How often adolescents and even students cannot make up their minds about their future professions! They are continuously thinking, “Who could do my homework for me?” and then they must choose a future profession that is interesting to them. This is an important step and choice in the life of every teenager.
Thinking about what their adult life will be like causes their utter confusion. This is not surprising. The teenager is at the junction of two worlds, it is as if he is crossing the river between the two shores: childhood and adulthood. In the state of transition, it is very difficult to imagine the result of this process. However, the environment usually insists on some kind of professional self-determination. What to do in this case?
1. Don’t think that the inability to choose within the time frame set by others is a signal that there is something wrong with you
Adults often cite the example of those who have decided on a profession since kindergarten: “Well done Tom, since first grade he decided to become a doctor (or a teacher, or something else), he thinks about the future, unlike you! First, maybe Tom’s family is all doctors or teachers and he just has a problem imagining that he has a choice. Second, some of the professions of today’s world are high-tech. This means that it is possible to feel interested in them only in high school, with sufficient knowledge of physics, chemistry, linguistics, and other complex sciences. So even now you use writing help in your studies, it is very possible that in the future you will love this subject and get to the bottom of it, which will help you to choose a profession.
2. Don’t panic! Do not push yourself, allow yourself to be in a state of uncertainty
When you plant a seed in the ground, for a while you don’t see what happens to it, but you wait for it to sprout. If we keep digging it up to see if it’s definitely growing, its fate can be sad. For the right decision to sprout, sometimes we have to give it time to be invisible. Choosing pressure is very hard, whether that pressure comes from those around us or our own expectations. Often the right answers come to us from deep within the unconscious, and to access them, we must trust ourselves. In any choice, contact with oneself is very important, and this can be difficult in a state of anxiety and tension.
3. Try different classes
Don’t limit yourself to stereotypes like “this is something you should have started doing when you were a kid,” “it’s not prestigious,” or “they’ll never pay much for it. There are many examples of teenagers and students who, by standards, came “late” to a sport and excelled in it. Or those who learned notes in high school and made a career in music in the future. If you like to develop in a certain field – it will always bring a successful result. And prestige and salary are not relative concepts at all. Even such a seemingly ordinary skill, like good cleaning, can make its owner the owner of a cleaning agency, and even the author of a world-famous book, which will bring money and fame.
4. Don’t compare yourself to ideal characters in your field of interest
It deprives you of motivation: when you just start doing something, there is a chasm separating you from perfection. When we admire a certain specimen, we see only its merits, and the flaws remain out of the focus of our attention. Everyone has flaws, so against the background of the ideal itself, sometimes you seem so insignificant that you want to get out of the activity rather than continue to develop in it. “I obviously will not be able to write like a real writer,” sounds like a verdict on yourself and your abilities. Every writer is unique in some way, so you have a great chance to be a unique journalist.
5. Evaluate your skills and abilities. You can do it in writing
What is easy for you and what can you do well without much effort, and what can you do poorly, no matter how hard you try? It will be easier and more pleasant to work in the areas where you can successfully apply your abilities, and therefore you will achieve more there.
6. Try to take professional tests
It is good if the results of the tests are discussed with you by a professional psychologist. This can be an interesting experience and possibly give you a new perspective on yourself. You may not have thought before that for some professions the ability to be a team player is important, or conversely, to keep your distance. There are professions where it is important to be empathic, in others it is important to be able to compete, assert your boundaries, and get your way.
7. Try volunteering in different areas
Practice in your chosen field will help you understand your preferences and make the right choice. Working in socially significant projects raises awareness and influences your worldview and value system. Volunteers not only make new acquaintances but also expand their life experiences by communicating with different people. Volunteer centers are often a kind of hobby club that helps people find and realize their creative and organizational talents together with like-minded people.
8. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake
The world is very dynamically developing now and constantly puts different tasks before us. A person can change the profession more than once in his life. It is realistic to do this at age 30 and 40. With age, knowledge about ourselves and the world becomes wider, and we better understand what path to choose.
Undoubtedly, the choice of a future profession is a responsible step, which is not easy. But it is up to you to turn this step into an interesting adventure!