How to Choose a College Major or Career
This article talks about the critical “Do’s and Don’ts” for selecting a college major. Let’s start with the “Don'ts's” and wrap up our time together with the “Do’s”. Now, there are 3 really, really bad reasons to choose a college major:
HERE ARE THE DON’TS
#1 — Following Job and Economic Trends
The internet is filled with alluring job trends coupled with economic predictions. From solid academic, business, and U.S. Department of Labor research, you will see an array of astonishing statistics, reports, and infographics indicating hot jobs 5–10 years from now. Now, seeing or hearing this data can be a significant driver for selecting a major that will be in demand upon graduation plus 5 years. It makes sense, right? Well, it makes sense if the study actually covers a job and skills that actually aligns with your heart, mind, and spirit’s true north for living. This is something you feel and find evidence in the experiences you’ve had and/or dream about in life to this point. Now, you might be thinking that a person of a particular age might have an advantage, because they have lived longer and have more experiences. Wrong-O!
You were designed to be stellar at a few things in life and those things show up in school, volunteering, helping around the house, first jobs, school plays, random acts of kindness, and repeated requests of you for specific help from people in your life. This is the data and trending that you must observe and record, so you accurately determine WHO AND WHAT RESONATES WITH YOU IN LIFE. And, which degree will help you prepare to develop your natural, inquisitive, and fulfilling skills that match a job, entrepreneurial opportunity, and/or service to others.
Remember, every day spent in college is another day spent shaping WHO and WHAT you want to be in life. I know all too well how trends and predictions can make you feel more secure about choosing a major, because it is something tangible you can kind of use to know what could reasonably happen in the future. However, these studies mean little or nothing if you must become something or someone you are not. I have spoken to 100’s of people, who followed a job trend, instead of their hearts, and lost heart becoming something they were never intended to be. You owe it to yourself to follow yourself, then line that up with a trend, if the trend confirms your path. Otherwise, get out there and blaze your own path. Remember, it’s your life and only you get to decide how to spend it — no one else.
#2 — Caving to Family Pressure
Let’s examine this one carefully. So, you spend 18+ years in a parent’s/caregiver’s home and know firsthand their regrets, highest hopes for you, and how they may be relying on your success to secure their future or social ambitions. This may be coupled with everyone in your family being a plumber, doctor, educator, police officers, attorney, and the list goes on. You add a financial dependence on any of these people and you may find yourself feeling obligated to do what they say when it comes to choosing a major. Now, some of you might feel a sense of pride carrying on the family tradition, feel it’s safest not to rock the boat, or feel like appeasing these well-intentioned people long enough to let them down easy in a semester or two. This is a lot of pressure for someone who establishing their independence in the face of having been dependent for their entire life.
However, this is what you must do — make your own choices about WHO you are and WHAT you want to be in life. All the aforementioned people have lives of their own. And, you are under no obligation to follow in anyone’s footsteps that are headed in the wrong direction for you. No one is more impacted by your life choices than you. Whatever decisions you make about your major will result in you living it up, down, or somewhere in between. Don’t be counted among the lifeless job zombies littering the landscape, who are living down someone else’s expectations instead of their own. According to Gallup, there are 2.6 Billion zombies out there or 87% of the global workforce. Wow! Stay clear and don’t get bitten.
# 3 — Chasing the Money
I have coached many leaders and high performing employees who actually achieved their 6 figure salary dream, in exchange for a 5-day a week nightmare. The math doesn’t add up! I knew a Vice President of Sales who chased a $400,000 salary package as their life defining goal. What he got was a balding head, a spare tire waist, and a family he never saw. One day, he went after a promotion and didn’t get it. He was upset and felt like a failure. He began thinking about what got him into sales in the first place: meeting customers and closing deals. He thought about what made him happiest. He recalled how he road with his sales people, technicians, and managers, on sales calls. He felt alive. Somewhere, he got blindsided by ever increasing stacks of money and felt like he’d lost the soul of his work.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, “The higher up I go — the further I get away from doing the thing I love most!” Within 18 months, he left and went to work for a smaller competitor. And, once again, he was flying high selling more and leading less. He trimmed down, his hair grew back, and he told me he’s never been happier. And the money, well, he was so passionate about customers that he earned roughly the same amount of money. Here’s the point: Don’t confuse a standard of living with your standards for living. Wanting to earn lots of money is fine, but not at the expense of self and soul. Remember, money is the by-product of impact. Do what you love and expand the impact of what you do. And, the money will come your way in buckets, then wheel barrels, and then truck loads. Just make sure your self and soul are willing to carry the buckets, push the wheel barrels, and load the truck beds.
Conclusion
Only follow job and economic trends that affirm your current direction. If they don’t, then it’s time to blaze a trail and start a trend. You may be a first in a series of highly successful first, but you won’t know unless you try! And, if your family is giving you grief, you can vote with your feet and not have to say a single word about where you are going or what you are doing — It’s called being an adult. And, if they threaten to cut off your support, realize they are only doing what they can to drive you toward what is safest for them and not what’s best for you. Finally, no amount of money can keep a job you hate from slowly choking the happiness, fulfillment, health, and future out of your life. Money is generally a by-product of the impact you create and can be created in buckets, barrels, and truck loads doing what you true, fulfilling, and right for you.
HERE ARE THE DO’S
Taking all of these things into account, you must CHOOSE a major based on:
• Core values: Who you are and want to be in life. And, focusing on what you believe deeply.
• Compelling interest: The unquenchable piquing of your curiosity followed by a soul satisfying experience that leaves you wanting more.
• Search for meaning: What do you want to make better, for yourself and others that touches your heart deeply.
• Service and Legacy: How will you show up and be the hero of an individual, tribe, or generation’s story with good works that inspire similar action in others.
So, be encouraged about making this big decision and making it your own. It’s only the wrong decision if you make it for the wrong reasons. Dare to dream big, hold your ground, work hard, be open to new things, and make your own way in the world — every generation has done it and so can you. This will ensure you remain obliged to yourself, first, and reasonably to others that have your best interest expressed in words and deeds. If you follow and reflect on this advice, I guarantee you will choose the right life path and a major that supports it!
Be well,
John St. John, MBA, PHR
The Purpose Coach
www.degreeofpurpose.com
He’s a personal development coach, author, trainer, and speaker with published courses and resources to help navigate the difficulty finding, validating, and living their extraordinary life’s purpose and mission, which is to be unimaginably filled up being the hero of someone else’s story. Additionally, John has 20+ years Fortune 50–500 and large public agency experience as Learning, Performance, and Leadership Senior Consultant to corporate executives and managers for organizations like Stericycle, Wal-Mart, the Federal Aviation Administration, T. Rowe Price, Kaiser Permanente, Home Depot, Dish Network, IKON Office Solutions, Toro, and Anheuser-Busch. Served as a Gubernatorial Appointee to Governor Schwarzenegger Employment Training Panel, who made sure $75 Million dollars was spent on the right business and education organizations to upskill and compete against out of state competition.
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