What you could do vs. what you want to do

[foolish heart]

I figure this topic will be especially interesting to the intuitives here... when it comes to your occupation/career, what are your thoughts about what you are able to do compared to what you actually want to do?

Example (ISTP) someone may have great potential as an engineer but instead choose to be a mechanic because it's more appealing to work directly on machines than designing gears and nuts for them in a stuffy office.

 

[Chris_in_Orbit]

Well here's another question:

Are you better at what you are supposed to be good at?
Or are you better at something you care about?

I can't be certain but I think your ISTP would be a better mechanic.

 

[Aleksei]

I wish I could teleport and travel through time. Sadly I can't.

 

[CuriousFeeling]

Wish I could be a professional musician/ songwriter, but I think I'm too quiet and introverted to be competitive enough in that field. Would need a strong band to work with, but I'm afraid that my style might seem a touch outdated, too artsy, not commercial sounding, and lyrically too intellectual. So, instead I'm sticking with the music as a fun hobby, at least for now.

I think that I tend to do better with education though. Gives me the opportunity to use not only the creative abilities, but also the science knowledge which I find quite fascinating. I have the potential in being a musician, but I'm opting for science education because I also like helping others to realize their full potential as well. It's touching others' lives in different ways. Either way, I'm still making a difference in someone's life, which is rewarding.

 

[millerm277]

I make an awesome engineer. I'm good at everything required, and can design, test, and build almost anything if you give me materials/time, and I have for various things. But I don't like it. I like IT and programming, hence why that's what I'm heading into doing.

 

[Amethyst]

I would love to be an actress...but it's strange, because many people said I had a natural talent for it, but I never got any good roles in plays when I was younger. In grade school it was because it was all retarded politics, high school was different, I was just surrounded by much more talented people than myself, plus they had that grade school experience.

So, I guess I'm settling with whatever I decide in the near future. Probably business.

 

[gromit]

I can't be certain, but I suspect I'd make a pretty good schoolteacher. I just am not super interested in that though.

 

[Zoom]

I've wanted to be a pilot since I was... quite young. I went into school to study structural engineering (joint major with Japanese) because it was a definite job, loved studying the theories, and was quite good at it... but I hated the practice of it. I wanted to do something with my hands and my mind, and wanted to have physical activity. I hate working in offices.

So I'm finishing a degree in languages and going into the Coast Guard to become a helicopter pilot. It hits all my key needs: wanting to make a visible difference, a practical and fun job that I can find openings for in practically any country, and I'm good at what I love because loving something focuses me on it.

I still might become a professor, but that is less likely.

 

[Lark]

I want to be socialist king of the world.

 

[kyuuei]

What I want to do - a Job I enjoy, where I can interact with friends all day. What I will actually do - A financially stable, secure job that allows me to be independent and self-sufficient so that I can do the things I want to do outside of work.

 

[ygolo]

For me, I get bored with the things I am able to do, and look to learn to do things I am yet unable to do. However, I have noticed that almost all the things I want to do are technical in nature.

What I want most of all is to just be able to pick any problem that interests me and work on it till it no longer interests me (I may pick it up again later).

I hate having to meet a schedule, and being forced to work on things that I am not inspired to work on at the time.

 

[Scott N Denver]

For me, I get bored with the things I am able to do, and look to learn to do things I am yet unable to do. However, I have noticed that almost all the things I want to do are technical in nature.

What I want most of all is to just be able to pick any problem that interests me and work on it till it no longer interests me (I may pick it up again later).

I hate having to meet a schedule, and being forced to work on things that I am not inspired to work on at the time.

how is the physics training/research/whatever going?

 

[ygolo]

how is the physics training/research/whatever going?

It's summer now. So no classes or research for now. Still at my old job.

I'd like to find a job with more intellectual freedom without spending another decade in school.

I guess the lesson here is that if you want a PhD, do it in a straight shot. It is immensely difficult once you start working and earning to break free of financial obligations. I guess the other option is to not get yourself into any financial obligations.

I am wondering if research universities would hire people with masters degrees in a full-time research capacity (not just a research assistant or whatever). The thought of earning a quarter to a third of what I'm earning now still bugs me.

 

[Unkindloving]

I've contemplated being a therapist, artist, or writer. These things are what i'm good at, but they are simply hobbies. I wouldn't be able to really devote or detach enough to make any of them a reality and they would end up being a tedious, eventually-hated endeavor.

More realistically, i thought i becoming an art teacher. I abandoned this plan when i realized it isn't an easy way out, even though i'd enjoy it.

I'm heavily interested in/going to pursue exercise science and doing something pertaining to it, but kept selling myself short for a few years. I think the exercise science vs art teacher education is the closest example of 'want' and 'could' for me. If not, therapist would be in the mix, but i just wouldn't be able to bring myself to do it.

 

[AOA]

I actually really don't want to pursue a career - think that comes with the benefit of the doubt. I want to do things on my own accord that which I know best.

 

[Pixelholic]

What I want to do isn't career oriented at all. I don't really want to do anything productive (as in productive in an economic sense.)

I'm good at shooting video and tinkering with techie stuff pertaining to video and theater though.

 

[mmhmm]

every single career i've been in, is typically
recommended for enfp's career choices. all of
which had nothing to do with what i had studied
in for my undergrad or postgrad.

the profession that i've finally settled for
is also what is reccomended for an enfp
by the little tests.

i don't know if it's a coincidence, but that's
how life unfolded.

 

[Metamorphosis]

What I am doing is also what I want to do and the career that I am best suited for.

Most of my life has gone in a progression from worst suited to best suited (also in accordance with my type):

restaurant > elementary school > oil refinery/chemical plant > serious career

I would like to be a professor but not until I was done with my other career and many things could change before that point.

 

[Halla74]

...when it comes to your occupation/career, what are your thoughts about what you are able to do compared to what you actually want to do?

Hmmm. This question is a little strange for me.

In terms of work in a modern business environment, I am ABLE to do ANYTHING, it just depends on how much time I need to do it.

Also, my career now is totally different than what I envisioned as a kid.
Like many, I took a job that could sustain my standard of living based on what skills were needed in the economy at the time I needed to begin a career. I wanted to be a doctor, but ended up a techie.

So, as the years have passed, I realize now that I have been forced to develop in areas that are not really my default favored modes of thinking, but that has not been a bad experience, as I have improved greatly on things that I used to not be so good at doing.

BUT - now that I have options in the course of what work I am going to do in a given period of time, I find myself gravitating toward things that I am naturally good at. I'm a great writer, and a great speaker. I love giving presentations, and I love teaching. I also love running requirements meetings and facilitating work on creative business projects.

Although the way I got to where I am is totally unintentional, in many ways I am doing what I want to be doing, but that is because of me having the ability to select portions of my work.

Ironically enough, as of the past few weeks I have considered a radical career change. I might go to dental school. I have 3 of 4 years of a B.S. in Biology completed, and many of my credits should apply still, and even if not, it would be easy to take the pre-requisites. Dentists make great money, get to work with and help people, and have the opportunity to apply scientific/medical principles in their work. They also can make their own schedule to a degree, once certified. That sounds pretty ESTP to me.

 

[miss fortune]

I'm overeducated in the wrong sort of thing for my dream type of career... my parents would not let me drop out of college on a full scholarship and attend culinary school, so as an end result, I'm educated to run stats, design surveys or translate. When I dream I'm cooking