pressured them into it.10
Many of them end up paying five or six figures for their degree and spend four to eight years of their lives in school, only to do a job they hate and stresses them out!
The main reason they followed this career path was for their parents’ approval. Not because it’s something they really wanted to do in life.
When it comes to preparing your kids for a life of happiness, it begins with your mindset and intention as a parent. It starts with your overall intention for what you want for them and how you plan to guide their decision-making.
Like it or not, your kids will look to you for guidance, reassurance, and approval. Even if they end up rebelling against you, they’ll still have a subconscious desire for your approval. It’s hardwired in most of us.11
Use that power to their advantage, to guide them in making informed decisions.
Use that power to help them find what is truly best for them, even if it’s completely different from what you would’ve wanted for them.
Think back to when you were growing up.
What would you have wanted your parents to project onto you? What would you have wanted them to want for you?
For me, I got very lucky. At the end of the day, my parents just wanted me to be happy. They expressed their desires, but I was given a lot of freedom to determine my future.
In truth, everyone is free to determine their future. No one can truly force you to do anything. You can’t actually force your kids to do something. If they want to do something else, they can.
But the parental influence on a child is so strong, and the subconscious, neurological impact runs so deep, that sometimes simply the thought of parental disapproval will stop a kid from doing what they really want to do in life.
Years before they even have to make the decision, a child can be scared of whether their parents will support their decision to do what makes them happy in the future.
This feels very out of balance to me, to be honest. But that’s human nature right now.
As a conscious parent, a parent who’s aware of the influence you have on your child’s present and future and truly cares about being the best influence possible…
You can circumvent all of your child’s fears and help them find what truly makes them happy with a simple mindset:
Love them no matter what decisions they make in life.
Few things are worse than parental disapproval when a child is just trying to do what makes them happy.
But if you can tap into unconditional love, while coming from a place of genuine caring and support (like my parents have), you will give your children the space they need to carve their own unique path through life.
You will give them the space, the love, and the support to carve a path that opens up the doorway to their unique opportunity in this life, where they can uncover their greatest gifts and share them with the world.
There are few experiences in this life more fulfilling and satisfying than that.
How to Keep Track of Your Child’s Deepest Desires and Strongest Passions as They Grow Up
Our life purposes as adults are often rooted in the interests and experiences we have in childhood.
The problem is, most of us don’t recall these things when we get older and it’s time to decide what to do with our lives.
This knowledge isn’t at the forefront of our awareness when we need it most.
We don’t recall that we used to love giving advice to our friends in middle school, and maybe becoming a life coach one day might be a viable purpose/passion for us.
We don’t recall that we had a talent for leadership growing up, and maybe we should entertain the idea of entrepreneurship or executive leadership as an adult.
We don’t recall that one of the things we loved doing most was cooking with our mother, and maybe instead of a regular college, we should attend culinary school or just go straight to work in a restaurant.
We don’t recall that we used to lose ourselves for hours and hours in certain books, shows, sports, games, and other activities that may contain a passion we might want to consider as adults.
As a parent raising your kids, by keeping track of your child’s deepest desires and strongest passions as they grow up, this list could be one of the greatest gifts you ever give them as they enter young adulthood.
Here’s how to do it:
As your child is growing up, write down everything they like doing, are interested in, are good at, or are passionate about.
For example, you could keep an ongoing record of:
The books they like to read and why they like them.
The shows they like to watch and why they like them.
The things they like to talk about.
The things they like to do with their friends.
The games they like to play.
The subjects they’re interested in and why.
The places they love most.
The people they admire and look up to the most (and why).
All of the things they mention wanting to do when they grow up.
The social or environmental causes they’re most passionate about.
Or whatever information you feel will be most valuable to them when it comes time for them to decide which direction to take in life.
All of this self-knowledge is gold when it comes time to decide what you really want to do with your life.
Much like how parents often keep a scrapbook of childhood memories that are fun to look back on when the kids get older, you can keep a record of your child’s passions and interests that will serve them mightily in adulthood.
You can keep a record of your child’s passions and interests that will serve them mightily in adulthood.
Here are some real-world examples from my own childhood of how you can apply this:
The Signs From My Childhood That Indicated What My Purpose Would Be As An Adult
My mom kept a ton of stuff from my elementary school days. She kept almost everything I created in class and stored it in a big box.
