Why People Never Figure Out What They Want To Do

In today’s age, there is plenty of content related to just, dropping everything to follow your passions!

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

It could weigh on many people and cause them to feel pretty bad in their own jobs and careers. This is why this is a huge market in the content space, because people are searching for what makes them happy and what makes them feel fulfilled.

This is not easy, although the content gurus want to make you believe that anyone can. It will involve a lot of soul-searching, research and an understanding of what you want.

This question was my most asked question all throughout my 20s and one that I wanted to solve for myself. It was one that also gave me great anxiety. I come to realize that it will be an evolving process — a process that will continue to change as you grow.

Some people never truly figure out what they want to do for a career, because of the following:

1. People do not know what drives them at the end of the day.
2. Even if they do know, people would not know what to make of it.
3. They do not know what they like or do not like.
4. People do not ask questions — to themselves or towards others.
5. When people are not asking questions, they are just living and never really changing, adapting, or growing.
6. A lot of people (and this is understandable) sacrifice wants for needs. Who has time to “figure it out”, really? It is not like the bills wait until you do. Immediate financial stability is a priority.
7. Commitment. Committing to a career is a bit intimidating. For some people, it could make them feel like that would be the end of the road, or feeling like they would be “boxed in”.
8. Rose-Pedal Effect. We idealize so much and with the overload of content towards self-development and careers, we sometimes have those rose-pedals when we envision the types of careers we want without realizing that it will never ever be that way. Each job will have its unique challenges and when we idealize something, that’s all it is — an idea, not reality.

Originally published at www.quora.com.