The Article Daily

If you ask imaginative youngsters what they want to do with their lives, you can expect that some are set on becoming rock stars, others are attracted to becoming professional athletes, some plan to perform in the circus, a few see themselves judging criminals in a court, more would delight in teaching children, and a smaller number are moved to nurse sick people.

When they are just a few years older, more career options become visible and interesting. As a result, the list of career choices may grow to include engineering, rocket science, cancer research, designing a race car, vehicle repair, plumbing, electrical work, painting, dancing, and writing fiction.

By the time teens leave high school, the list has expanded again to include roles such as salesperson, software developer, hairdresser, CEO, paralegal, crane operator, and architect. For those who finish college, the list may further extend to becoming a social worker, community organizer, playwright, producer, physical therapist, philosopher, management consultant, or an economist.

What was your progression like in thinking about potential careers? Let me share mine with you. Not being tall, strong, or very coordinated, I started off wanting to become a judge, then switched to becoming a business CEO, next became interested in management consulting, and eventually became attracted to teaching and non-fiction book writing.

How did I do? So far, I’ve had a chance to judge law students’ performances in moot court competitions, been the CEO of my own businesses, served as a management consultant for many years, and now teach and write books on a part-time basis.

For many people, career goals unfortunately turn out to be nothing more substantial than fond, but completely unfulfilled, dreams. I’m sure you’ve met people who have experienced such disappointments. The reasons are many, but here are a few of the most common ones:

-Not being able to qualify for that kind of work

-An intervening life circumstance (such as a debilitating medical condition) making the career impractical

-Trying the work and discovering that it wasn’t appealing after all

-Developing personal life situations that make the career impractical (a parent of six not wanting to be away from home as much as a concert pianist must be)

-Finding another line of work that is more appealing

Let me focus on one common reason for not engaging in the career you dreamed about: You cannot bring yourself to leave a job that you love. If you are on top of the world in one field, why go back to the bottom to start another career? After all, the new job may not turn out as well.

If you doubt that risk, recall Michael Jordan’s experiences when he retired from professional basketball at the top of the game to start over as a professional baseball player, something he had always wanted to do. Despite working very hard, he never could learn to hit a curve ball very well and his fielding was sometimes inept.

You have to give Michael Jordan credit for stepping out like that to try his dream. Most people would be too afraid to explore the opportunity.

I remember a discussion about careers at my fifteenth law school reunion. I asked how many people would choose a totally different career from what they were doing. Almost everyone in the room raised a hand. Then I asked how many were going to make that change. Only a very few hands remained in the air.

What if we took a different approach? What if we instead spent some time during our lives working at each career that had once appealed to us while we were youngsters? Now, wouldn’t that be terrific?

Intrigued by that thought, I was delighted to meet Ms. Veronique Mandal, an MBA graduate of Rushmore University, who explained how she had managed to work at every career that had once tickled her childhood fancies. Let me share her story and draw some lessons about how you can have a fuller life, filled with much more adventure and accomplishments than you ever imagined were possible.

When she was nine, Ms. Mandal decided it was time to start reading adult books, and she began asking the local librarian to check them out for her. Striking up a fast friendship that deepened over the years, Ms. Mandal was soon regaling her librarian friend with all the careers she was interested in. Little did either Ms. Mandal or the librarian realize that this list was going to turn into reality.

Off to a fast start, she began engaging in many of these activities while in high school: She sang with a rock and roll band, competed in debates, wrote plays that her friends acted in, acted in other people’s plays, and sang in choral groups.

While in college, she studied English and psychology, but the acting bug had bitten her. She spent much of her spare time acting in small theatrical companies.

After graduating from college in her native Canada, Ms. Mandal was hired to perform with a musical troupe in balmy Bermuda where she also worked part-time at a radio station. Wanting to act on a bigger stage, she auditioned for and won a position with an English theatre company while still only 19.

The world seemed to be at her feet. Then, circumstances changed. She developed a partial facial paralysis and almost died from a severe allergic reaction to a smallpox vaccination that was needed to enter the U.K.

Despite a deformed face and arm, her hair falling out, a swollen body, continual pain, and sleeplessness, Ms. Mandal was determined to pursue her dream. With help from friends she was able to overcome her physical problems with exercise and nutrition. By the time she left for England no one would have known she had been so very deformed.

Her U.K acting career was a great triumph. She enjoyed playing many leading roles she had never hoped to gain while aided by a wig and lots of clever make-up to help hide the physical problems from the audiences. Today, not a trace of those deformities remain. When not working on the stage, she did secretarial work, translated writing, and wrote for a newspaper.

After five years as an actress, her parents persuaded her to start a “more substantial” career as a nurse. It was a wise choice because she loved tending people, whether by helping babies be born or through comforting the dying. She also gained a lot of valuable people, communication, and leadership skills.

While working as a nurse, Ms. Mandal travelled extensively and qualified to become a tour guide in Spain. She also did a lot of writing during those years.

Once again it was time to leave a job that she loved, this time to return to Canada for work as a medical pension officer for veterans. She also qualified to be an RN in Canada (and the U.S.) and used her nursing skills in hospitals there as well. In her off hours, she studied more psychology, philosophy, and English.

At this point the creative arts world called Ms. Mandal again, and she took a job with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation where she worked for more than a decade in all facets of radio and television broadcasting, a field that she loved.

Next, the investigation and writing opportunities of print journalism lured her first to the Windsor Star and later to the National Post in Toronto. Many awards followed, including Journalist of the Year. In her spare time, she did additional writing of a play, magazine articles, and a non-fiction book with her husband Chris about gambling in Canada.

Enjoying the writing experiences, Ms. Mandal left the Star to have more time to write and to teach journalism and musical theatre at St. Clair College. Continually in demand, she also hosted a television news and current affairs show. At St. Clair College, she was fascinated by the opportunity to develop a program to prepare print journalists to write television and radio copy and file online stories from the same research.

Wanting to broaden her perspective on new directions in journalism, Ms. Mandal did research on the subject during her MBA studies. That work increased her knowledge and confidence, as well as the credibility that she enjoyed with colleagues.

Not satisfied with holding down a full-time job and being a part-time student with lots of other interests, she also helped launch a successful marketing-advertising-media company as a partner.

Since graduating, Ms. Mandal has continued to develop the convergence program at St. Clair College and with a $5 million grant from the Canadian federal government is opening the first Convergence Newsplex in Canada. She is also writing a biography of a colorful criminal lawyer, Don Tate, a screenplay for a musical she wrote years earlier, and is also developing a children’s cartoon musical.

What job that she loves will she leave next for another one that she will love? Who knows? But we should pay attention. She is bound to leave her mark in a way that benefits us all.

What could you accomplish if you left every job you love? What would it take for you to do so?

Just think what you can gain in fulfillment by giving yourself a chance to perform all those roles that once fired your imagination and lit your soul.

What will you do first?

Follow your heart. Here are some suggestions:

1. Which of your childhood dreams most inspire you today?

2. Which ones can you qualify for most easily?

3. Which ones can you do in your spare time?

4. Which ones open the doors to more of your past dreams?

5. Which ones will give you the greatest sense of having lived a fulfilled life?

Chances are that one opportunity will do more for you right now along these dimensions than any of the others. What are you waiting for?

Donald W. Mitchell is a professor at Rushmore University, an online graduate school, where he often teaches mid-career professionals who want to shift careers through earning MBA, DBA, and Ph.D. degrees. For more information about ways to engage in fruitful lifelong learning at Rushmore to increase your effectiveness and improve your career, visit

http://www.rushmore.edu .