Figuring out what to do with your life is difficult.
You usually have to find a way to balance your interests with your needs to survive in modern society.
The great thing about the world today is that there are many different opportunities available if you know how to find them.
Here are a few things you can do to help you find your path and determine your life’s course.
What Should I Do With My Life? (How To Find Your Path)
1. Reflect On Your Skills And Natural Talents
No matter what age you are, it’s worth determining what natural skills and talents you possess.
Even those who are just graduating high school have had enough experience in life to determine some of the skills and talents they have.
For example, perhaps you performed well in school.
You had great marks in your classes and knew how to study for each test.
This indicates that you have great focus, information retention, and research ability.
You can then take that understanding of your skills and determine what career paths utilize those skills.
Perhaps you’re someone who enjoyed sports in school.
If you were a player, you can try and hone your skills to play professionally.
You can also be a coach if you think you have what it takes to lead your team to victory.
There are several other professions related to sports too, like journalism, if you have writing talent.
By understanding what your natural skills and talents are, you can then determine what career paths need those skills and talents.
Succeeding in a career will come easier if you have natural talents that lend themselves well to that career.
Even if the career isn’t something you love, you can use your skills to climb the path quickly and shape your life from there.
Of course, you can also find ways to use your skills and talents to pursue something you are interested in.
It all begins with first understanding what skills and talents you have.
2. Develop New Skills
If you’re someone who knows what they want to do but doesn’t have the skills to do it, you can start your life path by developing those skills.
The first step you should take is determining what kind of skills the career you want needs.
If you’re interested in computers, for example, then you should start learning to code.
However, you should also learn more than just the programs that one company needs.
For example, if a particular position requires its workers to know Java, it might be worth learning Python and other programming languages, too.
You will have more to offer and can make yourself stand out from others who are applying for the same job.
Learning to code is a bit easier since there are tons of different resources to do so.
You can find free boot camps that will teach you how to code as well as get a professional education for it at various colleges and universities.
If you’re someone who wants to start their own business, it’s worth reading and researching the type of skills that top business owners possess.
For example, knowing to analyze data and motivating your employees are both great skills to have.
You can take classes, read books, and watch helpful videos about how to hone those skills.
Once you polish or learn new skills, you can start to offer employers more.
This, in turn, allows you to set the life path that you want in motion.
Take the time to learn what new skills you need to develop to live the kind of life that you want to live.
3. Take A Skills Assessment Test
If you’re completely unsure what skills you have or where to turn, then one of the best things you can do is take a skills assessment test.
According to Indeed, a skills assessment test asks you various questions to determine where your skills and abilities rest.
Many employers ask their prospective employees to take a skills assessment test to determine what skills they have and how advanced they are.
They can then use those results to determine if the employee matches the level of the position that they need filled.
For example, if an employer is looking for someone with experience, then that experience will show in the skills assessment test.
The prospective employee can rely on their experience to answer the questions and showcase their skills.
Although skill assessment tests are primarily used during the hiring process, you can also take them on your own.
There are plenty of places online that offer skill assessment tests.
CareerExplorer, for example, allows you to test yourself in a variety of ways.
Most importantly, it allows you to test your skills.
You may even discover that you have skills that you weren’t aware of before.
Once you understand what skills you have, you can start to look for ways to make money off of them.
This can get you started on your life path and help you determine what choices to make for your future.
Taking a skills assessment test can give you more information about your current level skills which you can then use to make decisions about your future.
4. Determine Interests
Besides knowing what skills you have, it’s also important to know what interests you have.
While you may find yourself needing to sacrifice your interest for a well-paying job, that isn’t always the case.
You may just not be aware that there’s a profession that marries your skills and interests out there.
Before you can start looking for a profession, however, you should first determine what your interests are.
You may have a few ideas, but if they’re not concrete, then taking a test can help you visualize them.
One great test that you can take is provided by the US Department of Labor.
It’s called the O*Net Interest Profiler.
When you take the test, you’ll answer the various questions that the profiler asks of you.
The test is 60 questions long.
Once you’re done, the data will get analyzed.
It will then demonstrate your interest level based on six interest areas.
Those areas include:
- Investigative
- Realistic
- Conventional
- Social
- Artistic
- Enterprising
The test goes a step further and shows you various career paths that relate to each interest.
It’s an easy way to get some ideas about possible professions that may intrigue you.
Once you have possible professions under your belt, you can start to research them and determine what skills you need to perform well in those careers.
You may also discover whether you need to attend college to do well in your career or if you’re able to join with some experience under your belt.
Taking a test about your interests can help you determine which careers match those interests.
5. Attend College
Some careers require you to have some sort of college degree before you can apply.
For example, if you want to get into anything science or medical-related, then you can expect to need a Bachelor’s Degree at the very least.
A college degree indicates that you have the basic skills and knowledge needed to perform the kind of work in that field.
With that basic knowledge, you can then get a job and start to hone your skills and gain experience.
Attending college is a good choice for people who aren’t entirely sure what they want to do with their life just yet.
Because you have to pay a good amount of money to attend, it’s a good motivating factor to focus and figure out what interests you the most.
Colleges also require their students to take a broad set of classes in different industries.
For example, you usually have to pass some English classes, some science classes, some math classes, and some history classes.
One of the subjects that you learn about in one of those classes might catch your interest.
You may choose to focus on that subject and get your degree in it.
