In summary, career choices and other life choices can be guided by passion, market demand, or being comfortable in the ‘I don’t know’ zone while engaging in different activities that may lead to discovery or development of passion.
I recently participated in a panel discussion with a group of youths at different critical stages in their lives. Some were about to start secondary school, some about to start university and others about to start their first jobs. I was impressed by the depth and curiosity of the questions they asked us, which ran the gamut from what university degree one must study to become a neurosurgeon, to whether it is bad to have a girl/boyfriend. One other question intrigued me: “I am about to finish secondary school but I don’t know which course to study in university, what can I do to know my passion?”
This question reminded me of the classic debate: doing what you love versus loving what you do. The idea that people should follow their passion is supported, but also challenged. Do all people necessarily identify the one thing they are passionate about? Indeed, passion can be elusive. To others, finding passion is a quest of a lifetime. As such, expecting to use passion to guide career choices, or other life choices may not always be a timely fruitful approach. It is possible that passion follows action - that by engaging in different things, rather than staying idle, people discover or develop their passion. Indeed, you can find what you love and do it, or you can love something in doing it. As author Shonda Rhimes put it, sometimes you need to “do something [and do it well] until you can do something else”.
Indeed, the ultimate quest for many of us is to do something we love for the majority of our lives. However, passion alone may not be the pathway to this destination as not everyone identifies the one thing they are passionate about, especially in their youth. Besides, some people are naturally inclined to being generalists while others specialists. While generalists have been viewed from a disadvantaged angle as being a ‘jack of all trades’, recent studies have found that generalists thrive in their careers in many ways.
As such, some people may start their quest for what to do in life through routes other than passion. For example, market demand. What skills are the most needed in the country’s economic trend? Is there a technology and innovation; oil and gas boom, etc? One can start here and work their way upwards to finding what they ‘love doing’. Indeed, the ultimate goal is the same – doing something we love, but there are multiple ways of getting there, and one general rule is important – guarding one’s heart.
Those who have some knowledge of the Bible might know the words from Proverbs 4:23 – “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”. The course of life for a youth is shaped by among other things, their career choices. But this is preceded by one cornerstone, guarding the heart. This means being intentional about removing any clutter that may obstruct the flow of inspiration in the formative years of deciding what to do in life. This clutter can come from: (1) the company one associates with; and (2) what one consumes.
Do the people you spend most time with build or block you? Here is a quick rule of thumb: if majority of their talk is about other people, they are not builders. Surely, there is only so much to say about other people even if one is a news reporter! This is a good reality check not only for our company, but for ourselves too. If it was strictly prohibited by the law today to talk about other people, how much would you or your closest friends be left with to share?
What we consume physically and virtually is also critical: foods, drinks, content, … Our health is a computer system: bad input, bad output. Our control is on the input.
In summary, career choices and other life choices can be guided by passion, market demand, or being comfortable in the ‘I don’t know’ zone while engaging in different activities that may lead to discovery or development of passion.
In either pathway, a great rule of thumb is guarding one’s heart and mind by purposely selecting company that builds and enlightens rather than clutters and blocks; and guarding what we consume.
Ms Kimaro writes about careers, leadership, personal development and issues affecting youth and women.
