When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When You Were Five, What Did You Want to Be When You Grew Up?
Table of Contents
1. Attention (ARB Formula): The Five-Year-Old Child Who Still Lives Inside You
2. Reason: Why Should You Read This Article?
3. Benefits: What You Will Gain by Reading This
4. The Dream That Got Buried Under the Dust of Time
5. The Trap of Life’s “Social Script”
6. Security vs. Passion: The Real Struggle
7. Is It Too Late Now?
8. The True Definition of Success
9. Conclusion: It’s Time to Wake Up Your Dreams
—
1. Attention: The Five-Year-Old Child Who Still Lives Inside You
Imagine this. A small child, holding colorful crayons, busy drawing something on the pages of a notebook. Someone asks them, “Sweetheart, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
A unique sparkle lights up in their eyes. Without any hesitation, without thinking about whether it is possible or not, they say, “I’m going to space,” or “I will become a superhero,” or “I will write the greatest story ever.”
At that moment, for them, the world has no limits. Attention: This article is about that five-year-old child. The child who is now, perhaps, hidden somewhere deep inside you, tired, or someone taught them to be “practical.” Today, we are going to meet that child.
2. Reason: Why Should You Read This Article? 🥺🤔
You might be a student feeling the pressure of choosing a career, a homemaker who left their dreams somewhere within the four walls of the home, a professional stuck in a 9 to 5 job, or a business owner only focused on the profit graph.
You should read this article because in the race to earn money and gain social status, we end up becoming what others want us to be, but we fail to become who we truly wanted to be. This article is an attempt to fix that disconnect. It aims to help you realize what your true “why” is.
3. Benefits: What You Will Gain by Reading This 🤗😍
· Self-Assessment: You will understand where that inner child of yours is today and what their true potential was.
· Clarity: You will grasp why the gap exists between where you are and where you wanted to be, and how you might bridge it.
· Inner Peace: When you reconnect with that original dream, your mental stress will decrease, and satisfaction in life will increase.
· Inspiration: This article isn’t just about dreaming; it’s about giving you the energy to turn those dreams into reality.
—
4. The Dream That Got Buried Under the Dust of Time
When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up? A teacher? A doctor? A pilot? A cricketer? Or perhaps an artist?
The answer you gave at that age was pure. There was no calculation in it. You didn’t think, “To become a pilot, I need this many marks in Physics,” or “To become a cricketer, who will give me the connections?”
But as we grow up, our dreams start becoming “realistic.” Actually, we don’t become realistic; we become fearful. We start fearing failure. Society tells us, “Become a doctor, become an engineer, become an IAS officer.” But no one says, “Become what you wanted to become.”
Our education system, our family, our society—all have molded us into a framework. In that framework, the voice of that five-year-old child got suppressed.
—
5. The Trap of Life’s “Social Script”
There is a mindset that is taught to us from childhood: Study, get a job, get married, have kids, and then retire.
This is a social script. This script was written by people who themselves couldn’t live their own dreams. This script was created to maintain “stability” in society.
When you were five, you were unaware of this script. You were writing your own script. But as you started to see the world, you noticed that everyone was following that same script. Out of fear, you tore up your own script and started writing what everyone else was writing.
This is the point where we lose ourselves. We start doing what we should do, instead of what we want to do.
—
6. Security vs. Passion: The Real Struggle
People often say, “It’s good to have dreams, but who will take care of the basic needs?” This is a very important question. A good thinker will never tell you to quit your job and just dream.
But they will definitely say, don’t mistake “security” for the “comfort zone.”
When you were five, you didn’t think about security. You thought about experience. The real struggle is that we become accustomed to a lifestyle that forces us to do work we don’t like. We lose our meaning in the pursuit of money.
The true definition of success isn’t just a bank balance. Success is waking up in the morning and going to work with the joy of knowing, “This is exactly what I wanted to do.”
—
7. Is It Too Late Now?
Many people have this question: “Now I am 30, 40, or 50 years old. I have family responsibilities. Can I still start doing what I wanted to do when I was five?”
So let me ask you this: Have you stopped breathing? If not, then it’s not too late.
The dream of childhood doesn’t necessarily have to be your exact career. That dream points toward your skill and passion.
· If you wanted to go to space at five, perhaps you love to explore new things. So today, you can become an explorer, whether in business or through travel.
· If you wanted to become a teacher, perhaps you have the ability to guide others. You can still become a mentor in your field today.
· If you wanted to become a cricketer, perhaps you love competition and discipline.
The dream isn’t just what you do; the dream is what makes you feel alive while doing it.
You need to bring back the mindset of that five-year-old. Where there was no fear of failure, where there was hunger to learn, where there was creativity.
—
8. The True Definition of Success
When we were children, we wanted to be a “big person” when we grew up. But a big person isn’t someone who owns a big house. A big person is someone who has big dreams and the courage to fulfill them.
In today’s world, the biggest problems are depression and anxiety. This isn’t because people don’t have money; it’s because people don’t have a purpose.
When you connect with your childhood dream, you find your purpose. Maybe you’ll stay in the same job, but you’ll start living your dream as a hobby. Maybe you’ll turn that dream into a side business.
Success is achieved when your thoughts, words, and actions are all aligned in one direction. And that direction was already set by that five-year-old child inside you.
—
9. Conclusion: It’s Time to Wake Up Your Dreams
The dream you had 20 years ago—is it truly impossible? Or did we make it seem impossible simply because we stopped trying?
This article isn’t written just so you quit your job. It’s written to rekindle the passion that lies dormant within you.
Sit down this evening, take a diary, and ask yourself:
1. What did I want to be when I was five?
2. Why did I let go of that dream?
3. Can I make a small start today that connects to that dream?
The start can be small. If you want to be a singer, sing for 10 minutes today. If you want to be a writer, write 10 lines today. If you want to be an artist, draw a sketch today.
Remember, that five-year-old child inside you isn’t dead. They are just asleep. The responsibility to wake them up is solely yours. Because when you do what you truly want to do, life is no longer just about getting by—it becomes about truly living.
So, answer that question again: When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up? And take the first step in that direction, right from this moment.
—
READ MORE: Personal Growth
Thank You!