Recently I saw one of the interviews of Michael Jackson . Having been my pop idol for decades I knew what to expect . A friendly but shy person . Now don’t ask me isn’t he the same person who faces lakhs of people in live pop music concerts . Yes , that’s also possible as many pop and rock stars were shy off stage . That I will write on a separate blog which touches on psychology of introverts .
Coming back , though I have heard it numerous times and maybe obvious , he verbalized it clearly . He told “ the stage “ is the place which he loves most in the world . The place where he wants to be , where he enjoys every moment .
Over the years I have observed as well as read that finding out where you enjoy most is important . We have lot of generic careers these days but more than the generic names its very important to identify which all key elements in each career YOU as a person enjoys . That’s very important because for most work consumes much of your life whether you like it or not . So an alignment of your key interests with the work you do is important .
Of course not everybody can be and should be like Michael Jackson . Many people hate the stage and there is not much point in pushing yourself too much when lot of other career options are available .
I have been fortunate to try different roles as I was in corporate as well as hospitals . From teaching to troubleshooting to administration each role had its pluses and minuses . But over the years its so easy to find some aspects you enjoy a lot more than others . A constant talker in a research job analyzing Siberian ants ( I think there are no ants there in Siberia ) may find that the same research skills can be applied in talking and analyzing data of supermarket visitors .
The point is even within generic careers there may be aspects which are more self fulfilling than others . Since each person is different its most important that we search and find the aspects we enjoy . Of course making money is enjoyment too but these things are also important .
I wish I knew how to moon walk like michael Jackson . Or is researching Siberian ants better .:) ?
PS : when training healthcare professionals for interviews these things come up a lot , the passion and the lack of passion for some careers . Hence the blog .