 I lied to my son today. Come on now…come clean…those of you with kids have surely lied to your kids too at one time or another. Truthfully it was a half lie and it was for a good cause. He asked me if I liked Math, and he told me that it was his least favorite subject. I told him that Math was one of my favorite subjects when I was in school, and in fact when I was his age (8), it absolutely was not. When I shared this story with a friend, she asked me why I chose to lie. I gave the following explanation: I know he is good at math, and also at science. I love that he is, because I really believe that America needs to produce more kids that are interested in these areas. This being the case, I didn’t want to give him too easy a pass to stop trying so hard in math in case it’s just a temporary slump he is experiencing. I tell my kids that they don’t want to be the person that stops digging a foot before they hit gold. If he knows that his dad didn’t like math at his age, he might just lay back a bit and not try so hard. This might even happen unknowingly, at the sub-conscious level. I try to plant a seed in my kids here and there about  career choices that I think would be a good fit for them. My oldest has decided that she wants to be a music teacher, and our middle one wants to be in physical therapy. If I drop a seed and it doesn’t take hold, I’m not going to push it. I believe people should follow their passions. How does this tie back into business? Here’s how…as adults, too many of us swim upstream our whole career doing things that we’re not naturally cut out for. When we’re talking about a career choice, I really believe that we all have a set of gifts, and we ought to let that guide what we do for a living. I believe that there is a natural order of things and that there’s an intended path for us. It’s absolutely up to us to find it, listen to our gut, and make the most of it. When we follow it, it feels smooth, natural, and like it was meant to be. When were in that zone, we’re not working…we’re doing what we love. What we were meant to do. Sure we all need to come out of our comfort zones, stretch, and embrace challenges that we’re not comfortable with. That’s necessary for us to grow. So no, I’m not going to encourage my kids to do something that doesn’t come naturally to them. I am going to help them recognize their aptitudes and the career possibilities available to people who have those specific aptitudes. I know there will be people out there that criticize me and say that I should have leveled with my son when he asked me if I liked math at his age...maybe I will someday.