How to Choose a Career

How to Choose a Career When You Aren’t Passionate About Anything

Thinking about how to choose a career when you aren’t passionate about anything?

In today’s world, not many of us get to choose a career that we truly want because, let’s face it, almost 99% of us are working just for the money…

Seven years ago, that was me. I was just totally unfulfilled and hated my job.

But I made some BIG shifts and ended up in a career I LOVE! I’ll share some ways I found my passion in this article 🙂

How to Choose a Career When You Aren’t Passionate About Anything

  1. Sit and Take Time to Self Reflect
  2. Take a Career Quiz and Psychometric Testing for Career Guidance
  3. Recall Your Childhood Joy and Dreams
  4. Hire a Career Coach
  5. Talk to Your Friends and Family
  6. Identify Your Skills that Bring Joy
  7. Try out Internship Opportunities Short Term
  8. Try something new
  9. Try different workshops, skills, or hobbies

Disclosure:

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Why Is Choosing The Right Career Important?

Choosing the right career is super important. It’s like choosing the perfect ice cream flavor! Get the right one, and life feels great. Get the wrong one, and you are literally stuck with a cone of regret. 

Your career is literally where you spend most of your time (8 hours, to be precise), and doing something that you dread doing is not only going to impact you physically but also mentally. 

But the question is, how do you choose the correct career that is tailored to what you love to do?

Well, let’s dive into some ways to find the perfect career even when you are not passionate about anything. 

How to Choose a Career When You Aren’t Passionate About Anything

1. Sit and Take Time to Self Reflect

The first key step in making any decision that impacts your life is to sit on your own and take your time to do some self-reflection. 

Take a piece of paper and write down questions such as: 

  • What am I passionate about?
  • What excites me? 
  • What skill do I love using?
  • What kind of life do I want to live? 

This kind of question may seem to be so basic, but when you actually take time to reflect on it, you will find these to be thought-provoking.

This is where you get to actually know yourself a little bit. 

Without this reflective pit stop, you might find yourself in a job that feels more like wearing shoes two sizes too small, painful and just not right. 

So, slow down, reflect, and align your career choices with you, future you will thank you for it!

2. Take a Career Quiz and Psychometric Testing for Career Guidance

The great thing about the internet now is that you can literally figure out anything you want online and that includes getting to know yourself better with tailored quizzes! 

You can also do research on a free career quiz or psychometric test that is tailored to help you to uncover hidden talents, personality traits, and career paths you might not have considered.

Psychometric and career tests aim to  dive deeper into who you are as a person, then analyze your strengths, weaknesses, and work style to recommend careers that align with your natural abilities, likes, dislikes, and interests. 

Think of it as a GPS for your professional life, it may not tell you exactly what job to pick, but it can help to narrow down the options and point you in the right direction. 

So, why wander when you can chart your course with a little help from technology? It’s like having a career coach in your back pocket!

3. Recall Your Childhood Joy and Dreams

Going back to your childhood and recalling some of the dreams you had then is like dusting off the dust on an old treasure box!

Maybe you will remember those days where you used to play imaginary teacher with dolls as your student and remembered how much you love teaching or becoming an educator.

Or maybe those times where you spent hours baking the perfect recipes and were excited to share your creation with your family?

Those little moments often held clues to the things that made you truly happy before life got all serious and career focused. 

Revisiting them can spark ideas for a career path that doesn’t just pay the bills but lights up your soul.

Sometimes, the best way forward is to take a little trip down nostalgia alley!

4. Hire a Career Coach

Hiring a career coach is basically like having a personal trainer, but of course this is focused on your career!

Career coaches are often people that are trained to analyse psychological aspects of someone’s character and believe it or not, they do sometimes have valuable insights that will make you go “wow I never thought of it like that!”

A career coach can definitely help you in  fine tuning your skills, navigate your options, craft a game plan for your career success and offer a fresh perspective that’s not clouded by your own doubts or overthinking.

Although the fee to hire a career coach may be high as they are someone that has expertise, it can totally be worth it for someone that wants a fresher perspective. 

Investing in a coach isn’t just about finding a job, it’s about unlocking your potential and setting yourself up for long-term success!

