How to Find What Makes You Happy

A father explains to his young daughters "How do I know what I want to be when I grow up?"

Megan and Jenna,
You'll often hear people say "if you find a job you love to do, you'll never work another day the rest of your life." Well, that's pretty true. The tough part is finding exactly what makes you happy. What makes you tick? What are you passionate about? The difficulty that a lot of us have is that we just don't know the answers to those questions. We certainly don't know what we want to be when we are 3 and 4 years old, like you guys are. Even as we get older, we don't even know ourselves well enough. We don't know ourselves well enough to know what we like. Typically we know what we don't like, but finding what we really are passionate about is usually much more difficult.

As you get older, you two will be faced with many more decisions about your future. What do you want to do when you grow up? What do you want to be? Where do you want to go to college? Why haven't you taken out the trash? Unfortunately, most adults want to ease the pressure on you and tell you that "you don't have to decide right now about what you want to be when you grow up" or "there'll be plenty of time to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life." I disagree with these ideas entirely. To me, it's very important that you get to know yourself in such a way as to be able to figure out what you really want to do. And I'm talking about trying to figure that out before you two are seniors in high school. Heck, it would be better to figure it out before the tenth grade, but I know that can be tough.

"But Dad, why on earth would we need to know our career path before our senior year in high school?" Funny you should ask that question, let me tell you about it. Now sit down, and try to look like interested. No, no, Megan, put down that stuffed animal bunny and pay attention. First of all, you've got to understand that many of the most respected people in our society actually did know what they wanted to be when they got older. They found an interest when they were very young and made darn sure they maintained the grade point average in high school to be able to get into the best university they possibly could. Many people out there have the intelligence to get into top universities but they didn't realize just how important it was to maintain top grades during high school, and then to maintain them throughout college. (Sidenote: don't look at my old report cards, look at your mothers'.) The university you choose to attend is crucial. You'll carry that with you for the rest of your lives. People are always interested to know where you went to school and those that attend the top universities have far more options open to them. Those that answer "Pigsnuckle U" rarely get the opportunities of those who can answer "Emory, Harvard, or Princeton." Now, you might think that people shouldn't judge you by the piece of paper you earned after high school. But, they do judge you by it. Just the way they judge you by your appearance. It's not right, but it is reality.

Do you know how many people get through one or two years of college and then realize how much they would like to be a physician, a Naval aviator, an Astronaut, an FBI agent, or a US Senator? The numbers are staggering. Well, actually, I have no idea what the numbers are like, but just humor me. And guess what? You'll live a constant nightmare of never having realized your potential and your dreams if you don't have the foresight and the grades to qualify you for these careers.

So, how do you find out just who you are? It sounds like a dumb question. But, you might be surprised as you get into your college years that you still haven't "found" yourself. Heck, the 1960's was a decade full of nothing but people trying to find themselves. I had the same trouble. I didn't really know what I was truly interested in when I was in my first two years of college. Here's how I figured it out. I started by getting psychological testing done to find out what type of career I was suited to. (I did this testing at Georgia State University, several years after college.) These tests take hours to complete but they can be very helpful. Then I spent a lot of time sole searching about the results I received. I then found people who are in those types of careers because they could tell me about other careers similar to theirs that might suit me perfectly.

You really should do this well before college so you can then plan your college education around a career plan geared toward this career. What grades do you need? What post-graduate education is needed. And never, never listen to adults that tell you that your college grades aren't all that important. Most people are never asked by employers what their GPA in college was. However, I have been asked to quote my college GPA over and over again. Many employers might not care about this, but if you are shooting to be in a career that if full of competition, then you are going to have to have top grades. (No pressure though).

Your Dad

This article can also be viewed here How to Find What Makes You Happy