I find that to be a helpful reminder.

We all had dreams as kids and even as adults that sometimes don’t pan out the way we thought they would. When I was a kid, I really wanted to be a basketball player in the NBA. That’s a tough dream to achieve, especially when you grow up to be 5’9″, haha.

Before that, I wanted to be a firefighter. I used to walk around the neighborhood in red boots, often on the wrong feet, with my fireman hat on.

Sometimes when people ask what I wanted to be when I grew up, I joke and say I wanted to be a leadership educator. Like I was out there facilitating activities with the neighborhood kids to enhance their self-awareness and leadership presence in the 5th grade.

Of course, I had no idea that job even existed.

And that’s the case for many of us.
We just took a different road.

Yet sometimes we become overly critical of where we are now, whatever that may be. Your job may not be something you are deeply passionate about. The position the coach assigned you isn’t your natural one. The role you play in your community has shifted.

We replay the “what ifs.”
What if I made a different choice?
What if I had gone a different direction?

That list can be endless. And not helpful.

In coaching, we focus on the now and the future. Why? Because you can’t go back and change the past. But you can influence what happens next.

You may not always control what you’re doing right now.
But you do control how you do it.

Do you bring energy into the room or drain it?
Are you the supervisor who shields your team from your frustration or the one who passes it along?

You get to choose.

Sometimes we feel a lack of meaning when our role doesn’t move the needle the way we hoped. I know I feel that way at times. But you still have a sphere of influence: people, projects, and conversations.

Do you breathe life into them or suck it out?

Because again, it’s not what you do. It’s how you do it.

And here’s the part that matters.
How you show up today builds the options you’ll have tomorrow.

Your reputation.
Your relationships.
Your credibility.
Your opportunities.

Even if this role isn’t forever, the way you operate in it matters. You are either building trust and momentum or quietly closing doors.

So maybe the better question isn’t,
“Is this exactly what I dreamed of doing?”

Maybe it’s
“Am I doing this in a way that keeps my future open?”

Because roles change. Titles change. Paths change.

But how you show up travels with you.

And that might be the most important thing you’re building right now.

As Terry Crews says, “I always think today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow is better than today.”

Steve