You often hear that in order to get far in life, you should keep your options open. Take all the classes, study hard for everything, get involved in 5 clubs and 2 sports teams, more, more, and MORE. You inherit the thought process, “How can I do everything” and meticulously plan how you will do everything today…or fail miserably and only do 3% of everything you intended to do.

You’re not alone in this. I have many memories of my mother telling me that I should remember everything that I learn in school – after all, it’s all important, right? I’m just wasting time if I can’t recall all the information I learned in my classes a few months down the line. Most of my afternoons were filled with various extracurriculars, and my weekends with activities, whether I really wanted to go or not. As I grew older, I felt like I had less control of what I wanted to do and instead, participated in things because I “had” to. The invisible power to choose seemed to slip into the hands of everyone around me, including friends, family, and professors.

After a year in college of what felt like “being busy without being productive,” I’ve finally been able to give myself some time to breathe. A LOT more time. With this time, I had the opportunity to think and realize what is truly important to me. Banished are the fake obligations and the thoughts of “I have to go to this” or “I have to do this.” For the time being, I’m finished with “playing” and am ready to spend my energy in more meaningful ways.

Make a Decision

If you’re looking to explore your options because you’re unhappy with your current situation, I’m all for it. As Angela Duckworth mentions in her book, “Grit”, “Before hard work comes play.” After all, if you have no idea what you enjoy or want to do as a career, it makes sense to explore your options. However, it’s important to push past the surface level for the activities that really catch your attention. Ideally, it’s a combination of something you have some natural skill towards and have a strong passion for. Once you’ve made your decision, you’re able to invest all your time and energy, which results in a few benefits:

1. You don’t feel the need to keep exploring once you’ve found something akin to home. Your chosen field will guide many of your future decisions, and you can start to reject opportunities that once seemed tantalizing because they no longer align with your goals. You become more focused and can better utilize your time.
2. You begin to make visible progress in this one area rather than little to no progress in many different areas, and this in itself may be the momentum you need to keep going, again and again. You fall in love with the process and the little aspects of your chosen field. If you’re truly passionate, there’s no end to the discovery process. You’ll continue to hone your skills in minute ways and encounter a million different scenarios that challenge your comfort zone. The small but incremental progress will make you a master in your field.  
3. You naturally find others who have already gone down a similar path or are also interested in your field. Within this community, you find many people who want to celebrate with you by sharing their own ideas and stories. Communities are powerful this way – you have the support and knowledge of hundreds to thousands of people who you can lean on for support and ideas. You may even find yourself a mentor who can guide you when you’re in a slump.

Despite knowing all this, deciding which field to go all in on can be terrifying. You may feel like if you decide now, there’s no going back. You’ll have wasted a lot of time if you fail in that field. If you’ve reached a bump in the road, I challenge you to think about if that moment is fleeting. Ask yourself, is there a silver lining you can look forward to? If the answer is yes, I encourage you to push on. I can’t think of a single person who loves every aspect of their chosen career, but the overall package is something they love and find meaningful and thus, continue to do every day. If you’ve been feeling unhappy for several years – or even months – as a result of this field, feel free to explore your options and make the changes you need to. After all, you have the freedom of choice. Just because you have made a choice, doesn’t mean you can’t change it. The idea of choosing simply gives you the liberty to invest more energy into a singular field to figure out if it’s really the field for you.

So go ahead, keep exploring your options. There’s no pressure in having to choose right now. There’s a lot to learn in the world around you. But be mindful of how you feel at the end of the day. Do you feel like you made meaningful progress towards your goals, or do you feel drained, as if time has been wasted doing what everyone else wants you to do?