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What shall I do with my life?
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A common question everyone has to face up to at some point is ‘What shall I do with my life'? Some people are lucky and realise what they want to do with their life at a very early age.
The vast majority of people, however, are not so fortunate and generally work their way through the education system without any clear idea as to what they really want to do with their life or career. For these people the question ‘What shall I do with my life?' can become a recurring theme and, unless they eventually do something about it, it's something that can make them quite unhappy in the long term.
The easiest way to avoid forever thinking ‘What shall I do with my life?' is to try and give the matter some serious thought at as early an age as possible. Ideally this should be at school or, if not, during further education. The two key questions to ask yourself are ‘What do I do best?' and ‘What am I most interested in?' Once you've given these two questions some serious consideration it should become easier to come up with some suitable career ideas to answer the ‘What shall I do with my life?' big question. The earlier you start thinking about what you want to do with your life the easier it is to channel your energies in to making the correct career choices to help you achieve your ultimate goal.
Many people at school and even university, however, simply don't think this way and it's only later in life - once they are in a career - that they seriously think ‘What shall I do with my life?' The important thing to remember in this situation is that it's never too late - whatever stage in your career or life you are at - to make some positive changes. It is becoming increasingly commonplace for people who may have been doing a particular job for many years to decide to re-train and do something with their life that interests them more. It is better, for example, to take a year or two to re-train and be happier in the long run than simply drifting along unhappily for evermore and constantly asking yourself the dreaded question ‘What shall I do with my life?'
If you are someone who is at that ‘What shall I do with my life?' stage it can be quite difficult to find the time and space to give the matter some serious thought. It's all too easy when you are in a career to work hard all day and, when you get home, just relax and switch off as much as possible without having to worry or concern yourself with daunting thoughts such as what you are going to do with your life in the long term. The same principle applies when you are at school, college or university. For most people worrying about things like revision and passing exams are more than enough to be getting on with, and it is easy to keeping putting off important longer term decisions such as to what to do with your life in the long run. A great solution to this problem is to take a year out or gap year.
Gap years give you the freedom to escape from all the pressures of the education system or the workplace and provide the breathing space required to try and come up with answers to that all-important question ‘What shall I do with my life?' If you immerse yourself in a different culture, meeting new people and experiencing new things, it helps you to put things in to perspective and provide you with fresh ideas as to what to do with your life. A gap ‘year' can be as short or as long as you like, but the important thing is to give yourself that break and make sure you use the time wisely to start thinking properly about what you want to do with your life. Gap years are also immensely enjoyable, of course, and you should never lose sight of the fun aspect of them. However, it is possible to have fun and use the time constructively as well.
Many people who go on a gap year in order to find answers to the question ‘What shall I do with my life?' find volunteer projects particularly useful. In the short term working as volunteer provides the satisfaction of doing something really worthwhile and making an immediate and positive difference to the lives of the people, animals or environment you are helping.
If you are someone who is constantly thinking to yourself ‘What shall I do with my life?' you can comfort yourself with the fact that you are definitely not alone, whatever age you are. Thinking about what you really want to do with your life is perfectly normal and hits different people at different times. The important thing is to do something about it. If you are stuck in a rut taking a gap year can often turn out to be a really positive and fun way to help you decide what to do with your life |
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