We’ve all got so many different things in us, so many different potentials in us, but the modern world responds and rewards specialization, people who know how to zero in on a particular thing. The ideal sweet spot is that you’re very interested in a specialized bit of the world that society needs but where there are few other competitors, and you can draw a good salary. But that happens for very few of us. Indeed for many of us, we might not ever know what we actually want to do. We’ve got intimations of it on a Sunday evening but can’t really bring it into the kind of focus that you need to sort of get the job on a Monday morning. And of course we can’t necessarily pursue as many different careers as our imaginations would like. … But most of us at the age of 16 or 17, we start making some choices and by the time you’re 21 or 22, those choices are hardening. You’ve actually already reduced the kind of options for yourself. By the time you’ve got a family and you’re settled in a particular job, it takes unbelievable courage and effort and will to change your career. So, there are a lot of people out there who may be drawing quite a good salary but are just not necessarily deeply satisfied by their work. And it’s very painful—very painful.
Author: Alain de Botton
Source: Deloitte Review
Subjects: Career, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development
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