TLC Book Tour: How To Be Everything

I've been teaching now for nearly twenty years, so I can't really claim that I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  However, in college I changed my major many times.  And I graduated with a degree in Fitness Management and Business.  And then I went back and got an elementary education degree.  And then I went back to school and got a masters degree in School Library Media Studies.  So I get the whole idea of not knowing what you want to be when you grow up, or wanting to be more than one thing.

I have always thought it was a little bit crazy that eighteen year old high school seniors were supposed to have a plan for their lives.  With so many amazing choices out there in the world, how could they pick just one thing?

Emilie Wapnick's book How To Be Everything gives some good advice and guidelines to help anyone decide what they want to be when they grow up.  Wapnick's book is geared to Multipotentialites people with many interests and creative pursuits.  

Once you have been identified as a mutipotentialite, Wapner then gets down to giving out advice.   There is a lot to take away in this book, and although I did read it quickly, it is something to keep so it can be referenced and reviewed.

A few take-aways I have from How To Be Everything include:

• multipotentialites are rapid learners and grasp new skills easily
• multipotentialites should take into account money, meaning and variety when determining what they want to do for their career
• having enough money to live is a different amount depending on the person 
• there are four different work models that make most multipotentialites the happiest
• multipotentialites don't quit because things are too hard, they quit becaus things become too easy
• there is pressure from our culture to choose one thing to specialize in
• the world is full of famous multipotentialites: Maya Angelou, Ben Franklin, Steve Jobs to name just a few

This book is one I would like to see high school seniors, or college students have as part of an assigned curriculum.  It is worth their time and reflection to think about the many points Wapnick makes and gain some self-awareness as they plan for their future.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing a copy of this book for my review.  All opinions expressed are, as always, my own.

Visit the HarperCollins website to learn more about How To Be Everything.