“I really like drawing and designing things – but my parents think I should be a lawyer. I’m confused.”
Are interests really that important?
People sometimes stress the importance of skills and talent over the passion for something, but the truth is it’s a lot easier to gain new skills than it is to change your interests. Therefore it’s just as important to consider your interests to help you make good choices for your future because there is so much more to your interests than you think. For example, you may love going camping but because you are really good at writing, everyone thinks you should be a journalist. However, you could use your writing talents to produce exploration reports and work outdoors as a geologist!
Making good choices in life actually begins with getting to know yourself better. You can see that most of the people in the videos not only remember something they really enjoyed when they were younger, but they kept that passion and in their search for a dream job.
So stop for a second and ask yourself – in the last week, what did you really enjoy doing? What got you so interested that you lost track of time?
Start by asking yourself the following questions and making a note of your thoughts to refer to later. You’ll see what has cropped up the most and get a good idea of what you like doing:
- What TV shows or movies did I enjoy recently?
- What do I do with my friends
- What do I do with my spare time?
- What was my motivation for doing these things?
- Which subject am I really enjoying at school?
- If I could do anything all day, what would it be?
How does this help?
Paying attention to what you like is important when you’re thinking about future directions, from choosing subjects and hobbies, to investigating different jobs that you may not have thought of and thinking about the kind of successful life you want to have.
By getting to know yourself and the jobs that sound like a good match, you can figure out what you need to study or the skills you need to learn to get there.
Don’t just sit there!
Okay. So now you’ve started to think about what you enjoy, take the next step and discover some things you’re good at.
You don’t have to be brilliant at something to like it. Many interests develop over time. So if you don’t know if you are especially good at anything, don’t worry! Just try things and you’ll find out if they suit you.