Hi All,
I am in the middle of a career crisis... yet again... I'm 27 and have just reached breaking point with yet another career... I've kinda had it because I'd like to start making a life for myself at this point but all my moving around has made me a little unstable!
I'm gonna go see a guidance counsellor but I'd like to be armed with some info from you guys too... because I am a through and through ENFP and seem to need some kind of ideal state of a job that doesn't seem to exist!
I'd just like to know what all you ENFP's out there are doing and do you like your careers?
Cheers...
Like I promised...
My family is very math/science-oriented, and I do have a natural aptitude for that kind of thing... as well as other areas. Well, to be honest, pretty much everything I've ever tried always came really easily and naturally, no matter which subject or area it was - it just felt as though I was re-learning something I already knew from another life or something, not to brag, that's just how it was, and it made it a lot more difficult to decide what I wanted to do. My parents pushed us toward degrees which would prepare us for an actual career when we graduated (as opposed to something like, say creative writing, which has potential careers, but there is less "job security" and less of a career path), toward careers that would be
useful.
Also, like others, I can relate to the feeling that everything is SO INTERESTING HOW CAN I POSSIBLY CHOOSE JUST 1 THING TO DO??? I was aware of this type of tendency within myself from a relatively young age. I concluded at some point that it would be better to just pick one thing and go with it. That way I would have a stable income, and some structure so I didn't disintegrate into a little mess all over the floor which seems to happen when I don't have ANY structure. And that way I would have the time develop other areas as interests if I wanted to.
After 1 or 2 metamorphoses, I settled on civil engineering (I now work as a public transportation planner - trying to improve or optimize or expand various services). I love my company, and the type of work I do certainly reflects my values. On paper, everything seems ideal, but in reality I am SO MISERABLE and feel like it is killing me from the inside. I don't know if it is the routine or what, and I don't know what I would want to do if not this, because it seems like anything would have its pluses and minuses and everything seems equally good. I can imagine myself, with focus and discipline really excelling in the field, especially as I have some rare gifts which are less common in engineers, but I just don't know if I have the discipline or focus, or if I do, I'm not feeling inspired or what.
And then I do not know if I'm just making excuses for myself by saying things like that or if I actually need to cut myself some slack and acknowledge that I am not the person that I want to be. I really want this career to work for me. I actually care about this field a LOT (sustainable and affordable transportation options - i.e. public transit and stuff like that). But I don't know how to do that.
So I was doing some evaluation and came to the conclusion that in order for me to be fulfilled at work, I think I need the following three characteristics
- Physical/visual creativity
- Analytical thinking
- People/communication
And for some reason I suspect there is something else that I can't quite name.
But then I really do feel like a total whiner or like I'm coming from such a position of privilege (esp in today's economy) to even be able to consider something as ephemeral as "fulfillment" - but I don't even know if it's about fulfillment or about just wanting to not be miserable and wanting to contribute to society at my full capacity.
