As a college senior, I’m somewhere between laughing and crying at the fact that in just a few months I’ll need a way to support myself. I’m excited for that renowned next chapter in life, but while my peers are signing contracts for post-grad jobs, I’m still clueless about what I want my next step to be. And I think we are all going about this process the wrong way. Professors, peers, family members- we are all asking the wrong questions, namely, “What job do you want to have?” I think that instead, we should be asking, “How do you want to enrich your life?” though this can be an overwhelming question as well. So I decided to break it down into these three questions that can actually be answered.
1.What makes you forget to eat?
Do you spend your summer days biking? Are there nights when you come home for dinner and realize that the last time you ate was 8am, before you spent the day swimming at the beach with your friends? The ways you enjoy spending your time each day are activities that enrich your life. Maybe you start a pedicab business, or become a bike tour guide. You could teach swimming classes or find a job somewhere oceanfront. We hear it all the time, “do what you love and the money will follow,” and it’s true. There are always ways to make your passion into your job.
2.What do you talk about with your friends?
Brunch discussions usually start with a comical and occasionally embarrassing review of the previous night’s activities. But they somehow always end up with plans for the future, what current events we’re happy or angry about, things we’d change about the world. So another way to ask this question is: what issues are you passionate about? Are you appalled at the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean? Do you wish you could adopt all of the retired race greyhounds from overrun shelters? Figuring out the issues that you are passionate about is just a simpler way to say, “here’s what I can offer to help the world. I can contribute.”
3.What would you metaphorically (or literally) want written on your tombstone?
My friend once gave me a piece of advice that I will never forget. “If you want your tombstone to read, ‘They did what they thought they were supposed to,’ then do what you think you’re supposed to. If you want it to read, ‘They did what others wanted them to do,’ then do what others want you to do. But if you want it to read, ‘They touched life every chance they got, they burned and blazed and left a hole shaped like them in the universe when they left,’ then do something else.”
Answering a few questions is not going to plan out an entire career path for you. But like I said, this article is not exactly about finding a job; it’s about discovering ways that you want to enrich your life. Finding a job you enjoy is simply one of many outcomes, and it’s not always discovered immediately. Consider the theory that the purpose of life is to give life purpose. So don’t worry if nothing’s coming to you just yet; you’re already on the right track.
