I recently read an article from The
New York Times that addressed the issue of not knowing where your passions and
purpose lies. Angela Duckworth, a
psychologist who studies world-class achievers suggests to young students to
“foster their passion” rather than “follow their passion” as many of us young
students consistently hear. In other
words, you don’t need to definitively know what kind of long-term job you will
commit to in the future.
Duckworth advises not overthinking
the process. She explains how she once
told a man she met to “move in the direction of something that feels better
than worse.” You cannot go wrong by
using this method. She presents the
example of Julia Child, who didn’t fall in love with writing cookbooks and
teaching French cuisine on television until her late 30’s. She also makes the point that your first job
most likely will not be your last. You
can have as many or as few jobs as you like.
Once you establish where your core
values lie, you can hone those into how you want to live, share, teach, or
practice those values in ways that would be most effective and compatible with
the skillset you have developed.
Duckworth recommends writing what you would like people to remember you
for, what impression you’d like to make on the world by pretending that you are
writing your own eulogy.
To a
student that doesn’t know which way to go, I would suggest taking courses in
the field that they are leaning towards even ever so slightly. That way you can reassess your opinion of
that field and what kind of work it may entail.
You can always change your mind and there is always more opportunity and
knowledge to gain.
-Golda
Duckworth, Angela. "Graduating and Looking for Your Passion? Just Be Patient." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 June 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
"Person+in+front+of+many+pathways - Google Search." Person+in+front+of+many+pathways - Google Search. N.p.,n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
