Why Is Finding Your Thing In School Is So Difficult?
Things Schools Do Not Offer
Are you trying to figure out what you really want to do with your life? Bored by school and anxious to get on with life? Or feel like school is a waste of time?
If so, you are not alone. Many students are not thrilled by the classes and extracurricular activities most schools offer. And it is easy to feel school is a big waste of time ... because you feel clueless about what you excel at. And school does not help you discover what that is.
It Doesn't End with High School
Sadly, millions of students graduate each year clueless about what their thing is. You can get all the way through a 4 year college and get a degree .. and still not know. Often, the best and the brightest end up majoring in the subject they like best ... or the one with the most earning potential.
But they are still lost when it comes to knowing what they want to do or be when they grow up.
Most plans go astray when they have to get a job and start paying back their student loans ... or the job market dries up and they end up settling for something very different than their dream job ... or a job that gets their foot into the door of their dream company.
Schools Do Not Offer Courses in Finding Your Thing
So why is it so hard to find your thing while you are still in school? It would seem that school would be the perfect place to discover what you love and start developing the skills and knowledge you need to do well in your chosen profession. In fact, many parents assume that is what their kids are doing all day in high school and college. But the reality is much different.
Why? Because most schools do not offer classes or help in finding your thing in life. They expect you to already know it.
Schools were never designed to help you find a profession, let alone your passion. Up till about 50 years ago, what you did for a living was determined by your family and life situation because you learned the family trade or became an apprentice.
Public schools knew this and focused on teaching the basics .. reading, writing, arithmetic, and sports. Colleges were formed to teach the sons of noble men and those who showed the merit to enter a trade guild or professional vocational school .. to learn the law, philosophy, science or medicine.
Schools and the teaching profession has not evolved to meet the changing needs of society where what you can become is only limited by your imagination, passion and resources. And they are overwhelmed with teaching an ever growing pile of academic knowledge and the basic life skills needed to be competent in an evolving technology and knowledge oriented world.
So many new professions and ways to make a living are emerging that no one knows what will be available when you graduate and enter the work force. Career guidance counselors are overwhelmed, underpaid, and out of the loop .. doing the best they can with limited resources and hundreds of students to advise. Many can only help you figure out what kind of school comes next or where the jobs will be growing ... and what your standardized tests indicate you might succeed at.
But that leaves out a lot ... because standardized tests can't tell you what keeps you studying late into the night ... what fascinates you ... what your dream job would be and how to make that happen. In essence, no test or 30 minute counseling session can tell you what your thing in life is.
Schools just were not designed to help you find a cool career.
Reality Checking
But don't just take my word for it. See if this holds true for you and your school. Ask yourself the following questions:
- How many people graduating from your school have found their "thing"? 5% ... 10% .. 25% ... ? Does your school even know or track this statistic
- Asked another way, how many people going to the school or graduating have only a vague idea of what they want to do for a living? How many are clearly focused and have a detailed description and plan?
- How many have a detailed plan for how they are going to create their future life and career?
- Or do most of the students around you just assume they would go to college or a vocational school and develop the plan there?
- Did any of your parents or older siblings find their thing in high school or college?
- Did any of your friends or their parents figure it out in school?
Parents & Teachers Aren't Much Help
Your parents and teachers will probably not be much help in understanding your potential and finding "your thing". Unless your parents have found their own thing, or are trained in spotting and nurturing potential -- they may not be able to give you much practical advice or guidance. Most just muddle through and found their way by trial and error .. and depending on how happy they are now with their lives, it was mostly error.
Parents never take a class in how to help their children find their thing ... in fact the idea only really got going in the late 1960's. The same goes for teachers and college professors.
Finding your thing is a bit like teaching someone how to ride a bike or tie their shoes. It is almost impossible to teach someone else if you can't do it yourself. Often the few that do consider it a matter of luck or chance ... and don't have a clue how to help you find yours.
Let's face it. Everybody is busy and overloaded. So unless someone makes spotting your potential a high priority, you may hear more about your curfew and how well you are doing in class than how to find the work you love or discover your dream job.
So, see if this is true for your parents and teachers.
- Have they found their thing or bliss and are they following it?
- If so, can they tell you how they did it?
- If not, are they still looking or have they given up trying to find it?
- If they have found theirs, can they tell you how to find yours?
Most College Grads Settle
It is a sad fact that many college graduates settle for getting a good paying job ... and give up on their dreams when it comes to college recruiting. They get trapped by not knowing what they really want to become, and instead choose a major based on the classes they like the most.
But most college classes have little to do with making a living .. or what you will do everyday on the job. Reading books, memorizing periodic tables and writing term papers and essays are not what most job skills are based on.
Just look around when the date to declare a major comes around. Students are running around in a panic and college counselors are overwhelmed with appointments.
Is this any way to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life .. when your life is just really beginning? Is taking classes really the best way to window shop for a career? Why not try one on for size and see how it fits?
So, see if this question holds true for the adults around you.
- How did most of the adults you know choose their college major and profession or trade?
- Are most of them happy with their choice?
- Which do they most forward to -- Monday morning or the beginning of the weekend?
Now look ahead in time.
- What happens if your school never offers a class that you love? What if no one spots your potential and knows what you would be great at?
- How are you going to choose a career if you have not discovered your thing in life?
Pushing Job Outlooks
Unless you take the time to discover your own thing, you will be guided to choose an acceptable job from the ones that need doing. Every year a forecast is made about where and what kinds of jobs the future holds. Some are going to be in demand ... and these are the ones career counselors push, because they know you need a job for a lifetime.
It feels safer to follow the expert advice if you do not have a clue .. figuring that you can always change your mind and get a new job.
But what they do not tell you is that it is hard to switch industries once you start getting experience and raises. You are being paid for that industry knowledge, and if you leave it your salary goes down or plateaus for a while.
If you want to end up where your parents are or your generation is heading -- then staying on the same path they took makes sense. If you want to blaze your own trail into the unknown, then you are going to need skills and knowledge to map out your own path in life. Unfortunately, these skill are also not taught in most schools.
So, take a moment and think about this.
- First, do you like where your parents and relatives ended up? Do you want the same kind of life?
- Second, do you like where your generation is going and do you want to be part of the crowd?
Both of these are serious questions and there is no right or wrong answer. If your parents are doing what they love and are living an extraordinary life - by all means follow in their footsteps! The same thing applies to your generation -- if the herd is going in the right direction for you, keep up with the pack!
So How Do I Find My Thing?
The first step is taking responsibility for finding your thing or bliss. No one else can do it for you, although your parents and teachers can help. In fact, once you have some clear ideas, your parents, teachers, career counselors and life coaches can focus on giving you the things they are best at -- support, advice and opportunities.
The second step is finding a method of finding your thing that is easy and fun .. and really works for you. This site is filled with ideas and insights about how to ...
