<p>I’m talking about careerwise, not family or kids or anything like that, but what you wanted to do when you graduated from college. I know that it hits everyone at different times but when did what you wanted to do hit you and how did you know it? I’m really at a crossroads with what I want to do with my life and I’m looking for some insight on how to figure out what I want.</p>
<p>I’m 41 and wrestling with this very issue. My husband made a big career change in his mid-40s. I think for some of us, this is a returning issue rather than figuring it out for life.</p>
<p>When I was about 7, I wanted to be a singing surgeon. Then I decided I wanted to be a lawyer when I was 9 and my family had a personal injury case. Although it was seeing the judge that made me decide, I have never actually had any interest in being a judge. First, I wanted to be a famous criminal defense attorney. Then, I volunteered for the public defender’s office and actually met some potential clients. I now work on the civil side. If I did anything else career wise, it would be to be a special education advocate for parents and children because of my experiences with my own children and the sped system.</p>
<p>As for my original career goal, I can’t carry a tune and the first time I had to dissect something, I fainted.</p>
<p>It isn’t what you want to do, it becomes what is practical at the time. I may have wanted to be an opera singer, but not being allowed in the mandatory junior high choir class meant that was never an option. For me it was deciding for medical school instead of grad school while in college- the future security played a role. A lot depends on which risks you are willing to take- your tolerance for the downsides possible in a career versus the potential upsides. Most of us never do get to do what we really want to- life (reality) gets in the way.</p>
<p>bloom where you are planted…somehow</p>
<p>You’re assuming that a person only does one thing in his or her life. I’ve known what I want to do with my life 3 times. Now working on finding #4.</p>
<p>I’m 61, and when I grow up, I want to be a pixie.</p>
<p>To the OP–I think you’re putting a little too much pressure on yourself. You don’t have to figure out what you want to do with your life; you just have to figure out what you want to do with the next year or two. </p>
<p>Your life will unfold the way it was meant to. Try to focus on the near term. Nobody can see where they’ll be in 10-20-30 years.</p>
<p>OP - looking at your posts, you are HS class of 2013. I don’t think many of us here knew what we wanted when we were 15 or 16. The best advice is to pursue what you enjoy and are good at. If you like math & science, look for related majors, same with liberal arts.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to change majors in college or even change colleges. I was a civil engineer for my first 1.5 years of college. Hit Physics 2 and realized that was not my passion. Switched to Management/Business at the beginning of 2nd semester sophomore year and actually changed colleges after sophomore year and majored in accounting. I had no interest in pure accounting, but loved analyzing numbers. Spent a year in a controller’s dept of a bank before I moved to lending side and after my MBA found my way onto Wall Street (now buy side for large pension fund). Did I think I would be doing this when I was 16? Absolutely not - I didn’t even know what pension funds were.</p>
<p>By the time I was a senior in high school my eventual career was on my radar. It was the same career as my deceased grandparents so I never knew anyone who actually practiced architecture. I wasn’t sure enough to go straight into an undergrad architecture program. When I was in my early 40s I had a bit of a midlife crisis and tried out writing and illustrating children’s books. I wrote a couple I still think are pretty good, but never managed to sell them, so I went back to doing more architecture and more straight painting as opposed to illustration type painting.</p>
<p>My first 1 1/2 years of college was spent in one major, and than I switched to another. Although my work has always been related to my major it has evolved and changed several times. Our lives are a journey that take us in make directions so enjoy it and focus on the short term goal of the next 5 years.</p>
<p>I have always been jealous of the rare person that found their passion young, and followed it through their entire lives. And were able to make a living at it. Writers, artists, doctors, they are around us. But there are many more that either find their passion later in life, or never quite find something to be completely passionate about.</p>