Humans are weird. An average office goer spends one third of his day being in his workplace. In a status driven society, jobs are always treated as a symbol of competency for determining the social hierarchy. But nobody wants to discuss the afterlife of college. Happiness is never considered as a priority while choosing a career. Millennials realise the high importance of profession choices only after landing on a job that they don't enjoy at all.
Human evolution is a result of survival instinct. It's a result of using the available resources in the best way possible against every challenge humans ever faced. In the modern world, our way of reacting to challenges are different from that of the hunter gatherers’ era, but at the core, it's still the survival instinct. Survival in the modern world is definitely not about being safe from the predators or other existential challenges our ancestors had to face. 21st century survival requirements are mostly centred around money or other materialistic needs. Here comes the roles of jobs. Don't mistake jobs only as a tool for earning money. But in reality, monetary angle is always at the priority while choosing a profession after academics.
In a country like India, success is always defined in terms of monetary achievements. A student is always asked to pursue something as a career out of two or three lucrative socially accepted profession choices. Happiness, passion or interest are never a matter of concern here. In such a scenario, a student has very less freedom while choosing a career. The scene is changing though but still a serious concern in many tier 2 and tier 3 cities of the country. Most of the millennials end up at a career just by following the crowd. They realise their mistake after being at the workplace for some days.
Your time is precious. Spending one third of your day doing something that doesn't make you happy is a complete waste of time. There is never a scarcity of options. Countless choices are available. The only thing needed is skill.
How profession choices determine our happiness index?
‘Keep your professional and personal lives separate from each other’. Everyone has definitely heard this sentence at least once in their life. This is unjustifiable bullshit. You cannot separate your professional and personal life from each other. Our brain doesn't function in that way. Any negative happens in your work life will definitely affect your mental peace and eventually your personal life.
1. Freedom:
How lucrative and classy it may seem like, a nine to five corporate job will never offer you freedom. You are bound by the office policies, boss’s orders and what not. Let's forget all these for a second of time. But what about your likes and dislikes. Most of the time you will be doing something that may not interest you at all. You will have to do coz it's your job. A job can offer you monetary benefits but never a feeling of fulfilment and satisfaction. Happiness is a myth while being at a job working for someone. There will always be a feeling of frustration about demeaning your potential and capabilities. This is a big reason why the majority of students passing out from top colleges are going after starting their own ventures or working for themselves.
2. Dreams:
Everyone has dreams. Everyone wants to do something that they genuinely love doing. Jobs appear as a monetary solution. But why nobody is thinking about the other side of the story. A conventional job never requires creativity. Being at a dull workplace for one third of your day will affect a lot on your creative aspirations. If you really need work, join a job that makes you happy, that helps in your growth and helps in improving your skills. Many millennials join jobs just after college thinking about leaving it after two three years to follow their passion. This is a practical solution. It will empower you monetarily and if you work parallelly during this span of time, you will be very close to your dream once you resign. But you have to be aware of all the negative feelings, anxiety and confidence issues during these years. Profession choices affect your personal life a lot. Choose your profession wisely.
Conclusion:
Profession choices have always been used as a hierarchy defining tool in Indian societies. In this race of hierarchy; mental health, happiness, likes and dislikes are never considered as priorities. Why are most of the job goers depressed? Does anybody ever discuss this with you? The answer is always a 'No'. Nobody gives a shit about your mental health and mental piece. Everyone is just enjoying the race of social hierarchy. It's high time to move out of this rat race. Do something that you love doing. Be so good at it so that you can monetize. Once you become highly skilled at your passion, money becomes a secondary thing. Keep hustling.