Wherever we interact with the kids, we find a lot of confusion in their minds about their career choices. Kids are confused and the parents are also equally confused. I observed that there is a fundamental problem while making these choices. Mostly, parents and the kids concentrate on what a career option has to offer in terms of money, power, and comforts, rather than focusing on what is there to do.
The moment we evaluate the career options in terms of what are we going to get out of that, we enter the domain of mental stories and concepts. Suppose we evaluate the career options in terms of money, first of all, we believe in the stories of money prevalent in society. Money can buy us the comforts and pleasures. This is one of the most prevalent stories of money. But do we get an opportunity to verify these stories right from the horse's mouth? Have we interacted with the people who have money? The moment we interact with those people and get to see the sufferings in their lives, our mental stories around money will undergo a significant shift. Similar are the stories around power. Most people in society have some impression of power and based on these false impressions, they make the most significant decisions about their careers and the careers of their kids.
In fact, the entire concept of comfort and pleasure is also so transient. It is very tempting to buy a comfortable home and stay there. But you stay there for a few days and then you feel like having a change. Even the rich breakfast and dinner of the best five-star hotels become quite boring in a few days. You go to the best of the places to visit and within a few days, you will have an urge to come back home in a few days. That means the entire concept of comfort and pleasure is transient. Probably we just want change and that change is never permanent. The moment we reach a different ecosystem, we seek change again. That means we intrinsically want to explore new things and seeking comforts and pleasures is oversold by society and since we have not developed the faculty of discrimination and logic, we fall into the trap.
That is the reason why such a crucial decision should not be based on mental stories. Action is real. There is no mental story there. Kids can easily see for themselves as to what they like to do. For example, somebody may like to solve puzzles, somebody may like to talk to people around, somebody may like to explore the deep secrets of nature, somebody may be interested in creating systems for the people and society, somebody may be interested in sports somebody may be interested in skits and dramas, somebody may be interested in communication and somebody in law. We just need to look at the job profiles offered by different careers and what are we required to do at the workplace. If we like to do what we are required to do in a particular job, then we have clicked the right option.
Once we choose a career based on actions rather than the mental concepts of money and power, our decisions become more realistic. We do what we enjoy in the workplace. Since we engage in work we love, we develop the necessary skills and become experts. Money follows automatically as we possess the required skills and approach our work with passion. I observe many people in nearly every profession, including civil services and CA, two careers with which I am closely associated. Most who choose these career paths based on mental constructs surrounding money and power find themselves disappointed after about 10 years. Those who genuinely love their work profile engage passionately, enjoy their office environment, and lead fulfilling lives. They are not bored or afraid, and they embrace new challenges. Conversely, many enter these careers with misguided concepts and suffer endlessly. I believe it is our primary duty as parents to guide our children in making informed choices rather than imposing our own confusion and mental constructs on them.
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