If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to 'follow your passion,' I would be one wealthy lady. But how am I supposed to follow my passion when I have no idea what it is? How am I supposed to decide what I want to do with my life, if I am not inclined to one particular area of study or anything in general? Sometimes I feel that I am the only one out there who feels this way, because it seems like everyone has their lives together. But I am here to tell you that you don't have to have it all figured out in order to be successful. It is possible to not understand what you love and still be able to find a career or life path you will be completely confident with.
Since we were in preschool, the world put a dreadful pressure on us. That pressure was to find out what we wanted to be when we grow up. What you need to understand is that a job shouldn't define your entire identity; you are more than just an 8 to 5 desk job that you complain about too regularly.
As a Communications undergraduate student, if you ask me what I want to do with my major, I will typically reply with a shoulder shrug. I have no idea what I am eating for dinner, let alone what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. Once I decided what I am going to do, I know I am going to change my mind again and again. But hey, that is fine with me. It's a great opportunity to begin something new.
But first things first, don't compare yourself to others who 'think they have it figured out.' I know it's difficult not to compare when you have failed so many times. Eventually, you will find out that that is life, and your failures only make you stronger. It gives you the chance to take a look at your life and appreciate things for size and explore an entire landscape of options.
Next, keep yourself open-minded about different career options. People are typically less likely to keep working at a place that makes them unhappy, which means less opportunity for us to get burnt out. Literally, the world has so many options for us. Yes, that freedom may be intimidating, but that's the exciting part of life.
The last thing we need to consider is if the career pursuit fits who we are. By that I mean, we should not compromise things such as family, friends, hobbies, and travel over a job we will strongly dislike. There is so much more to us than getting paid to compromise things we love. I mean, granted, you will have to compromise these things occasionally, but our jobs should not consume our entire lives.
Maybe today you don't know what you love, but as the successful and inspiring Steve Job once said, "you've got to find what you love, don't settle." Whether this in your possible career or even in relationships, you just have to seek out options in order to find what you love. Maybe you will never find what you love, but make the most of opportunity you are given.
