How to succeed in your career path
choosing a career path can a very difficult aspect in your life, especially at a young age. It’s an important decision to make, which will determine the way you live your life. Although there is no one clear path that one can follow to only success, there are a few tips and recommendations that I have put together below which should help you along the way.
The first thing that you need to understand is what you want out of life. Many people have no clue as to what they want out of life, but if you do then this should be your first priority. What kind of job do you want? What kind of work environment? Do you want a job that’s creative or more structured? It would be best for your future if you took the time to figure this out as soon as possible so that it won’t take up too much time when starting off with your career pursuit. People often get caught up in the rat race too early on in their lives and then 5, 10 even 20 years later realize what they’ve been missing all these years.
You also need to understand what sort of education level are required for these jobs or careers that are in line with what your goals are. This will help ensure that the hard work and effort that it may take from getting a higher education will pay off in the future in terms of money and stability at work. If going after something like an arts degree seems appealing, then think about getting a part time job related to this field so you don’t end up failing miserably and going towards something completely different after all your hard work.
Browsing jobs online is a great place to start, especially since you can get a better insight of the market in relation to your own experience and education. You can also visit job fairs – if you want to take it one step further!
If you’re still in High school, consider what your strengths are. Think about what you’re good at and what sort of fields would take advantage of these skills that you’ve developed over the years. Do some research, but remember to keep in mind that you can always change things around later on in life if need be. However, this isn’t recommended since it will waste valuable time, effort and money invested when pursuing education. Take advantage of your youth while you still can!
If I had this advice when I graduated high school and was starting out with my first job back in 2005, I would have saved about $4,000 by not having to deal with some of the bureaucracy involved with student loans for courses that didn’t even line up with my goals as a teenager and “young adult”. It’s not too late! You CAN go back at any point in life and do something different. Your brain is like a muscle – the more stimulus that is given for learning new things keeps it active which allows for flexibility not only at work but life as well! You’ll learn new things, pick up valuable skills, develop new contacts and make yourself more marketable in the future. This is a great thing to take advantage of!
Tips on staying motivated
The most difficult part of pursuing post-secondary education is staying motivated while taking on difficult courses in an environment surrounded by other students who could be your competition (or so you think). It’s like high school all over again – you’re constantly graded and categorized against others with regards to grades and marks. Their success will reflect upon you if you are in the same class. In the end, it can be stressful if you don’t take care of yourself and make sure that you maintain good study habits among other things. I’d like to share some useful tips for those who are in this transition process or may have already left school but are still feeling that “academic burnout” which can be detrimental to one’s well-being:
1 . Get a job! If your course load is too heavy or too much for your schedule, then consider getting another part-time job outside of school so that you can afford the cost of books, tools/materials used for labs/projects as well as maintaining good living conditions (e.g bedroom set, laptop computer with Internet access and tech support) while taking care of other living expenses such as food, electricity/gas bills etc.
2 . Find a mentor! Find someone whom has been there before you – someone whom has experience.