6 Questions to Answer Before Deciding What You Want to Do When You Grow Up
Last Updated on October 2, 2022
The question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?” can seem unattainable when you’re a high school student. What do grown-up jobs even look like? How are you going to figure out what it is that you want to be when you grow up? With uncountable career choices, it can be puzzling to choose just one.
However, as a teenager with so much potential ahead of you, you’ll continue to ask this question with the hopes that one day soon, the answer will be clear.
Well, there are many factors that go into figuring out what you want to do when you grow up. You’ll need to explore interests, values, limitations, and opportunities — both now and in the future — if you want to find a career path that’s right for you. Here are six questions that can help.
How To Decide What You Want To Do When You Grow Up? (Ask Yourself These Questions)
What Are Your Passions?
In order to find out your passion, the right set of questions is important because you might get confused between what you really wanna do and what others want you to do.
During my teenage years, I used to confuse my hobbies with a passion but I was wrong.
Though no one helped me back in the day, as a big brother I have collected some crucial questions for you that can help you find your passion.
- What excites you?
- What are you truly passionate about?
- What do you find yourself thinking about when you have free time?
- What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about making money?
- What are your hobbies?
- What causes do you care deeply about?
- What things have you always wanted to learn more about but haven’t had the chance?
- What are some of the things that make you feel happy?
- What makes you feel like you are living life to the fullest?
- What kinds of things do you want to be doing when you’re older, and how can you start moving towards them now?
These are all indicators of the passions and clues that might sit inside of you as to figure out what you want to do when you grow up.
What Are Your Strengths?
Another important thing to consider in deciding what you want to do when you grow up is your strengths. And in order to find that out, all you need are right set of questions to figure that too. So ask yourself these:
- What are you good at?
- What do you feel confident about?
- What do you feel like you’re good enough at to make a career out of?
- What are you naturally good at?
- What have you been praised for?
- What feels like play to you but is hard for others?
If you don’t know what you’re really good at, even if you choose something you’re passionate about because you want to do it, anyone else could beat you at it. These questions can help you figure out what your strengths are. Discover what your superhuman capabilities are, and then you’ll be able to zero in on an area where you excel.
What Skills Do You Want to Gain?
Your passions and strengths are just part of the decision-making process. You should also consider the skills you want to gain as you move through life. In order to find that out, use the below questions to decide the skills you need to work on.
- What skills will be important to you in the future? (Assume blockchain is the coming future and you hold a passion to learn and excel in that, but without the languages that are required to become a blockchain developer you are good for nothing.)
- What skills would help you excel in the careers of your choosing? (Say you want to become a graphic designer, it requires you to gain skills like Photoshop, creativity, and designing.)
- What skills are you currently lacking?
- What skills do you wish you had but don’t?
You can use the skills you currently have, the skills you want to gain, and the skills you wish you had to decide what you want to do when you grow up and become the best in that. Because finding out skills is easy, but when you learn those skills you find out if you’re capable or not.
What Opportunities Might Exist in Future?
Are there any opportunities that exist now that you could use to help you decide what you want to do when you grow up? What are the current needs of the world? These are the two most important questions that nobody talks much about, in my opinion.
The reason why I feel you must know the opportunities of the future is due to the fact that you don’t want to choose something that holds no utility ten years from now.
For example, Data Science is currently one of the most sought-after fields, and there are many reasons for this. Given the recent surge in employment opportunities for data scientists, it’s safe to assume that this is one of the best fields to enter in the coming decade. Therefore, acquiring this skill will help you stand out as a qualified candidate for future jobs.
Keeping the opportunities in mind can really help you in earning a good living and doing that is in demand because who wants to do a job that holds no meaning in the coming future?
What’s My Ideal Work-Life Balance?
When planning out your professional future, one of the most important decisions you will have to make concerns the amount of time you plan to spend working.
The more time you dedicate to your career, whether at work or honing your skills, the more likely you are to succeed.
It is essential to make room in your schedule for personal time; otherwise, you run the risk of becoming burned out or losing your motivation. Taking the time to find a work-life equilibrium that suits your individual needs can pay dividends later on.
Does This Career Fulfill My Financial Needs?
This is the deciding factor for many people when deciding on a career, as it provides the clearest picture of the path’s likely success. Choose a profession only if you are confident that it will provide for your long-term financial security and allow you to meet your immediate living expenses. The inability to fulfill this need in your chosen profession is a common source of disappointment and regret.
So in order to make the right choice, you must tick all the checkboxes from passion to financial needs, and then you’ll be able to decide what you really wanna do when you grow up.
Winding Up
Like many things in life, there is no perfect answer to the question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” The process of finding a career path that’s right for you is a messy, complicated journey that requires you to explore your passions, strengths, skills, current opportunities, and limitations.
However, if you answer these questions in an unbiased way, you will be certain to collect all of the relevant information that you require in order to make a convincing choice.
After making the decision to pursue that line of work, we strongly encourage you to give it your all in order to achieve your full potential and make the most of the opportunities it presents.
Find out more about choosing the right career while answering the right questions by downloading the pdf below:
