Why is a banker a banker? A lawyer, a lawyer? A doctor, a doctor? In other words, why do people do what they do? Most of us will give different answers to this question. Robert Louis Stevenson, a 19th-century Scottish writer, had an interesting point to make on the subject. He suggested that people do what they do because they are trapped.
The above explanation may sound a bit harsh at first, but since, you (dear reader) are a thinking individual, you can contemplate on this. A child is hardly in trousers before his well-meaning caregivers whip him into school; hardly done with school before they smuggle him into an office; and get him married into a societal bargain. All this before he could find any time to imagine that there might be an alternate life course available. At every stage of life, he believes that he is meant to be there and accepts it as his fate.
On the other hand, you are different from this fellow. You think. More importantly, you question. You can see through these deceptions and make informed choices as a free man or woman would. That being said, it’s natural that you are confused as well. How to take that first step, or second, or third – you haven’t figured it out yet, nor do you know how to do it. So, to clear your confusion and help you find the right path, let me bring some Stevenson wisdom from his essay On the Choice of Profession.
Do you have a preference?
It could be anything. A little inclination is fine. If you have that, don’t hesitate for a second to go for it. Years later, when you would look back at your life, you’d regret for not being able to find courage, for not standing up for yourself, for not saying or doing things that you could have (and you should have)…
What if there is no preference, only confusion?
That is fine too. In that case, you will have to acknowledge the bitter reality of the professional world. That you cannot have it all. A banker might make a lot of money but he would struggle to find time for himself. A painter might derive a lot of pleasure from his art but he would struggle to earn even basic necessities. A doctor might not enjoy a lot of holidays. An engineer, while working mostly with machines, might miss out on human-interaction. You may not have any preference in terms of career options, but surely, you would have it in terms of life. Ask yourself this simple question: what am I willing to give up on, if I were to make money? What comfort, what luxury can I sacrifice?
I am certain that you’d have more thoughts and they’d provoke reflection in your mind. Let them. As long as you are being honest with yourself and attending these basic questions with sincerity, you’d go much farther than most of the humanity has.
Kalampedia 