All of my school projects. All of my artwork. All of my little assignments where you had to describe yourself, your experiences, and how you perceive the world.
She kept almost all of it.
A few years ago, my parents decided to move, and we went through that box to decide what to keep and what to throw away.
What I found astounded me…
As I read through some of my old writing, things I hadn’t read since writing them, I saw the trail of breadcrumbs.
I saw the signs that were there in my childhood of who I was likely to become as an adult.
I also saw signs of what I might still like to do, desires I have held onto, even though I was completely unaware that I’d wanted them as a child or that I’d exhibited some of those personality traits way back then.
Check out this trail of breadcrumbs from my childhood:
A 4th-grade school project where I said I wanted to star in my own TV show.
This is a page from a school project in 4th grade where we wrote what we wanted to be when we grew up. I was 9 years old.
I said that when I grow up, I want to be “a fast runner, a soldier, and a star of my own TV show.” I also said I wanted to be a basketball player.
Growing up, I was the fastest long-distance runner in school. I broke my elementary school’s mile record in third grade at 6 minutes and 45 seconds.
So naturally, I was leaning toward that talent in what I wanted to be as an adult.
I wanted to be a soldier because my dad and I would always watch war movies together, but that desire didn’t become relevant as I got older.
The next part is the most interesting. I said that I wanted to be the star of my own TV show. I had no idea I had any desire to be an actor when I was a kid, but I still have that desire now.
In my dream book I created a few years ago, where I write down all of my biggest goals, dreams, and desires, I wrote that I want to star in a movie one day.
(I’d be down for a show too, maybe a medieval action drama.)
When I was in middle school, I took a speech and drama class and my teacher invited me to join the Spring play.
However, back then, I thought kids who did plays were “lame.” I wanted to be “cool,” so I told her no.
Little did I know that famous Hollywood actors sometimes start out doing school plays.
Maybe if I’d known that back then, I’d be a famous actor by now 😉
I wrote down in 4th grade that I wanted to be an actor, had no idea, and I still have that desire today.
Elementary school report card saying I was especially good at public speaking. I didn’t know my teacher said this.
This report card comes from elementary school. My teacher said I was especially good at public speaking.
The only time I ever knew I was good at public speaking as a kid was when my middle school speech and drama teacher asked me to join the school play and I thought it was lame. Other than that, school presentations always used to scare the crap out of me.
So I definitely had no idea I had this talent back in elementary school.
In fact, all the way up until college and after college, public speaking continued to scare the crap out of me. I’d be nervous a week before a presentation or any sort of public speaking.
However, one of my life goals now is to become a motivational public speaker.
I first got the inspiration when I saw videos of Gary Vaynerchuk inspiring thousands of people on stage in 2015. I immediately started imagining myself doing the same thing and set it as an intention to do it one day.
Then, when I was living in Thailand in 2018, I did my first public speaking event for about 30 people. I was so nervous I nearly fainted and left the event before they called me up.
Despite my intense nervousness and anxiety, I ended up doing super well. People loved it and were inspired by my talk.
Earlier this year, I did my biggest public speaking event – the best man speech at my best friend of 25 years’ wedding.
Again, I was super nervous beforehand, but I did well and people loved it. My friend was crying for five minutes afterward.
A part of my vision for the future is being on stages around the world inspiring and motivating people to find their purpose, follow their passion, and achieve their dreams.
The breadcrumbs for this talent and desire started all the way back in elementary school and middle school.
If I had known back then, or if my parents had been more aware of the potential of public speaking as a career (speakers often get paid four to five figures for a 60 to 90-minute talk), maybe this talent could have been nurtured before I was even a teenager.
A 4th-grade assignment that contained clear foreshadowing for who I am today.
This one made my jaw drop when I read it again after so many years.
I wrote this for a school project in 4th grade. It was a short story about how my backpack kept falling off my chair when people walked by and bumped it.
So, one day, I decided to cross the backpack straps to make the backpack more secure, and my backpack never fell off the chair again. I solved the problem.
Here’s the line that struck me:
“I learned that if there is a problem, there is always a solution.”
That’s one of the mindsets I live by every day.
