This is what you should pursue in life

The most fundamental question we ask ourselves is what to pursue in our lives.

From a very young age, we are asked to decide on a professional path. We decide whether or not to go to university, in a field we consider exciting, in a field we can imagine working in, or in a field that offers us the best opportunities.

I've always been fascinated by that. We're supposed to decide which direction our lives should go without fully knowing ourselves. When you graduate from high school, you've only just begun to discover who you really are. You're miles away from even digging deep enough to find out who you are and what you truly want in life. Considering how much we change in our 20s, we ought to regret the choices we made at the time. In other words, do most people regret the choices they made in their 20s?

Well, my theory is that we each choose a path and adjust our wants and needs to fit that direction as much as possible, and those who are unable to conform according to their chosen direction usually quit and change course.

Having changed direction myself, I have been thinking about how the question of what we should pursue can be handled more appropriately.

To do this, we will conduct a thought exercise.

Imagine what you would do even if it didn't bring you money, fame, or success. Something you can't imagine life without, something that gives you so much pleasure that you continue to do it even if it doesn't provide you with money, fame, or success. You do it simply because you enjoy doing it. That is what you should pursue.

The most difficult aspect of this exercise is that usually, this something is right in front of us. We are just incapable of seeing it. Perhaps this is because we are taught to pursue things that will bring us money, fame, or success. Having done that thing solely as a passion, we are not able to see it as a career path. But shouldn't our career be something we are passionate about? So why do we go out of our way to learn something new and pressure ourselves to be passionate about it? Why don't we find a way to take what we're excited about and turn it into something that can bring us money, fame, or success?

The best part is that most people "fail" (I say that word with caution because it is subjective) in their particular field because they don't have the necessary commitment to achieve their goal. Why? Simply because they have chosen to pursue a career which they would only do if it brought them money, fame, or success. Their commitment to that pursuit is tied strictly to those the things above, so once it no longer fulfills those goals, they abandon that pursuit.

However, someone who has made their passion into a career has the devotion to persevere through those difficult times because for them it was never about money, fame, or success, it was only ever for their passion. While these things can come and go, they continue doing what they love as well as being satisfied with the decision they made in their 20s.