Another great aspect of college is that it surrounds you with other academics.
Whether you rely on your professors or fellow students for advice, they may be able to point you in the right direction.
Professors, in particular, have been in your shoes before.
They can suggest things they did to help them determine what they wanted to do with their life.
If you’re unsure what career path to try, attending college is a good way to try things out and get some professional advice.
6. Attend Trade School
While college is a great way to further your education and set you up for life, it’s also quite expensive.
If the idea of tacking on a large amount of debt makes you uncomfortable, you might want to attend trade school instead.
Trade school is a great thing to do if you’re unsure what to do with your life.
It’s cheaper than college, so even if you graduate from trade school without knowing what to do next, you don’t have much debt added to your name.
Trade school is also ideal because it covers tons of different trades.
You might find life as an electrician interesting.
Perhaps you find hairstyling scratches your creative itch.
Maybe you end up discovering that mechanical work is satisfying.
The best thing about trade school is, that like college, it has tons of different fields for you to try.
You can try the ones that match your interests and start to develop the skills needed for a career in that field.
Trade schools are also handy for making connections with professionals in the field.
It’s possible to get a job right out of trade school.
If you’re unsure where to go with your life, consider joining a trade school and trying out the different fields to see if anything clicks for you.
7. Consult A Life Coach
Perhaps one of the reasons that you’re unsure of what to do with your life is because you’re not sure what you want to get out of it.
Once you know what you want out of life, you can start forming life goals.
After you have your goals, you can then make the plans to achieve those goals.
Consulting a life coach is a great way to help you determine your life goals and the steps needed to reach them.
A life coach can also help you determine what you want out of life.
For example, they can help you determine if financial success is the most important thing to you.
They can help you determine if your focus is on family and relationships.
You may even have a mix of different things.
Once you understand what you want out of life, they can help you formulate goals to get those things.
For example, maybe you want a healthy work-life balance in your life.
The kind of life that you want to live involves work that satisfies your needs but doesn’t infringe on your time with your family and friends.
In this case, the life coach can help you set goals for yourself to give that outcome.
With the goals established, they can then give you bite-sized steps to achieve those goals.
The steps may include day-to-day things that you can do or they may include monthly benchmarks to keep yourself measured and on course.
Finally, they might give you a five-year or 10-year plan to help you gain some insight as to where you should be by that point.
A life coach can help give you the tools that you need to claim the sort of life that you want for yourself.
8. Consult A Career Coach
If you already know what you want in life, then your career may be the problem.
Instead of seeing a life coach, you should consider seeing a career coach instead.
A career coach is similar to a life coach.
Except a career coach is solely focused on your career and its impact on you.
For example, a career coach may give you a few different tests to help you determine your skills, abilities, and interests.
With that information, they can then help you find a career path that fits the sort of lifestyle that you have in mind.
If you don’t have the skills or abilities to perform that job yet, they can tell you exactly what you need to do to get those skills.
If you do have the skills, a career coach can help you find openings for that position.
They may be able to get you in touch with recruiters or the right person to get into the job.
Once you have the position, they can help you optimize your performance to ensure you keep it and advance through your career.
If you’re unsure about your career, which is a major part of your life, then you should consider consulting a career coach.
9. Try Hustling
You may find or feel that you’re not cut out for traditional work.
Perhaps the idea of working 9-to-5 drives you crazy or makes you feel ill.
Instead of working at a traditional job, you may want to consider hustling instead.
Thanks to the internet and the development of smartphones, hustling is easier than ever.
A hustle is essentially an independent job that you do on the side.
That said, your hustle can become your full-time job if you want to devote your full time to it.
Thanks to various apps and businesses, you can find work as a taxi driver, a grocery deliverer, and even someone who delivers food.
There are also independent carriers like Amazon which relies on independent contractors to deliver products.
Working a hustle means you get as much out of it as you put into it.
It tends to require a bit more work than a standard job.
However, you’re able to set your schedule and the days in which you work.
That means you can always make some free time for yourself, for other appointments, or when you just need a day off.
Remote work also makes it easy to become a hustler or independent contractor.
Everything from data entry to being a software engineer is something you can do at home or on the move.
If you can get a job that allows you to do remote work, then life is in your hands.
You can shape it how you want it shaped.
10. Ask Friends
Your own skills or interests may not be clear to you.
However, they may be clear to your friends.
If you’re unsure what to do with your life, then it’s worth asking your friends.
It’s even possible that they asked themselves the same question once.
They can offer advice based on what they did.
Otherwise, they might be able to make you aware of skills and talents that you didn’t know you possessed.
They may even be able to suggest different careers or hobbies that you might want to try.
You can also always try to get the same job that they have.
Your friends can give you a real insight into the job and make you aware of whether the position is worth it or not.
Relying on your friends for advice can help you get pointed in the right direction.
11. Travel
One final thing you can do to help you find your life path is to travel.
If you’re stuck in the same area and doing the same thing every day, you’re not growing as a person.
It can be difficult to know what you want to do with your life if you’re only experiencing a small bit of what life can offer.
Getting out and traveling widens your perspective.
It can inspire you to do something that changes the world–both large and small.
You may find that life waits for you in a different state or even a different country.
You won’t know until you start traveling.
Conclusion
Determining what to do with your life is difficult.
Taking various skills and interest tests can help you figure out some of the skills that you have to offer employers.
Relying on professional advice can then set you up for success.
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