To me, that statement is an absolute, fundamental truth of how the laws of the universe operate, which I thought I had only become aware of a few years ago.
This is the type of mindset I preach and live by all the time, and I tapped into it as a 9-year-old and had no idea.
I wrote this in elementary school or middle school, and this is still one of my deepest intentions in life.
I wrote this in either elementary school or middle school. Based on the sentence structure, I’m guessing it was in middle school, just before going to high school.
The last sentence reads:
“When people need help, whether in school or in life, I will help them to the best of my ability.”
This is still my intention to this day. It’s the higher purpose of everything I do…
To help others to the best of my ability.
It’s why I write these articles, why I’ve created podcast episodes, why I’ve created YouTube videos and Instagram posts, why I’ve written books, why I send emails to my subscribers, why I’m creating courses, why I want to be a public speaker, why I want to donate to causes I care about, why I want to volunteer, why I’m building a business that changes people’s lives, and why I might start a non-profit one day.
At the end of the day, it’s all to help people live better lives.
I thought I only came to these realizations in college, but really, the signs were there before I was even a teenager.
In high school, I wrote that I was an economist and an entrepreneur BEFORE I ever decided to study economics or become an entrepreneur.
This one is even crazier.
I wrote this essay as a high school senior in 2010. I was seventeen years old and preparing to go to college later that year.
It’s a short essay about what my college degree will say about me.
The first line reads:
“I am not simply a student. I am an athlete, an economist, a therapist, and an entrepreneur.”
When I was in high school, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life other than becoming an Olympic long-distance runner and going to college.
That’s it.
I had no idea if I’d ever become an Olympic runner, and I had no idea what I wanted to study in college or what I wanted to do afterward.
However, the first line of that essay was prophetic. It was a foreshadowing of what was to come.
The first major I chose in college was kinesiology because it was the closest thing to sports, but I changed it during my sophomore year.
To economics.
Not once was there any indication of this in high school, yet I somehow intuitively wrote it down in that college admissions essay.
As I told you at the beginning of this article, I decided not to pursue a career in economics because the actual real-world work sucked and didn’t align with my happiness.
So what did I do?
I became an entrepreneur!
I wrote down that I was an economist and an entrepreneur before I ever decided to study economics or become an entrepreneur.
One way or another, the signs of what could be our calling(s) as adults often reveal themselves while we are growing up, and parents are the best people to stay aware of these signs in their kids’ lives.
This last example illustrates this perfectly:
This was an essay I wrote for my honors English class during my senior year of high school.
Our teacher had us choose three out of twelve archetypes that we felt best described us. I chose the Ruler, the Seeker, and the Creator.
Here are some of the lines from this essay:
“I do not believe in fate. I believe that people who believe in fate do not feel they can assume full responsibility for their lives and do not wish to actively seek a better future for themselves. They would ratherlet the world create itself around them than create the world around themselves.“
That’s deep!
I didn’t know I thought this deeply or philosophically in high school. I thought this level of thinking only manifested during my college years and afterward.
“A few years ago, I became aware of the fact that I could control my own future, that I am controlling my own future no matter what decisions I make. I became enlightened in that I realized that it is the decisions I make that decide my future, and I took control. I create the world around me, a better world.”
Again, I thought I only learned this in college after I got into personal development.
But this inner wisdom actually itself expressed much earlier as a natural part of who I was.
“If I were to describe myself using archetypes, I am the Ruler, controlling my life, the Seeker, searching for a better life, and the Creator, envisioning my life and making it an entity.“
Even though I wrote this when I was seventeen, to this day I could not describe myself and the way I approach life any better.
Yet, I had no clue I thought this way in high school.
Next, I continued on and talked about how I came to all of these self-realizations while running.
“Every run I went on seemed to bring me to a new realization about my life and the world around me. I would go through periods of deep thought and then arrive somewhere and not even know how I got there. I thought I was having an epiphany during each run, and in a way I was. I knew I had to do something to change my life, but I could not change my life without knowing where I was heading, what I wanted to achieve. At the time, all thoughts of future life led to becoming an Olympian. That was my goal, the ultimate accomplishment, but I also knew I needed a backup plan in case my Olympic dreams got thwarted in some way. I could not decide on a certain professional life, other than Olympian, that I would be content with. So, I decided to take it a step back and just aim for college, and, in doing so, set myself a tangible goal and became the Ruler of my horse-drawn carriage.”
