As I approach the end of my time at university, I’ve had to start thinking more about my post-graduate plans. While it’s completely normal not to know what you will be doing in the future, it can be scary to think about what you will be doing after graduation and where you will be doing it. This feeling of uncertainty can be a heavy weight to carry on your shoulders — especially with a million other things going on in your life.
Once you start asking yourself if this is the right career path, you can quickly descend into the rabbit hole of existentialism. “Who am I?” “What am I doing?” “What do I want in life?”. All of a sudden, little decisions like what electives to take can feel all-encompassing and life-altering. On a fundamental level, you might question whether life ultimately revolves around making money and achieving measurable success. Such contemplations may lead to a realization that reconstructs your conventional notions of a career, revealing that the relentless pursuit of a high-profile career driven by success and status might not truly fulfill your inner needs.
In order to confront this, you are required to delve into your inner self and honour the desire to express yourself in a new, creative, and authentic way. As you release outdated patterns, beliefs, and values that no longer serve you, it can become easier to either confirm your career choices or reject them.
Whether you feel trapped by a major you’re not quite happy with or you feel intimidated by a competitive field, it’s important to remember that failure is the key to success. At the end of the day, pursuing your interests and passions will guide you toward the right career path. Sometimes it takes a couple of rejections, late nights and crying sessions to get you there, but eventually, you will come to realize that everything works out in the end.
Personally, as someone pursuing a competitive field, career anxiety is something I have struggled with for a while. The dreaded thoughts of plan B and feeling like a failure are a few of the considerations that make me rethink my decisions. However, I always remember a quote from Pelé, “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Despite my fears of not making it or not being good enough, I have to remind myself that by staying true to myself and my passions, I can create the path to a fulfilling career.
Having a crisis like this in your young adulthood is quite common, but it’s important to remember that nothing is end-all, be-all. Realizing that you are young and there is so much more life to live can help in understanding that your career doesn’t rule your life. Many opportunities will come along that may deviate you from a career or push you towards it. Nonetheless, there is much more in life that can grant one happiness and success that doesn’t come from a career.
It is not worth it to stress and fixate excessively on your future when a career is only one aspect of it, and a changeable one at that. One thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time, so relax and see where life takes you.