If you were to move to a different country, one you’d never been to before and had no concrete knowledge about, would it make sense to look inside yourself to figure out which region of the country would be a good fit for you?
Maybe at first. You could think about what you liked or didn’t like about your current living situation. You could reflect on whether you wanted an urban, suburban, or rural area. You could make a list of the characteristics that would be most important to you in your new home.
But after a point such reflection would become useless. After all, your internal knowledge of this foreign country is limited and probably riddled with assumptions.
To find your ideal location in this new country you’d eventually need to learn more about it. You might talk to people who had lived there, read books, or take a trip to scout out the lay of the land. After doing these things you’d be able to make a much better decision about where to settle down. And after a year of living in this new place, you’d be able to refine your idea of where you’d most want to be living even further.
Just as your ideal neighborhood is found by external exploration, your ideal career is similarly an exercise in exploring and trying different things out. Neither answer lies totally within you or your current knowledge base.
So if you’re confused about what you most want to be doing with your career, please stop thinking about it. And start doing something to give yourself more information.
Have you ever spent too much time in introspection? How did it affect you? Leave a comment below!
So tempted to just do some internships/ shadowing/ Part Time work to figure this out… but debt / bills keeps me trapped. It sucks 🙁
I can appreciate feeling trapped, but you still might be able to try even smaller moves, like informational interviewing or joining a relevant organization. Small steps can add up, so try to find little things that you can do to keep moving the ball forward. Best of luck!
After moving halfway across the United States and spending a year in a new location, I actually sometimes feel like I moved to a foreign country because people and the way of life are so different. Reading this post made me feel better. I took a huge plunge and did explore and try out a new career path and while it didn’t work out and I am in the process of determining my next step, I have been able to refine what I want a bit more.
That’s really interesting- thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience Rosemary! I’m glad you’re getting clearer on what you’re looking for, and I hope your next career/ location step works out well for you.