“I seek a better life, a higher mountain. I have reached the top of mountains before, but they are minuscule in comparison to the mountains I want to reach later on…I will continue to pursue newer, higher mountains until I get to the point where the only remaining mountain to conquer is my deathbed.”
I still think this way. I still have this drive.
It’s the seed of why I love personal development and entrepreneurship so much. They’re both about growth, development, and expansion, which is super exciting and energizing for me.
“Of the twelve archetypes, I feel most strongly about the Seeker. The Seeker exemplifies the fundamentals of life. Always search for something better, more fulfilling, and you shall always be fulfilled…I see the Seeker not only emerging more in my future, but continuing to emerge until the day I die.”
Once again, this was very prophetic. It’s been fourteen years since I wrote this, and the Seeker has absolutely continued to emerge in my life.
I had no idea I wrote any of this back then.
I wrote this years before I ever got into personal development or spirituality.
Yet, this essay could easily be published as an article on this blog. That’s how aligned it is with who I am today.
I have changed a few of the ways I used to think. I’ve balanced the Seeker mentality with being happy, grateful, and appreciative in the present moment, not just seeking more all the time.
But pretty much everything else is spot on and reminiscent of who I am now as a writer and a thinker and how I live my life.
I could show you many more examples and breadcrumbs from my childhood creations.
Like how I wrote that I wanted to build a business that changes the world, and I’m building that business right now.
Or how I wrote that I wanted to live my life with purpose and show others how to do the same, and I’m doing that right now as well.
The signs are there. The breadcrumbs are there.
If you want to equip your kids with the kind of self-knowledge that can change their lives forever, pay attention to the little details when they are growing up and keep a record of them (as my mom unknowingly did by keeping this stuff for me).
It could be one of the greatest gifts you ever give them.
Hats off to my mom for keeping my childhood creations for so many years.
How to Virtually Guarantee Your Kids Find Their Calling Early On In Life
Finding your calling early in life is one of the greatest blessings.
It means that you’ve found a unique combination of what you love to do (your passion), what you’re good at (your gifts, talents, and abilities), and something that the world wants or needs (how you can serve others).
A calling is one of the most fulfilling activities we can engage in, and, if followed, it can lead to the highest heights of happiness in life, especially if followed from an early age.
Through a little awareness, parents can do a lot to help their kids find their calling early on in life. If you think about it, there’s about seventeen to eighteen years of time to make this happen. That’s more than enough time for most of us.
By helping your kids find their calling early on in life, you can set them up for a massively happy and successful future.
And it’s pretty simple too.
Here’s how you can virtually guarantee your kids find their calling early on in life:
Encourage your kids to try lots of different things and get out of their comfort zone as they’re growing up.
Help your kids become super well-rounded, knowledgeable, and experienced in a lot of areas. Even if it’s just a small amount of experience, it will benefit them.
Even if it’s something you wouldn’t like, your kids might like it, and it could be their calling.
By having your kids try lots of different things and attempt to build lots of different skills, you’re taking a shotgun approach to maximize the odds of them finding their “thing.”
It also helps expose your kids to opportunities for learning, growth, advancement, and career opportunities that aren’t available in school.
Many of us grew up thinking that the only viable careers were related to the subjects we learned in school. As a result, some kids who struggled with that limited amount of subjects often lost confidence in themselves and their ability to earn a good living after school.
The thinking was, if you were good at the STEM subjects you’d succeed, and if you weren’t, you wouldn’t.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth, especially with the vast amount of opportunity the internet has given all of us to turn our passions into paychecks/profit.
The pathways to success are infinite and unique to the individual.
Your kids might suck at math, science, English, and history but excel at a certain energy-healing modality.
How would they ever know that if all they’re exposed to are the subjects they learn in school?
You might have the most disobedient child who doesn’t listen to any of their teachers, but perhaps your child is meant to be an entrepreneur who carves their own path, leads others, and has others listen to them.
How would your child ever know that if they’re not encouraged to start their own business and see if they like it?
The possibilities are truly endless, more so than ever before.
We live in a world of opportunity when it comes to what we can do for a living these days.
Yet, most of us have limited ourselves to STEM subjects and corporate jobs that might not be what’s best suited to our natural talents, not to mention our inner joy, happiness, and fulfillment.
Give your kids the best opportunity to find their unique calling early on in life by encouraging them to try lots of different things and get out of their comfort zone.
This will help expose them to ALL of the opportunity the world has to offer.
The Real Secret to Helping Your Kids Find Their Life Purpose
One of the main points I want to get across in this article is that, as a parent, you are the greatest neurological influence your child will ever have.
This influence will persist throughout your child’s life, whether you are around or not. It’s always there as a part of their subconscious conditioning.
Parents have had this immense and important power since the dawn of humanity. It’s one of the greatest powers shaping our history, and it will continue to shape our future.
So before we close off this article, I want to share with you the real secret to helping your kids find their life purpose:
It starts with you finding, following, and living your own purpose and passion in life.
The better you understand your own purpose/passion and what makes you happy, the easier it’ll be for you to help your kids understand theirs.
They’ll mirror you and feed off of your passion.Your clarity will inspire their clarity.
Start getting to know yourself on a deeper level, start diving into what excites you the most, and you’ll set a wonderful example for your kids to follow.
It’s the old principle of “monkey see, monkey do.”
It’s not “tell monkey what to do and monkey does it.” All parents know their kids don’t do everything they tell them to do.
But ALL kids mirror their parents in some way. ALL kids can mirror a portion of their parents’ happiness, joy, and passion for life.
This joy will enter their powerful, developing minds as they’re growing up and become deep-seated subconscious conditioning that will serve them for the rest of their lives, without you even needing to try.
A happy childhood, mirrored from happy parents, will almost guarantee a happy future for your child and for humanity at large.
This is how you “hack” those early years of development and give your kids the best foundation for a happy and successful life, no matter which path they choose.
Action Steps You Can Take Today to Align Yourself and Your Family With More Purpose, Passion, and Inner Clarity
To finish things off, I’m going to give you some action steps you can take right now to start aligning yourself and your family with more purpose.
Here we go:
1. Start a Family Meditation Practice
It doesn’t have to be a full-blown lotus position meditation practice. Even walking can be meditation.
But start getting your family in the habit of being able to be alone with their thoughts so they can listen to their inner wisdom.
Our hearts are always trying to guide us to our true happiness, but we need to create space to be able to listen to them.
A consistent meditation practice can help give your family the space to listen to their hearts and their intuition.
2. Start Keeping Track of Your Child’s Desires, Talents, and Passions
Start a journal, a Google doc, or some sort of resource where you can keep track of your child’s most important desires, gifts, talents, abilities, and passions.
Keep track of whatever you think will serve them when it comes time for them to decide what they want to do with their lives later in life.
This could be one of the greatest gifts you ever give them.
3. Choose One New “Out of the Box” Activity to Put Your Kids Into
Start with one “out of the box” activity they would never experience in school and give your kids an opportunity to try it.
You never know, it could end up being their calling in life, or it could be a step toward it.
4. Start a Family Mastermind
This is one of the best things my parents and I have ever done for our relationship.
Choose one day per week to come together as a family for about 30 minutes and just talk. Talk about what’s going on in your life.
How’s work? How’s your health? How are your goals coming along? Is there anything you want to talk about with the rest of the family?
You can also set a specific intention for the mastermind. You can choose a shared goal to work toward and discuss it during each meeting.
Essentially, the purpose of the mastermind is to create a dedicated time and space to open up the lines of communication. It’s to create a safe space to communicate openly.
The amount of harmony this simple meeting can create in the family cannot be understated.
When there is harmony, when people feel safe and heard, the family can flourish.
What do you think of the information presented in this article?
How are you going to help your kids find their purpose, follow their passion, and do what makes them happy in life?
Michael Karp is a personal development blogger and self-published author. He started his personal development journey in 2011 as a sophomore in college.
Since then, he has self-published several books, started an online business and became a digital nomad, achieved his dream of moving to Thailand and traveling around Southeast Asia, built a following of 18,000 people on Instagram sharing personal development advice, became a life coach, found his life purpose, and healed his body with the power of his mind.
With a deep passion for serving others, Michael continues his hero's journey on a mission to help people around the world to empower themselves, realize their true potential, and achieve their dreams.
