What if you have too many wants?

[xisnotx]

How do you cut some of the options out?

Especially when you have career paths that lead away from one another and you can't balance all the wants anymore?

What if you don't want to cut out the options?

You can't do everything, but should you try anyway?

Or let other potential paths just become dreams you had?

 

[Such Irony]

I know I'll never accomplish everything I want to in this lifetime. So I ask myself what's truly important and focus on that. Sometimes it's easier to combine to seemingly unrelated paths than you think. You just have to think creatively.

 

[Wolfie]

See my "How to do a million things?" thread. Wish I could help you/myself. I don't know the answer!

 

[Ism]

How do you cut some of the options out?

YOU DON'T.

I like marine biology, law, and graphic arts/animation. The three would require a lot of creativity to reconcile into one career.

Especially when you have career paths that lead away from one another and you can't balance all the wants anymore?

Relegate one as a hobby, keep one as the money maker, and make the third one a specialty of the money-maker. Drawing is my hobby, law is my career, and environmental policy will be my specialty.

What if you don't want to cut out the options?

See ah-bove.

You can't do everything, but should you try anyway?

I think it's important to not be indecisive. That's the biggest killer, so avoid it at all costs. Even if you're afraid of 'closing some doors,' so to speak, pick one and go with it, even if you aren't sure. Forcing yourself to pursue one will give you the clarity you originally desired, as the pursuit of a particular career has the potential to show you how it fits, how it doesn't, and what that means for you.

Or let other potential paths just become dreams you had?

Sometimes I think I could have been a good marine biologist, and I'm disappointed because I believe I wasn't confident enough in my abilities. But insecurities aside, the fact of the matter is this: I really care about the environment and I adore everything aquatic and biological. As long as I make sure to tend to this desire, I won't be shorting myself. The worst thing I could do is cut something out of my life just because it isn't a potential career path.

 

[Wolfie]

What [MENTION=14676]Ism[/MENTION] said is good advice.

Don't let this be you:

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet. ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Pick something and go with it or nothing will ever be accomplished. That's what I'm trying to do now.

 

[FireShield98]

There are a ton of things that I want to do in my life. I thought that I wouldn't be able to accomplish them since there were so many. But now I have a plan that (if followed) will allow me to do everything I want to do.

 

[sprinkles]

I just focus on one and let the others be interests. Like what I actually do will be connected to computer sciences in some way, and there's quite a bit of overlap for fields there, such as not being a complete pro at databases but having a good enough foundation that I could go that way if I want.

Other stuff, like physics, can just be something I read about, not actually do.

 

[King sns]

For the "day job" , pick the steady one that offers the most flexibility. That way you have a lot of time to pursue other stuff as hobbies or classes.

 

[kyuuei]

When it comes to career paths.. I say, fulfill one of two things.

1. A job you love working at.
2. A job that gives you the abilities to do what you love to do.

Maybe a teacher wasn't your first choice in life.. but if you like Marine Biology, and you also love writing poetry in the middle of third world countries, a teacher could fulfill both--teaching children a passion of yours, and having the summers and winters to yourself to go see and do the things other jobs might not afford you time-wise.

Or being a writer is absolutely the job you love, and even though you make little money to do other things you want to do in life, it shouldn't stop you from being a writer.

Im a big believer in prioritizing what you want. I read a story about a woman who lived in a yurt on camp grounds while she earned her master's degree. If you want a cushy, comfortable, convenient lifestyle, than you can have it no problem. If you want to learn about this or that, adjust your lifestyle to make time for those things even if they aren't your career. And if you want to do anything.. get rid of the things holding you back from making it happen. If bills are too much--learn about frugal living and slash your spending until that money starts funneling into your dreams and goals.

Nothing holds you back except for you.

 

[Poki]

How do you cut some of the options out?

Especially when you have career paths that lead away from one another and you can't balance all the wants anymore?

What if you don't want to cut out the options?

You can't do everything, but should you try anyway?

Or let other potential paths just become dreams you had?

Just live life and go after what you want and do what you enjoy.

Yes, all the other paths become dreams you had or still have that are on hold. Thats just life.

 

[Orangey]

What [MENTION=14676]Ism[/MENTION] said is good advice.

Don't let this be you:



Pick something and go with it or nothing will ever be accomplished. That's what I'm trying to do now.

I read this earlier and it re-inspired my dislike of Sylvia Plath, so I played around with her name in Google combined with "hate," and I found this little ditty that I think everyone might enjoy.

Sylvia Plath's Gangsta Rap Legacy

 

[Nicodemus]

There are a ton of things that I want to do in my life. I thought that I wouldn't be able to accomplish them since there were so many. But now I have a plan that (if followed) will allow me to do everything I want to do.

Except the one thing you are most eager to do, of course.

 

[Betty Blue]

Wish I could help you/myself. I don't know the answer!

Ditto

 

[Lark]

I'm supre J about this.

Make a list, work through it, examine each ambition/goal/wish to see exactly how much it will enrich your life and what marginal costs, ie other things you can not do while you're doing this thing are, when you do that sometimes that super important, desirable thing does not really appear worth it after all.

Do prioritise because you may not do it immediately but you could do it eventually and as time goes by certain priorities are less important than they once were or others take on a new impetus, only time can tell with that one.

Lists, planning, writing it all down, rewriting it and writing it again. Talking it out only then afterwards but doing so. That's all very, very good when it comes to decisions.

 

[FireShield98]

Except the one thing you are most eager to do, of course.

Yeah...

 

[the state i am in]

realize that your prediction is only a prediction and stay open to possibilities while accepting the scales of action you can make. also make sure you have a few people who provide you with perspective and understanding that helps you deliberate at times when you need to see yourself and your situation from a broader view (this at least is my working hypothesis).

the kiln of adulthood is difficult to accept.

 

[Hopelandic]

"There must be something strange going on over there".

If you want to know, get in touch [MENTION=195]Jaguar[/MENTION]