Navigating Your Career Path: Should You Focus on One Path or Explore Multiple Options?

It's your life—and your future. It's time to develop enough self-confidence, maturity, and responsibility to make decisions, and to stop being confused by hesitation and indecision.

Writing Down Your Choices and Evaluating Them

To help you make a decision, get organized. Write the names of all your choices on separate sheets of paper, with the pros on the left and the cons on the right. Go to a quiet place where you can engage in honest, sincere thought, research, and self-assessment. Fill in the pros and cons of each choice to help you make a well-informed decision.

Considering the Benefits of Specialization

I believe in becoming very good in one domain to have a thriving career. If you try three options, you will never be very good in any, and your probability of success in any will become one-third of your maximum potential. It may take some time depending on vacancies, but your consistent efforts in one career will definitely give you huge success prospects.

Seeking Professional Help

It seems to me like you have problems with making decisions. It's a part of growing up and becoming an adult. All decisions come with consequences, and you will never know what those are until you go for it. Seek professional help from a coach or a mentor. I am available at a reasonable cost to guide you through the process.

Professional Assessment and Factual Information

You've got your whole future in your hands. Go to a professionally qualified person—depending on where you live, probably a registered counselling psychologist—undergo interest and other tests, discuss the options, and then start getting factual information about jobs. You don't give your age, but about a third of the occupations which will exist in 20 or 30 years' time don't yet exist. When I was looking for a career, the computer hadn't been invented, and even 20 years later, experts thought that the world would probably require only about four computers.

Developing a Career Path Plan

You need to develop a career path plan that aligns with your skills, talents, and future. Most importantly, you need to view any post-high school education primarily as job training. In particular, college is way too expensive and requires way too much time and effort to be considered just "self-improvement" or "personal development."

Many liberal arts majors, like English, history, philosophy, and political science, are considered "useless liberal arts" and don't teach "marketable job skills." Employers often view liberal arts majors as "unskilled labor" and are not impressed by the claim that you learned "critical thinking skills" in your Art History, Political Science, or Gender Studies major. Employers want people who are committed to their path and who can show that they have put in the time and effort to specialize in a specific field.

Be careful about liberal arts-type majors that colleges have "rebranded" to sound business-oriented, such as "Studies" or "International Studies." Employers are not interested in people who switch careers repeatedly, each time being a beginner in the next path. This means that you will be looking at entry-level pay and entry-level advancement possibilities.

It's crucial to do informational interviews to gather real-world insights about different career paths. This can help you make a more informed decision and understand the realities of each field. Consider the following factors in developing a career path plan:

General Factors (e.g., personal interests, skills, and values) Useless Degrees (e.g., why certain majors may not be valuable) Doing What You Love (e.g., aligning career choices with personal passions) Skilled Trades (e.g., exploring vocational options) ROI - Return on Investment (e.g., cost-benefit analysis of different educational and career paths) Informational Interviews (e.g., learning from professionals in your desired field) Learning on Your Own (e.g., continuing education and skills development)

By carefully evaluating your options and making a well-informed decision, you can navigate your career path and set yourself up for success.