Do you find it difficult to make the right choice, for example what is the right study or job for you? Life and work experience have strengthened my belief that there is actually a very easy way to find the right education or job, for example.

Choices

Making a choice occurs very often and in different forms in your life. The first moments of choice occur at a young age. Examples of this:

• Which sport am I going to do?
• What type of clothes am I going to wear?
• Which course will I follow?

I could go on like this for a while. There are many ways to determine your choice. For example, you can be guided by the advice of others:

• Friends who advise you which sport you should do;
• Parents who advise you which job is good for you;
• The advice via social media;
• Teachers who tell you which study choice will be a good fit.

Do you play football to fit in or do you choose chess because you enjoy it?

An example: you have determined your study choice on the advice of a parent, acquaintance or friend. After a difficult first and second year, you discover in the third year that the chosen study does not at all meet what was presented to you and you realize that you actually did not have a good feeling about it from the start. Because you didn’t know it three years ago, you followed the well-intentioned advice, while your feeling indicated otherwise.

A negative consequence of making the wrong choice can be that you start to doubt yourself. You have followed the advice or other tips and you think you have made the right choice (or decision). Yet that turns out to be a deception. Doubt and uncertainty can increase. Are you able to make a good choice for you?

Choices based on advice from others often end in disappointment. You are really the only one who knows what you like!

Decide or choose

There is one person who knows what is the best choice for you; that’s you! The question now is how can you find out? It seems more complicated than it needs to be and it is useful to realize that there is a difference between ‘deciding’ and ‘choosing’.

You make a decision after weighing the pros and cons. Mainly based on rationality where you rarely take your feelings and/or emotions into account in decision-making. Example: “This is the best choice because the salary suits my needs.” The question, however, is whether this decision will also make you happy and give you energy.

You make a choice based on feeling, from your heart or on intuition. Emotion and gut feeling play an important role here. So without apparent reason, substantiation or obstructive thoughts. It just feels good. And that’s fine! It will turn out that these choices give you energy and make you happier.

Choosing starts early

The older you get, the more difficult it seems to be to make the right choices for you. Babies and young children have no problem with this! They just do what they want and are not guided by their environment. Very nice to look at it every now and then. Why does that become so much more difficult later in life? This has to do with expectations of, and images from, the world around you and the extent to which you are able to not respond to it if it does not feel good to you. Study choice can be such a difficult moment. If you see on LinkedIn that the best-paying jobs are in the financial sector and your successful uncle is doing well as a bank manager, you may decide to choose an economics direction while you actually don’t like economics at all.

My advice; choose the subjects you like. Ten to one that they will also be easy for you. It then seems to happen automatically.

The next moment of choice

A little later the next dilemma follows. Your studies have been completed and your first real job is just around the corner. But yes: which one? If you followed the study that gave you energy, the first job is probably an extension of the study. Unfortunately, it is not that simple for everyone. After your studies, it may turn out that you have ended up in a field where there is no good work to be found. No problem! At least you now know what you don’t want or like.

Once again an excellent opportunity to make a different and right choice. A choice for something that you can put your passion into and get energy from!

Tips

“Choosing” is based on emotion and feeling and you do it from your heart and/or intuition, which is easier for some than for others. How do you know if you have made the right choice? You’ll notice that quickly. To help you determine what you like, here are some tips and questions to ask yourself:

1. Gut feeling
   This is your intuition which tells you whether you like something or whether it makes you happy.
2. What do you like to do (hobby)?
   What do you like to do? Even if you seem to have no energy.
3. What do you want to do someday?
   Call it your bucket list. Compile this list based on feeling, without considering whether something is possible or not.
4. What job would you do without a salary?
   The answers to this question are a nice and good indication of what you really like.
5. What if you could decide it all yourself?
   Regardless of all current obligations, what remains?
6. Trust yourself:
   Name what you think and what you like, ignore the “what-if” thoughts.
7. Just do it!
   Stop deciding and choose! Weighing and doubting will not help you.

When you start determining what you really like, start with something small. This way you learn to trust your intuition and experience that it helps you. You notice what gives you energy and so your confidence grows in making the right choice.

If a choice you make is the right one for you, it will make you happy, energetic, and happy. You want to be constantly busy, and you have found your passion!