Let’s talk about careers.

When do you choose one? How do you choose one? When and how do you know it’s the right one for you? Is it ok to switch? Can we switch multiple times in our life?

These are just some of the questions that go through my mind on a daily basis and I know I’m not alone. I wanted to write this post because I want other people out there to know that they’re not alone either.

Choosing a career is HARD. For some it does come easy but for the majority of us it takes some soul searching and even then we may not find it. Society tells us we need to pick one thing we want to do and do that for the rest of our lives. But I’m here to bust that myth because how is this at all realistic? How are we supposed to know at 18 what we want to do with our lives? And then actually have the maturity to stick with that for decades?

Society also tells us that we should choose a career that we love and we’ll never work a day in our lives. I also want to bust this myth because that is so unrealistic! Even in jobs we love, there will be hard days. There will be days we want to quit, and there will just be days that SUCK and feel like work.

I feel that a well rounded individual who has multiple interests should be allowed to have multiple careers. This can be throughout their life or even at the same time. I love the idea of having multiple streams of income because if I happen to lose out on one thing I have the others to keep me going. Even better for me, who likes to switch careers every few years, it gives me the added security of quitting one job. Maybe I lose the passion for it but I’m able to continue bringing in money to survive.

I hope that all of this is making sense. I want to be vulnerable here and let everyone out there know that I’ve struggled in finding my place in the world. I’ve switched careers so many times it feels like I’ll never find that one thing that I’m passionate about. I honestly feel like I’ll keep switching careers until I retire. Because the thing about me is, I love to dream and I love to learn. If I could go to school forever learning new things I would be set. But unfortunately that doesn’t pay the bills.

This feels like a blabbering post but I want you all to know that I’m still figuring this out as well. I don’t think any of us will ever fully figure this out (if you do please call me because I need some answers). I think the only thing we can do in this life is pursue what gives us joy in that moment.

When you’re passionate about something you go to the ends of the earth to make that happen. But when you feel that you can’t do that anymore in a specific industry or for a specific job then it’s time to find the next thing that’s going to bring you joy. Maybe this is crazy talk. Starting over in a new job is hard. Starting over in a completely new industry is hard.

But one thing I’ve learned is that life is so short so why not pursue what’s bringing you happiness? Why brush that off because of the risks you would have to take or the work you would have to put in or the money it would cost to start over?

My husband and I are going to be starting a family soon and all I can think about is will I have a career to talk about at my kids career day at school? Will I be able to provide for my kids if I’m constantly shifting careers? Luckily I have an extremely supportive partner who believes in me and wants to see me happy. But I don’t want the entire burden to be on him.

Then I thought back to how hard I work when I’m starting something I’m passionate about. So I know that I can make anything happen when I’m happy. So that’s what I’m going to choose to do. I’m not going to choose a career, I’m going to choose happiness.