Why career exploration is important?

Many of us struggle to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. It is a question we are asked over and over again, and it may bring up feelings of fear, doubt, paralysis, anxiety, and uncertainty. Our educational system dictates what we learn, how we learn, and at what pace, but it often doesn’t allow us to ask these important questions, such as “What are my passions,” “What would be a good person-environment fit for my personality,” “What kind of activities do I enjoy,” or “How can I best utilize my natural talents and skills?” On average, you will spend 13 years total at work, according to the Huffington Post. For this reason, work can have a tremendous impact on self-esteem, overall happiness, and quality of life. In fact, many of us might have different career goals or dreams at different ages or stages of life, which is relatively normal. As we gain life experience, knowledge, and expertise, our goals may change slightly or dramatically. As we learn more about ourselves and the world, we might abandon a dream or compromise for something within reach or more stable.

For many of us, work is simply a means of survival and means to an end, which is making enough money to live and do the things we enjoy. Many of us have to make compromises about what we do for work. Maybe we were told our dreams were impractical, it’s impossible to make money doing what you love, that’s not for boys or girls, or we realized that the ideal or image of a job greatly differed from the actuality of doing that job. Whatever the reason, sometimes, we compromise too much too early in order to please our parents, teachers, peers, or have financial stability. If this is the case, re-examining your skills, talents, personality type, and passions can help you explore other career paths that might be a better fit. For most of us, if we enjoy performing or learning about an activity, our curiosity takes over and we might enter into a state of flow, which is a state of consciousness where one is totally immersed and absorbed in what one is doing that everything else fades into the background. When one is more interested in a subject or able to enter into this state of flow, it also makes it much easier to succeed, put more time into learning, and creates an overall increased feeling of happiness, confidence, self-sufficiency, meaning, and purpose. Being satisfied in one’s career can impact other areas of life, such as physical health, mental health, relationships, self-esteem, and stress.