What did you want to be when you grew up? You might have listed three or four possibilities: policeman, doctor, farmer or a soldier, ballerina, teacher or acrobat.
You were sure they could all happen, simultaneously, happily. And then you grew up and where did that dreamer-you go? Read “How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up” by Julian Shapiro-Barnum and find that kid inside you again.
Smack in the middle of the pandemic, Shapiro-Barnum’s life was topsy-turvy. He was about to graduate from college, but the future seemed hazy and he wasn’t sure where to take his career in acting.
He was at a playground with a friend when they noticed an explosion of joyful kids, playing, screaming and running, and suddenly the afternoon wasn’t so bad after all.
Stricken with instant inspiration, Shapiro-Barnum raced home and returned with a camera and a microphone. With parental permission, he started interviewing children and began to wonder: “Could I become a better adult by taking the advice of kids?”
“What elements of my childhood self can I bring back into my everyday life?”
As adults, Shapiro-Barnum says, we are taught to control our impulses, but it’s OK to let in the more harmless ones. Rules are sometimes senseless, and we all know it, so go ahead and text first or ask for that raise.
Nurture your curiosity at all times. Ask questions. Experiment. Be fearless and don’t worry about judgment.
See how often you can live in the moment – especially if there’s joy there and especially if it offers you a chance to meet someone new. Don’t fear strangers; remember, “everyone in your life … was a stranger at some point…” Learn from a kid how to deal with disappointment and sadness. Be generous. Use your imagination in silly ways. Learn to play. “Conquer the world” and love your friends with your whole heart.
And finally, “work like a child is watching,” he says. Because they might be.
So, for real: if you hop-skipped into a big meeting and broke into song, it might just be the end of your career. Or maybe not. Who says you have to totally take yourself seriously at work?
Not the author, and in “How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up,” he helps readers find the encouragement they need to enjoy work and life more.
While you might think Shapiro-Barnum’s words and actions here are sometimes rather over-the-top, therefore undoable, it’s also true that some of what he espouses – being creative and imaginative, for example – can be easily embraced right today.
The advice you’ll find is based on what children told him, but it’s not necessarily childlike; the little interviewees were wonderfully wise, and Shapiro-Barnum is helpful in making a bridge between kidly things and adult life. That lets readers see their day-to-day with fresh eyes.
Even the most dedicated button-down adult should be able to find a resetter inside “How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up.” Read it soon.
You’ll be very happy.
Terri Schlichenmeyer’s reviews of business books are read in more than 260 publications in the U.S. and Canada