How to find out what you want to do with your life… when you have no idea

Or at least get part of the way there.

I’m going to start this article the way I probably should start all of them — with a nugget of wisdom from my very own mother:

“Most people just fall into the jobs they have”

Ok, mum, that’s all well and good, but what if there’s nowhere to fall?

My advice? Get yourself to a (metaphorical) cliff, and jump off it.

Or, in other words: get yourself some work experience.

This work experience could be literally anything: paid or unpaid; shadowing a connection of yours for a week, or diving straight in the deep end. It could be a job you’ve already had, or it could be something new, in an industry you never in a million years considered.

Doesn’t matter what it is, I say take it. Push yourself to ask any and all connections for help, and push yourself to say yes to whatever is offered to you.

Be humble, work hard.

There are people who did degrees in marketing — only to end up as chefs; others may get a degree in fine arts, only to end up running a Not-For-Profit. Don’t let your degree or your work history dictate your future.

Ok, I’ve had my work experience, now what to do I do?

Make a pros and cons list about each experience.

Seriously.

These can be as specific, or as broad as you like. Just be honest.

Now compare the lists, and see what keeps coming up time and time again.

Here’s one I prepared earlier

For me, my pros list shows I like working in social jobs, where I’m able to work one-on-one with people. I also want my job to be meaningful, challenging, and different every day. I knew from my previous experiences that I liked working with kids, so I wrote that down too.

My cons list showed me that I didn’t want a job that was monotonous, vacuous, or involved working with large groups of people at a time — or no one at all. I also have to be happy within the larger system, and/or company that I’m working within.

Something that surprised me? It only came up once, but I wrote that I loved doing planning for an internship I had.

So what am I going to do with this information?

I’ll fall into it.

I know I like working with kids — but I’m not a huge fan of the mainstream educational system. I love working with people one-on-one, and I love the challenge of helping someone to improve. And of course, I love planning.

My thoughts for my future, as of now? I’ve done a bit of research, and I think I’d like to become a developmental neuropsychologist.

But first, I need more work experience.