The first thing a leader must do....

The first thing we as leaders must do according to Dr. Henry Cloud's Nine Things a Leader Must Do, is to find and pursue our dreams and passions wholeheartedly. 

Sounds easy enough right? Well, this may be the most difficult thing that we can do. Benjamin Franklin sums it up quite nicely by saying "Many people die at twenty-five, and aren't buried until they are seventy-five." Franklin is saying that by twenty-five, most of us are dead inside. 

Now isn't that sad? A quarter of our lives down, and we're as good as dead. In my opinion, Franklin was talking about how by twenty-five, society already has us conditioned to be a certain way, and to be that way, we must give up on all our "silly" hopes and dreams. 

Well you know what I say? Damn what society wants! Look at our economy boys and girls.....it appears that what society "wants" from us isn't quite working. It's time to try something else...and maybe that something else is pursuing our dreams rather than sitting in cubicles waiting for a retirement that isn't even guaranteed anymore! (If you love your cubicle job, this does not apply to you and I'm glad you found your calling!)

I can personally relate to Franklin's quote. I have experienced being dead inside, and I was only 20! I started to "die" at 18 years old, when I gave up on my passions in life (swimming, theater, performing), and didn't even bother to look for new passions. It took a massive personal breakdown for me to breakthrough, and start to live my life again! I was on the premed/pre-nursing/pre-professional/sciency path for so long, because I wanted everyone to be impressed with me. See, that's the problem of being intelligent; people always try to push you into the sciences. My whole life, I've been told "You'll make a great doctor, Jonathan, look at how well you do science!" And you know what? I would make a damn good doctor. BUT! (and notice it's a big but [only one T thought teehee]) Being a doctor was not, and is not what I am passionate about! I love the thought of helping people get better, but actually manipulating bodies through surgery or doing research to find cures wasn't my calling. 

So what is my calling, you might ask? Well, I've always been a performer. Making people smile is my favorite God-given talent that I've been given. Whether it be in plays, singing, doing magic, or just cracking a joke while hanging out with my friends, I've always considered myself a Chandler Bing sort of character. So, my passion, is the art of theater. 

But on this crazy journey, I found a new passion. Psychology. Don't the two just go hand in hand? Psychology and theater. To put on a good show, an actor must assume the psyche of his/her character to the best of his/her ability. And what better way to do so than to study psychology?

The great thing about passions and dreams is that once you figure out what yours are, you could go on for hours and hours about them if someone would let you. And I've found that! I could listen/talk about theater and psychology wholeheartedly for hours at a time, and never get bored!

So, you may ask, what's the next step for you Mr. Jon Hammy? Great question reader, and I'm glad you asked it! I plan to get my BA in psychology and theater at Michigan State. Then I hope to move to NYC or LA and pursue a masters and/or a PhD. program in psychology, all while pursuing my other passion of theater. So if I never "break big" I'll be a doctor of psychology (poor me right?)

Now. I dare you to criticize my dreams. I DARE YOU. Because it'll only fuel me that much more. I'll call you when I'm famous. 

~Hammy