Posted by C.J.
I spend much of my time in my day job looking for professional speakers for my company’s events, which means I get to peruse speaker bureau Web sites and read bios and watch videos of speakers in action. In my quest for speakers, I’ve come across two job titles that I’ve longed to have: futurist and adventurer.
The job of futurist seemed intriguing at first. It’s very Asimov. I could imagine the conversations.
Guest at a cocktail party: “What do you do for a living?”
Me (with hands on hips and head held high): “I’m a futurist. I predict the future!”
Then I heard some futurists speak. It’s not for me. For having such an exciting job title, a futurist’s job is pretty bland–too much research and statistics.
Ah, but there is still the path to being an adventurer.
I can’t see a downside to being an adventurer. There are excitement, athletecism, exotic destinations, and fame. The problem is, as an out of shape 38-year old man with a desk job, I’m not sure what path to follow to achieve the title “adventurer.” I mean, futurists at least have college degrees that match their vocation. Heck, some futurists I know majored in “future studies.” There’s no “adventure studies” major that I know of. I have a B.S. in English and will soon have an M.B.A; those won’t cut it. What do I have to do to be called an adventurer? I camp and love to bike and fish. I’ve traveled across Europe in a train’s sleeper car with a motion sick companion. What does it take!?!
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter; my name plate at work isn’t large enough to say “Christopher Stevenson, Professional Development Manager and Adventurer.”
So much for the dream.
