How to Find the Perfect Career

BY: rameshwor

It’s the question you dreamed about when you were ten years old. It’s the question your parents nagged you about during high school. It’s the question that stresses most of us out more and more the older we get. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
After living on a college campus for three semesters now, I’m realizing that most people have some really screwed up ways of figuring out the answer to that question. I have friends who are studying political science but hate politics, nursing majors who hate biology, and accounting majors who hate numbers.
Obviously, a lot of people are confused about what exactly it is that they want to spend their life doing. Think about it. If your job lasts from 9-5 each day, you’re going to end up spending over 50% of your awake life at work. Personally, I think 50% of your life is a little too much to waste. But what can you do? Here are some cool tips for how to decide what you really want to be when you grow up.

Relax and Keep an Open MindContrary to popular belief, you don’t have to “choose a career” and stick with it for the rest of your life. The president of my university is a successful CEO, author, and entrepreneur. His major in college? Abstract mathematics. The point is, you never have to sign a contract that says, “I agree to force myself to do this for the rest of my life”. It’s your life. You’re free to do whatever you want and the possibilities are endless. So relax, dream big, and keep an open mind.

Notice Your PassionsImagine with me that you have an extraordinarily wealthy uncle who dies and leaves you a $10 Million inheritance.
Think about it: Now that money is no longer an issue to you, what would you spend all of your time doing? Don’t kid yourself by saying “I’d watch movies and sleep all the time.” You and I both know that you’d get bored of that eventually. Every one of us is born with an innate desire to do something purposeful with our lives. We long to do something that we’re passionate about; something that will make a meaningful impact on the world. Seriously…what would you do all day? Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Got it? Now, simply write down a list of 3 activities that you love doing...no matter how simple or useless the activities may sound.

Figure Out How to Use Your Passions for a Larger PurposeNow that you’ve got those 3 activities written down, pick your favorite one and think about it for a moment. How could you do that activity in a way that helps others and makes a positive impact on the world? For example, let’s say that you love exercising or lifting weights. You notice that this is one of your passions, so you decide to become a personal trainer.

Why not make it interesting and set a goal to eventually become a personal trainer to celebrity athletes? Why not add value to the world by starting a cool fitness camp for teens? Why not write a book that helps parents raise fitness-minded children? Making a positive impact on the world will not only ensure that you are successful financially, it will also make you feel wonderful. It’s a proven principle: The more you give to the world, the more the world will give you in return. Figure Out How You Can BenefitOnce you’ve figured out what your passions are and how you can use those passions to add value to the world, it’s time to take the last step: figure out how you can make great money doing it.

My most important piece of advice about this last step is to remember just that: it’s the last part of the decision process. I feel sorry for people who choose an occupation based on the average income for that field. No amount of money can compensate for a life wasted at a job that makes you miserable. However, that’s not to say that the money isn’t important. Money is important, and I’m a firm believer in the concept that no matter what it is that you love doing, there’s at least one way to make extraordinary money doing it.

So be creative! I recently read in the Wall Street Journal about a teenager who used his passion for video games to start a video game tutoring service. He now has a fast-growing business with several employees and earns an impressive income by helping avid gamers increase their skills in Halo 2 and other popular multi-player games. Nothing is limiting you besides your own imagination. OK, now pick up that piece of paper again. Below the activity you wrote down a moment ago, write down at least three ways you can set yourself up to receive the benefits of your actions. In other words, write down three ways you could make great money by doing what you love. Save that piece of paper, because what you’ve written down are quite possibly the best career options for you.

Hopefully these tips are helping you gain a clearer understanding of what you want to do with your life. Simply discover your passions, figure out how to use your passions to make an impact on the world, and then figure out how you can make great money doing it.

In the words of Albert Schweitzer:

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”