Something new
- At February 09, 2011
- By Nathan
- In Career Planning
0
Bryan Adams got his “first real six-string” in the summer of 1969. If he had not purchased that acoustic guitar back then, would you recognize his name now?
When you set out to determine which career is best for you, be prepared to try something new. Music may not interest you, but maybe there is something else that you would like to try if you had the chance. Is inside office work more your thing, or would you rather be working outside in the forest? Experiment with a bit of both and see what you like.
Years ago, while I was working in the woods, I met a man named Dave. And Dave informed me that he was going to buy a canoe in the not-to-distance future, find a mountain lake nearby, and park himself right in the middle of that lake in his nice, new, canoe – just to see if he liked it. That is the idea.
Remember, when it comes to experimenting with career ideas, it is not about success or failure. So you volunteer at a radio station and almost bankrupt the place in the process. Try not to do that, if you can help it; but at the same time, getting fired from a volunteer position could be clue that you are just not cut out for a radio career. Insight and self-understanding is what you are after.
Keep trying. It may take a while to find a general area, let alone a specific occupation, that feels like a fit and something worth pursuing. Aspirations to become a professional blood donor may fall by the wayside after the first four pints flow out of your body. After regaining consciousness, you can always try something new.
The thing not to do is to just jump right into doing what people immediately around you happen to do. This means that you are going to need to be experimenting long before you are in a position where you will have to make a serious and significant career decision. Ideally you will be doing this before you graduate from high school.
Eventually you will likely need to find a college, a place, or some sort of opportunity, where you can develop your career interest into a marketable skill. But do not be too quick to rush off here and there in a frantic quest to find the perfect position or program. Deciding where you really want to go comes first. Deciding how you are going to get there is second.
