One of the most difficult challenges of life is finding your calling. To do something that you enjoy, that also supports your life, while providing a sense of meaning. You may have multiple callings that support your life in different ways.
Meaning is more important than anything else.
You can do anything you want with the right training.
What do you want to do? A short question that can be painfully difficult to answer. You need to find paths along Body, Mind, and Spirit that you identify with and can walk forever. Your path becomes your purpose, where your confidence is derived, and your daily prayer to mastery.
Without a path young men have no aim and no direction. You risk mental illness without a path because you don’t have any meaning in life. Without meaning, you resort to pleasure; entertainment addictions, drugs, or other vices that do not contain a path to mastery.
How to Find Your Paths
Gain knowledge. Experiment by trying out numerous paths when you’re young, and find the ones you can put the most hours into without quitting. Look at the hobbies you perform, watch YouTube videos of, read books about, etc. Once you realize fulfillment is found on the path, you will go farther and deeper, finding more challenge and fulfillment than without.
Taking a career test like Sokanu can give you an idea of what you might want, but it’s better to find it than be told what it is. Ideally you can talk to someone who is doing what you are interested in doing, if you can’t outright practice it now like with some professions that require deep experience. Most everyone will want to help out a young person, or anyone for that matter who seems genuine about learning what they do.
Khan Academy Careers
Khan Academy is a non-profit education company that can teach you math, English, finance and many other mental pursuits. This website should be bookmarked by everyone. You can get a math education anywhere on the planet for free by elite instructors, and often Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy himself.
Khan has an excellent careers section that is particularly useful for young people who aren’t sure what they want to be or the path they want to follow.
The careers section is separated by career categories. For example, “work in tech” contains interviews, salaries, and information about roles like product design, customer success, and even content about what it’s like to be a Startup co-founder and CEO.
It’s not just tech jobs, either. Khan Academy also lists paths like Police Officer, Welder, Freelance journalist, podcaster, registered nurse, physical therapist and Yacht Captain to name a few.
This is just one resource to help you find the many paths you will follow throughout your lifetime.