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How do I determine one career if I have such a wide variety of interests?
I have so many passions ranging from sports, sciences, volunteering, art, etc so how could I narrow this all down to one career, and how would I know that this career is the one for me if I have to sacrifice all of these other interests. #career-choice
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4 answers
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Maricruz’s Answer
Hi Kenzy,
It is great that you are an aspiring individual of many interests. The best piece of advice I would offer you is to figure out where your own personal strengths fall into.
Try taking career assessments online; the results you get will match your personal strengths to career positions that will best suitable for your interests. Career assessments also allow you to build self-awareness.
I hope this helps!
It is great that you are an aspiring individual of many interests. The best piece of advice I would offer you is to figure out where your own personal strengths fall into.
Try taking career assessments online; the results you get will match your personal strengths to career positions that will best suitable for your interests. Career assessments also allow you to build self-awareness.
I hope this helps!
Updated
Kim’s Answer
Kenzy
You have some excellent advice from mentors that will help you narrow your focus, but not lose sight of your passions.
One additional thought for you to consider would be to gain insight into your natural strengths to help define and build your list of potential career options. There are several assessments that will help guide you to uncovering what strengths come naturally to you. My favorite is StrengthsFinder, but find the one that best fits your needs. This insight will not only help you set your path, but serve as a "centering" exercise when you feel you have gone off track in your career.
Best wishes for a successful journey.
Reaearch strengths assessments to determine best fit for you.
Take the assessment and review the resulting report for insight into your true strengths and what career options may be open to you.
Retain the report for future reference and to bring you back on track during your career path.
You have some excellent advice from mentors that will help you narrow your focus, but not lose sight of your passions.
One additional thought for you to consider would be to gain insight into your natural strengths to help define and build your list of potential career options. There are several assessments that will help guide you to uncovering what strengths come naturally to you. My favorite is StrengthsFinder, but find the one that best fits your needs. This insight will not only help you set your path, but serve as a "centering" exercise when you feel you have gone off track in your career.
Best wishes for a successful journey.
Kim recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Sharhonda’s Answer
Hi Kenzy,
No need to sacrifice your passions! There are a number of careers that can combine all of those passions into one, for example, sports medicine, sports psychology, veterinarian, coach, etc. Even if none of those fit your fancy you could always work in each one over time then decide which one you could see yourself doing long-term. Even the ones that don't become a career can still be hobbies, nothing wrong with a few hobbies.
Good luck!
No need to sacrifice your passions! There are a number of careers that can combine all of those passions into one, for example, sports medicine, sports psychology, veterinarian, coach, etc. Even if none of those fit your fancy you could always work in each one over time then decide which one you could see yourself doing long-term. Even the ones that don't become a career can still be hobbies, nothing wrong with a few hobbies.
Good luck!
Updated
Donald’s Answer
Kenzy,
You bring up a great question, one that everyone attempts to answer over their career and life.
And I paraphrase "how do I find/develop/continue to grow in a career that matches my Passions and Interests that provides me both fulfillment and provides financial stability and growth? "
First off there is no ONE answer that it prefect for everyone. However there are approaches that can help both clarify and help you along the way, helping you balance between your passions, careers and practical realities. The Key here is Balance. Sometime a Passion can be a hobby, and a Skill a Job. Balance is a path and is life's journey not a destination, we all grow, our passions evolve and sometimes change, our situations change and our lives take twists and turns. The commitment is not to ONE career choice but a commitment to the journey.
Ok where to start.
Identifying what you love is a great place to start, what sparks your interests, what engages you what are you passionate about.
Second think about what you are good at? Think about more how you work, as well as to you work on. For example do you enjoy the start of learning about a new topic or do you enjoy finishing things on your to do list.
What you are passionate about and what you are good at may be different things. For example I love ice hockey but I am not a very good skater, so I was not able to pursue that as a career but could pursue that as a fan and possibly as a not very good but enthusiastic player.
After you take consideration of what you love and what you are good at doing then ground it in two more questions,
Third determine/question/seek out that which is needed by you, your family, your community (this may be harder, but its where your passions find purpose.) Sometimes you are presented with a choice in which you may need to do something that you don't necessary want to do but you need to do. This can be simple trade offs or much more complex, for example I am NOT a morning person, but in order to pursue the career of choice I need to get up early in the morning to meet with my world wide team because I need to provide for my family.
Finally and then in terms of a career, you ask one more question "Can I make a living doing, that which you love, that which you are good at, and that which is needed?" This isn't directly around accumulating wealth, its around making a living and balancing the other dynamics.
The best career is one that tracks to your passions, one that enables you to continually develop your skills, one that fulfills your own and your community's needs and one that provides financial sustenance. Finding, growing, evolving and changing careers all about seeking the balance across all of these dynamics. We change, our passions change, our skill changes and our needs and our family's and community's needs change.
The approach above is paraphrase and very quick high level summary of the Japanese concept of ikigai.
Its my interpretation and there are many others.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/is-this-japanese-concept-the-secret-to-a-long-life/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai
Kenzy good luck on your journey!
Brain Storm about your passions
Brain Storm about what you are good at
Brain Storm about what you need right now,
Seek out and learn about Job/Careers that align the three
Engage people in those industries and ask them about their passions, the best and worst things about their jobs and what they wish they knew as they were just starting out
You bring up a great question, one that everyone attempts to answer over their career and life.
And I paraphrase "how do I find/develop/continue to grow in a career that matches my Passions and Interests that provides me both fulfillment and provides financial stability and growth? "
First off there is no ONE answer that it prefect for everyone. However there are approaches that can help both clarify and help you along the way, helping you balance between your passions, careers and practical realities. The Key here is Balance. Sometime a Passion can be a hobby, and a Skill a Job. Balance is a path and is life's journey not a destination, we all grow, our passions evolve and sometimes change, our situations change and our lives take twists and turns. The commitment is not to ONE career choice but a commitment to the journey.
Ok where to start.
Identifying what you love is a great place to start, what sparks your interests, what engages you what are you passionate about.
Second think about what you are good at? Think about more how you work, as well as to you work on. For example do you enjoy the start of learning about a new topic or do you enjoy finishing things on your to do list.
What you are passionate about and what you are good at may be different things. For example I love ice hockey but I am not a very good skater, so I was not able to pursue that as a career but could pursue that as a fan and possibly as a not very good but enthusiastic player.
After you take consideration of what you love and what you are good at doing then ground it in two more questions,
Third determine/question/seek out that which is needed by you, your family, your community (this may be harder, but its where your passions find purpose.) Sometimes you are presented with a choice in which you may need to do something that you don't necessary want to do but you need to do. This can be simple trade offs or much more complex, for example I am NOT a morning person, but in order to pursue the career of choice I need to get up early in the morning to meet with my world wide team because I need to provide for my family.
Finally and then in terms of a career, you ask one more question "Can I make a living doing, that which you love, that which you are good at, and that which is needed?" This isn't directly around accumulating wealth, its around making a living and balancing the other dynamics.
The best career is one that tracks to your passions, one that enables you to continually develop your skills, one that fulfills your own and your community's needs and one that provides financial sustenance. Finding, growing, evolving and changing careers all about seeking the balance across all of these dynamics. We change, our passions change, our skill changes and our needs and our family's and community's needs change.
The approach above is paraphrase and very quick high level summary of the Japanese concept of ikigai.
Its my interpretation and there are many others.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/is-this-japanese-concept-the-secret-to-a-long-life/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai
Kenzy good luck on your journey!
Donald recommends the following next steps: