When your parents first brought you to school, you had your first taste of what it was like to go and be a part of a non-domestic environment- meeting new faces and learning new things you never realized will be important to you in the future. At this time, you never really knew the relevance of education, you went through the flow of things, going from a prestigious Singapore international school all the way to university and eventually unraveling your general interests in life.
Now, you have a stable job that pays in your bills, and occasionally gives you a chance to have dinner at your favorite fine dining restaurant, but you keep asking yourself… “Why am I still unsure about my career path? Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?”
In the first place, why is this entire experience very difficult for most up-and-coming individuals like yourself?
You’re putting too much pressure on yourself.
Believe it or not, the most pressing reason why individuals in the workforce can’t get their heads wrapped around a clear career path is because of one thing: pressure. In fact, neurobiologists state that the temporal lobes of our brain automatically activate when we encounter a potential threat stimulus, which includes the fear of the unknown. Most of the time, our brains naturally go into “full imagination mode”, where we create alternate versions of our future and subsequently think about endless scenarios of failure.
During situations like this, it is okay to take load off of yourself and unwind. You can try fun activities like going to the beach, hitting the gym, shopping, or whichever way you think would help you de-stress.
You have unanswered questions.
Second, knowing your skills, abilities, and limitations is a must, and answering questions such as: “What am I good at?”, “What are my interests”, “What do I find myself doing for the next five to ten years?” are necessary for you to be able to limit your choices and see what nature of work best suits you. However, your interests should match your knowledge because what you do best and what you most know about is what you will most likely to excel in.
Further advancement into an opportunity will only come if you have mastered the basics, so it is better to answer the questions you have in mind as early as possible.
Your fail to acknowledge that the experience is supposed to be difficult.
As harsh as it may seem, the whole process of picking a career should be difficult because it is what you will be investing into, and lot of time, effort, and money will be put into it for your personal development. The first step to realizing your long-term career goals is to acknowledge the inevitable fact that is a difficult process to comprehend, and that it normally requires enough contemplation and thought. The “no idea of what to do next” way of thinking is completely ordinary.
Subsequently, you must list down everything related to three vital factors of your life: passion, lifestyle, and personal work ethic, and then attempt to connect the dots. This might look like a difficult hurdle to pass at first, but a wide variety of jobs is now available to cater to every person’s interests. It takes time, effort, and a whole lot of advice, but the last thing you should do is to stop trying.
