What do you bring to the party?

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
- John F Kennedy

Has there ever been something that you really really wanted to do in life and yet someone has come along and put you off? Maybe you've wanted to do a skydive, but someone has told you about the dangers and possible death if you do it. Or maybe you really wanted to travel the world but someone has told you that its too expensive. There are lots of times in life where we have a clear idea of what it is and where it is we want to go.

Quite recently I've become a bit of a YouTube addict. There are so many videos out there that are brilliantly entertaining, and I don''t just mean videos of babies biting fingers or exploding pandas. I mean videos of people with great stories. As I was watching one particular video this morning, it got me thinking about how many times people try to make us do things or put us off doing the things we would really want to in life. The guy I watched told the story of his life through a new craze on YouTube called "Draw my life" where different YouTubers draw their life story and experiences.

As part of this video this guy told the story of how he felt he should pursue a normal career like everyone else, and how he was put off doing what he really wanted to in life, which was a career in media. Anyway long story short, after trying the things that people said he should do, he followed his own plans and now DJ's on one of the biggest radio stations in the UK. Not bad for someone who was told to just do what everyone else does.

As I watched the video I was reminded of an event, very similar, in my own  life. Now most people in secondary school will probably be able to relate to this better than others. This particular story happened when I was coming up to the end of my GCSE year. My final year in school where I would decide whether to leave education or stay on and go to University.

There was always one particular career that I had always wanted to do and that was teach. Even when everyone else wanted to be firemen, doctors, pop stars, I just wanted to be a teacher. Who knows why but I did. I knew in my head the plan I was going to take. I would do my GCSE, then onto A level so that I could attend Uni and become a teacher! Simple.

So it came to the last term of GCSE year, Year 11, and as is probably the case in all secondary schools, it is advised that you have a meeting with a careers advisor to discuss your future plans. For those of you who are unsure of what a careers advisor is, it's someone who is supposed to give you advice on how you can get to the career that you want. However my careers advisor was more like a career dictator. She knew what people should be doing and she wasn't afraid to tell them.

As it came to the time of my meeting I knew the plans I had and so all I needed from the Career advisor was just confirmation that I had the right plans. I walked into the meeting confident that I knew what to do and explained my plan that had been with me since I had started secondary school. As I explained the plan I was stopped mid-sentence by a comment I will never forget. This was the advice I was given;

"Well teaching is a little overcrowded. Not many jobs and it's hard to get on to the course. That might not work for you. How about the army?"

I couldn't believe it. I thought she would give me support and now she's telling me to do something else. Long story short. I ignored her advice completely and went with my own plans. Even though she was someone who was trying to put me off, I knew that teaching was what I wanted to do. And now here I am, qualified, teaching in my 4th year, part of management teams, starting new initiatives for schools, and career going from strength to strength. I can say with confidence that it would have been a completely different story if I had joined the army!

And so I end with this thought.

In life people will always try to make you conform to their way of thinking. If they can't do it then you can't do it. So many people have dreams and aspirations and so many times they are put off going for them because of people putting them off with their own or others sob stories.

James Dyson, creator of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, was slammed for his idea of a bag less vacuum and yet he ignored their advice and now he has one of the most successful appliance companies in the world.

My point. Nobody knows your potential more than you. We all have plans and dreams and very often we let people dictate to us what we do. Why? Because very often our plans are so big that we are looking for someone to give us a reason not to do them. But life should be about taking risks, about following your plans, doing those things you know you love and those things that will make you happy.

Yes take advice, that's always wise, but in your life don't let people dictate who you should be. Each of us has our own talent, our own gifts. Gifts are great to have at a party but no good if they are never opened and used.

Your life is filled with talents and gifts ready to be used. It's just a question of when that gift will be unwrapped!

Bywyd sydd yn byw - Just living life!

RM