Career Choice other Peoples Opinions Decision Making Independent Responsibility
Being able to make decisions and to stand by them, is one of life's most important skills. By the end of school or university life, the process of decision making should be fairly well understood. A few bad decisions here and there is an acceptable part of growing up, but it helps to keep them to a minimum and more importantly, one should always be ready to learn from them.
The responsibility for making decisions about your career choice should be yours. If such a decision has to be referred to a committee of friends, family, colleagues or anyone else, the responsibility is no longer yours alone. Very quickly, the impossibility of trying to please everybody becomes evident, tempers fray and what should be a rational decision made by you, becomes an emotional big deal for everyone involved. Friends, colleagues and families will all have their opinions, and it is only fair to listen to their comments, but it is unreasonable for you to go about fulfilling their dream for your life.
A career choice is a deeply personal issue. It is better to make your own mistakes and be flexible enough to change, than obediently to do what others would like you to do just to keep them quiet. While decisions need not be final, a change will make the next decision more loaded and difficult to make.
When still very young, a good deal of foolishness or fantasy is thrown into the mix of ideas used to make decisions about your career choice. It is perfectly respectable to be an idealist, and to have dreams that appear crazy to older people. The realities of having to pay the rent etc. have their unique contribution to keeping one's feet on the ground. But while still being young, you have the energy, the stamina and the creativity to do what it takes to achieve your dreams. For the sake of being true to yourself, you have to try!
Understanding the boundaries around your own personhood is a powerful antidote to feeling obligated to do anything simply because somebody else wants you to. Controlling others is unhealthy, unkind and wrong. Allowing oneself to be controlled is equally wrong. Making decisions should be a liberating experience. Every fresh decision is a further expression of who you are, who you want to be and where you are going.
When God made Adam and Eve, (If you do not believe in God, you don't have to read this bit) He gave each of them - recognising them as individuals - two feet. Even today, as independent human beings, we all have to learn to stand on our own two feet. It is ridiculous and impossible to stand on another's feet. So whatever else you do, don't let other people's opinions affect your career choice.
