When I grow up ...

A question I often ask my clients is 'what do you want to do when you grow up?' Now, when you imagine that my clients are most often over 30 years of age, this may seem a little strange.

However, believe it or not, there are people out there working who don't really like what they do! They started doing a job a while ago, because they fell into it, or it just happened to be available, or they weren't quite sure what they wanted to do and this came along. But deep down it isn't what they really wanted to do.

I'm very fortunate that I am doing something I love - which is working with people, however I have been grappling with the idea that I need to find a niche and narrow down my target market. And also narrow down my offerings - am I a trainer, a coach, a facilitator, a graphic recorder, a mentor, an analyst, an advisor, or all of the above?

As I have a background in nursing (yes many years ago I actually trained at the Alfred Hospital and qualified as a State Registered Nurse) I thought that my niche may be health professionals. So I toyed with that idea for a while and it didn't really fit. I have a long background in corporate banking having spent too many years with the ANZ and the NAB - so maybe my niche should be bankers. And again, I struggled with that idea.

When I keep coming back to what I'm good at - working with people and helping them get the results they want that they haven't been able to achieve by themselves - I kept resisting narrowing my market because in my model of the world anyone anywhere can find a use for that!

So, after driving a number of friends and colleagues crazy with my different ideas and with their great help (thank you!) plus my own techniques, I am pleased to say that I have a much better idea of what I want to do when I grow up!

So tell me - what do you want to do when you grow up?