“I’d tell men and women in their mid-twenties not to settle for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling. Even if you don’t know what that means, seek it. If you’re following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear, the disappointments will be fuel, the highs will be like nothing you’ve ever felt.”
― Phil Knight, Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE
I enjoyed listening to this Audible book. What a struggle Phil Knight went through before he made it. The ups and down to build NIKE!! But he never gave up. He never gave in. Since he knew his calling the fatigue was easier to bear for him, the disappointments only fueled him, and the highs have been like nothing else for him.
I have always struggled with the idea of basically forcing young people out of high school to choose a MAJOR or a profession. I had NO IDEA what I wanted to do. I knew a few things though. I knew I liked sports/athletics. I knew I liked teaching/coaching. I knew I liked sociology/psychology. But I had NO IDEA what job that meant or what career/major to choose. According to Phil Knight, I should have simply chased my calling. I felt pressure and felt that I needed to know or I was a failure. 7 years after I quit College I found CrossFit. A year later, I was hooked and now 10 years later I am still following my calling. And I think he was absolutely right! Chasing your calling makes it all worth it.
Jeremy Kinnick 
The problem for some is, we don’t even know what our calling is. I believe, as someone who has been in public education for a long time, we somtetimes actually train our kids to either literally FORGET what they are passionate about, or never give them an opportunity to discover it. I loved your post about how you raise your boys, Jeremy. you are on to something for sure. How do we change our society to raise kids who have dreams, and callings and are taught to follow them.
I had every student do some writing about what they would like to see happen this upcoming school year, and was shocked at the overall inability to THINK BIG. I don’t know what the answer, but it’s something I’m thinking about a lot lately.
Thanks for the comment and the thoughts on this topic. This is definitely a tough one. I think kids these days are missing opportunities to be creative due to constant stimulation. They need to be bored more. They need to have opportunities to let their mind wander and allow their imaginations to grow. But with tablets, laptops, Netflix, cell phones, apps, etc kids are never bored or never given opportunities to create.
I also think that we are conditioned or made to think there is one option for a career and that we actually need to know that immediately and start working on it. Rather than many paths. I think we are getting away from that more and more but its still so engrained in a majority of people. Not everyone needs to go to college and get a degree. There are so many options. But if we are stealing our kids imagination and creativity they are unable to even think beyond getting a job and being an employee. Now I am not saying that is not the right choice for some people. I am just saying its not the right choice for everyone. Many this is a hot topic for me and I could ramble on and on. Thanks again for your feedback Kim.