When teens or young adults ask me how to decide what they should major in, I tell them it really doesn’t matter because they most likely won’t be working in that field in 20 years, anyway.

Daddy was like a sponge. He was blind, grew up in poverty, and wanted to learn everything he possibly could about all types of topics. He just had a thirst for learning.

I was always a quick learner but bored in school so never studied and got good grades, anyway. It frustrated him so much that I didn’t apply myself, but as long as I got B’s I didn’t care.

I literally never studied in high school and didn’t even know how to when I got to college. I lived with my sister the first 2 years and basically copied what I saw her doing. Of course, I only did it a little bit, just enough to make sure I got those B’s.

He would be so happy to see that for the past 22+ years, I’ve applied myself to learning every single day, but that’s only because I found my passion. My worst work day is if I feel like it’s been wasted on trivial stuff and I’ve been deprived of challenge and learning.

If I can find something I love to learn about, I guarantee you can, too!

I still remember one of my college roommates saying about 10 years ago, “I can’t believe you never studied in college and now you’re always reading and highlighting in books!” Lol – they were so right. I think about that regularly. All it took was to find something I wanted to learn about.

When teens or young adults ask me how to decide what they should major in, I tell them it really doesn’t matter because they most likely won’t be working in that field in 20 years, anyway.

Plus that, they don’t even know what careers will be possible in 20 years! How can they know they’ll like them? The internet didn’t exist when I was in college and I hated the computer programming courses I took (Fortran, anyone?).

So…. my advice to anyone, young or old, is to figure out what you really like and don’t like. I don’t mean *subjects* but concepts or traits.

Like, in my 30’s I finally understood these things about myself:

• I hate repetitive tasks;
• I love the big picture;
• I get bored easily;
• I hate bureaucracy and talking things to death;
• I like risk (not physical, though!);
• I love brainstorming;
• I’m a perfectionist (thought I was a procrastinator until I understood perfectionists);
• once the work on the big picture is coming into focus I begin to get bored because it’s getting close to repetitive task time and I want the next big picture.

Understanding myself has helped me create my own niche within my industry, helped me avoid work I know I’ll be miserable doing, and pursue work I know I’ll get fulfillment from.

Anyone who can figure themselves out like that – what makes them cringe and what makes them buzz, and WHY – is close to being able to find their path in life.

If you know someone struggling to make the most of their talents and gifts, please encourage them to get to know themselves better.

It can be the difference between a life of drudgery and one of looking forward to every day!