5. Talk to Your Friends and Family

Talking to your friends and family is also a fantastic way to get to know yourself better from a different point of view. 

Think of it as crowdsourcing ideas from the people who know you best. These are the people that have seen you in action, whether it’s celebrating your wins, seeing you tackle challenges or geeking out at your favorite hobbies in front of them. 

They can definitely offer you insights that you might not even consider before. 

Sometimes, your best friend might say, “You’re so good at organizing events, have you thought about event planning?” or your brother might remind you how much you light up when you talk about baking. These little reminders can be career gold. 

6. Identify Your Skills that Brings Joy

Remember those days where you spent hours building the perfect lego village? Identifying skills that bring you joy is like finding the secret sauce for your dream career. 

It’s blending what you are good at and what brings you the most joy in life. When you focus on a career that utilises the skills that bring you happiness, you will not see a career as a chore and just merely chasing paychecks, but as something that truly energizes you. 

Maybe you light up when teaching others, which could point you toward teaching or leadership roles. Or perhaps you love organizing mess and chaos, making project management your strong suit.

By recognizing the talents that spark happiness, you can align your career path with your passions and choose a career that actually makes you happy.

7. Try out Internship Opportunities Short Term

Thinking of trying something but not wanting to commit for a long time? Trying out a short-term internship role is like sampling a buffet before committing to a full plate. 

It can give you a taste of different career paths without the long-term pressure. Internships let you step into the role for a shorter period of time and you get to really learn about the industry, ask questions, and reflect if this is something you want to do for a long time. 

It’s a chance to test the waters, build hands-on experience, and figure out if that dream job you’ve imagined is actually the right fit for you.

Plus, they’re fantastic for networking! Those short-term gigs can connect you with mentors, peers, and future job leads. Think of internships as a career trial run. 

8. Try Something New

If you are stuck at figuring out what you actually love doing, why not try something you have never done before? 

This could spark new interests and help you in figuring out what you actually want. It’s like hitting the refresh button on your career. 

Sticking to the same routine can feel comforting and like you don’t want to leave the bubble, but it might also hold you back from discovering your talents and passion in life. 

Whether it’s learning a new skill, exploring a different industry, or taking on a side hustle, stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to unexpected opportunities and insights about yourself.

So, don’t be afraid to try new things. You can get many free resources online that teach you new skills or hobbies to try out. 

9. Try Different Workshop, Skills or Hobbies

Exploring different skills and hobbies isn’t just about doing something for fun,  but it’s actually a smart way to uncover talents that could be game changers for your career. 

You might walk into a pottery class thinking you’re just killing time, only to discover a hidden creative streak that sparks a new career direction. Or maybe you take a coding workshop and realize you have a knack for building apps, leading you down a completely different professional path.

This is a great way to do something for fun but also discover your passions and what truly brings you joy by unlocking new skills or hobbies. 

FAQs

Questions to Ask Yourself When Trying to Understand the Right Career?

When choosing a right career, you want to ask yourself the questions of What am I passionate about? What excites me? What skill do I love using? What kind of life do I want to live? 

Think about some things you loved doing when you were little and revisit those feelings and memories. You might remember something that truly makes you happy and alive. 

How Do I Know If a Career Is Not Right For Me?

Figuring out if a career isn’t right for you can be something straightforward, there are definitely some red flags to watch out for. 

First off, if you dread the thought of getting up in the morning and heading to work, that’s a tell tale sign that something’s off

When you’re constantly counting down the minutes until the workday ends or feel drained and unmotivated, it might mean the job doesn’t align with your passions or strengths. 

If you’re spending more time wondering, “Is this it?” than actually enjoying the work, it’s a signal to reassess your choices and figure out the next step.

Staying in a job that you dread is just going to drain you physically and mentally. 

Are you still wondering how to choose a career when you aren’t passionate about anything?

When searching for the right career, it is important to ask yourself the question of “will I enjoy doing this for a long time?” because if you don’t, there are high chances that you will not enjoy the work and it will just eventually lead to burnout and frustration.

First step first, sit on your own to self-reflect and understand yourself before you choose the right career to dive in. 

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