Passions, Goals, Interests

CEO-Boss Man Derek, Middle Aged (late 40s) Chinese man with a real clear interest in Making Money and seemingly nothing else pulls me into his office for a 1 on 1 meeting, 1 week into the start of my employment at his company to ask me about my “Passions, Goals, Interests.”

For the first time ever in my adult life, I am able to confidently articulate the plain honest truth about myself to my employer. 

Me: 

“I like writing. See this notebook? [I flip through it like it’s animated] It’s completely full. Every day. All the time. Writing. I want to do all the writing I can here and get as good as I can.

But I know there’s more to marketing than writing, there’s more to this business than marketing. Which takes me to my next goal: I want to own my own business. I ran a pretty substantial event with income and expenses and staff a few months ago and at one point I realized I was just running my own business. And it felt more exciting, more real than any ‘job’ i’ve ever had or any ‘job’ I could even imagine. And while I don’t have the financial resources, idea, or frankly the wisdom to start my own profitable business at this age, I know that’s where my life is eventually headed if I continue to honestly chase the things that I want. 

So going back to your original question about how you can align my responsibilities here with my “Passions, Goals, Interests” in order to maximize my engagement with this position— you can think of me as your protege, and you can pass on to me all the little wisdoms you wish you could’ve known when you started your own business in 2008. You can give me a real stake in the success of this company but you can’t expect me to be here forever. Because lets be honest, CPAP is not my passion. But I know there’s a lot to learn and what better way to learn how to run a business than to get in the weeds with somebody who’s just doing it.”

Derek: “Wow, Very good. Understand completely. I give you everything you need. Thank you.”