A BIG THANK YOU TO MY PARENTS FOR ALLOWING ME TO DISCOVER MY PATH.

STEPHEN GILLAT

The Rush To The Working World

Everyone says “You have to have a career or job to pay for your basic needs e.g. food, car, house, bills”. This is solid true advice. However, when you think of a career or a job, what comes to mind?

a-big-thank-you-to-my-parents-for-allowing-me-to-discover-my-path

Let me guess…. A lawyer, a doctor, a nurse; or there is the vocational route: a builder, a plumber, electrician…. You get the gist, right? Our minds have been brainwashed from a young age by various influences such as TV, parents, and friends, to think that we must follow one of these secure paths.

What this means is we hardly ever have a chance to discover our passions because we fear to be different, not getting enough opportunities to experiment whilst we are being educated. Therefore, our parents, teachers, and society put pressure on us to quickly get self-aware of what we want to do to earn our money.

Follow Your Passion but Consider Your Time

The most successful people take risks. Normally educated risks. If you are ok with being a lawyer or a plumber and you feel that it will allow you to live a fulfilling, satisfactory life then that is ok. Although I urge you to look at the people who are in them positions, ask them questions like:

What part of your job/career do you like the most?

What part of your job/career don’t you like the most?

What would you like to spend more time doing?

What is stopping you from doing this?

What are you passionate about?

What advice would you give someone like myself who is considering a career/job like this?

Do you feel you get valued and paid enough for the work you do?

These are very deep meaningful questions. The reason I propose them is because I have asked these myself to people who work in the jobs/careers I considered. The answers I received brought me to the conclusions of no job/career that I inquired about was ever built to the lifestyle of how these people wanted to live.

Only for the people who did what they were passionate about, mainly because that’s what they wanted to focus all their time on. But even then, some of these people still wanted more out of life when it came to discovering other things that were important to them along the way.

Building Your Lifestyle

This is a lot to think about but I think it’s good to start thinking about it in your teens, as time is on your side.

You don’t have to have a plan as things will happen and be discovered along the way. A rough plan will help you get there quicker though and keep you on track.

Consider these points to start off:

What is important to me? (Family, friends, achievements, career etc.)

What lifestyle do I want to live? (I want to go on holiday 4 times a year, spend time with my friends 3 times a week, work 20 hours per week on my passion)

How much do I need to fund my basic needs of food, water, shelter?

How much do I need to fund the other stuff I want in my lifestyle? (If you want a Ferrari, figure out how much it will cost to buy, tax, insurance, petrol will be)

Write all the things you want down…

How can I do something that I am passionate about and get paid for it?

What knowledge, skills do I require for this? Who can I speak to that will know?

There are a lot of questions you need to ask yourself. If you are finding it hard though because you are not yet aware of what your passion is then I advise you to think about your ideal lifestyle. That should be easier. Once you have that then you can begin becoming more self-aware of your passions. Coaches, close friends, family, are the best to turn to as they usual have your best interest at heart.

Alternatively, I may be able to help. I offer free complimentary lifestyle coaching. Assisting you in becoming more self-aware, using a systematic questioning coaching model.