Finding your "purpose"?

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Everyday I think about what I want to do and how I can achieve it. I can think of lots of ways to achieve something, but have still not figured out what I want to do with my life!
I'm talking about choosing courses.

I know what i'm interested in and should do a course that includes my interests...although I have tried this and have noticed that what I thought I was interested in, I really wasn't. There for I lost motivation and eventually dropped the course.
I can't seem to find where I fit in as far as education is concerned. I can't seem to find the right course, the right career pathway for myself. I could keep trying different courses, but it's costing a lot of money and i'm now almost broke! If I do another course I will have to complete it as a literally can not afford to drop another course. I want to complete it, but just don't know if the course i'll choose will be the right one. If it's not the right one, I probably wont complete it. It's been kind of an endless cycle of failure and indecisiveness for more than a year now for me. I want to make my life worthwhile for once.

How and when did you figure out what you wanted to study/do with your life?

well i'm in the same position Brittany2907, I graduated from highschool 8 years ago, even had couple jobs, I have been thinking about going back to school, but my motivation change frequently, as of right now, i'm just tired and sick of life, and i get to much anxiety and panic attacks if I am around people, so school isn't a option for me right now. I'm 28 and I feel on the verge of I don't know what to do with my life!! which isn't a good thing at all...

I suggest narrowing down a field of what you like, and feel you would be okay with doing regularly. Then just randomly pick careers in this identified field. A lot will not be asking a lot initially, in fact if you can get on to any jobs that operate training schemes (i.e. to perhaps even eventually go to University) then all the better.

I eventually narrowed it down to two main possibilities. First one (and my most favourable) is the RAF (although for medical reasons this is now not looking so good), with the second option is to get into a local council in the Civil Engineering department(s) and become a trainee technician.

Your looking through the telescope from the wrong end,
step back,
why do you want out of all this?
whats your end goal?
what do you want most out of life to make you happy?
what do you want and where do you want to be when you reach old age?
look at the end goal, then line the rest up.
money is nice but set that aside,
what else are you wanting and needing most in your life to make you feel whole and complete.
fill in the gaps or you may feel empty and remorseful in the end.

I don't think there's ever really a crisp answer to any of this. I mean, I think it's always fluidly changing anyways.

I mean, I'm 2/3 of the way through university and I'm still really vague on what I want to do. And pretty soon I have to apply to grad schools and then you really do have to pick something specific.

I think really you should think about tomorrow, given that you're 16. Don't worry about choosing for the rest of your life, just set a goal for something you want to accomplish in the near term (and make it ambitious enough that it's not easy to accomplish, but also so that if you only partially get there you'll still be happy)

*waves at Brittany* Long time no see


"It's been kind of an endless cycle of failure and indecisiveness for more than a year now for me. I want to make my life worthwhile for once."

That pretty much sums up my life up until I was 27.

"How and when did you figure out what you wanted to study/do with your life?"

I think I've mentioned this to you before, but it all came to me by chance. I had been taking college courses and never could decide on something I liked.. so I was in pointless, go-nowhere jobs.

One day I received a call from a place I had applied for a job almost a YEAR prior which I didn't even remember what it was at the time I received the call.. I just thought it couldn't be worse than the job I was in and perhaps they'd pay better so I accepted the interview offer.

Got the job, and 2 years later I had learned so much about the travel industry that I knew I could do well in it. During those 2 years the job was not drudgery or boredom.

I would go home very satisfied and happy knowing that out there, there was a family that had saved their hard earned money year(s) to go on a special vacation and I was the one making it happen. From getting their flight to their hotel to their entertainment.. to giving them all the information they would need to enjoy their trip.

and since I love to travel myself.. well, lets just say i'm my own best client

That job that came to me out of nowhere showed me the one thing I really like and I knew my path.

Ironically, there are no travel degrees in the US that amount to more than a certificate so as ye know, i'm planning to move to your homeland NZ to get a travel industry degree (2yr)... and travel much more in the future.

I guess that from where I stand the only thing I can tell you is that right now you are trying to decide your path based on assumptions and on what you read/research.

Sometimes.. what it takes is to actually try it out before studying about it.

I just had some more thoughts of what to throw into the discussion.

Why do you aim entirely at the career? Do not get sucked into the "Live to Work" routine, instead you must stick with the "Work to Live" motto! Find a career you are alright with, but don't have it as your number one goal in life.

Okay, here's an example. I want to travel through Africa, it's a dream of mine that I know can come to life. This is my main goal, whereas a career I am happy with is my main goal as far as jobs are concerned it is not entirely my goal for a life (although this can be disputed with references to the Forces, since that is a way of life in its own right).

I can't answer...I still haven't found it.

I've already gone through the early life cycle. Here's what I've learned so far:

1. There's no such thing as your "true purpose" or your "purpose" in life. It's a myth. People can lead very productive lives doing lots of different things.

2. People change. This is a concept many fail to understand. Don't worry about what you want to do with your life. Chances are, you'll make changes. A high percentage of college kids change their majors. After college, a high percentage of adults change careers. In fact, it's pretty rare for one person to do one thing for all of his life.

3. Just pick something you like and stick with it. It doesn't have to be the perfect thing, because there's no such thing. If it seems perfect, it's because it's perfect NOW, but in time, it will no longer be perfect because YOU will change. It's a fool's errand to find the one right career/major. People don't fully understand that they CHANGE in ways they never expected.

4. Life will throw you a curve ball. Believe it. Something unexpected will happen that will force you to make changes.

5. There is no such thing as a "right" path. Many paths will work. Besides, as I mentioned above, you will either purposely change your path or your path will be changed for you due to circumstances beyond your control.

Here's what happened to me. I wanted to be a writer, but went to college to major in chemical engineering. I changed majors to Electrical Engineering, after contemplating changing to either Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science. After college, I worked as an engineer for 4 years, then went to law school (something I NEVER anticipated doing in my entire life). I then became an attorney, which is what I am. I also paint in my spare time and exhibit my works in galleries. I also thought I wanted lots of kids -- say, 5 or 6. Now, I don't want any. Not even one. Never thought I'd have a path like the one I had.

I know how you feel Brittany. And I have to agree with NeoPix completely at this point -there are many paths that will work and you may still be thinking of an another one while doing some of them, which will make you this disoriented in life. And you may still question yourself, if this is "the right one" and if something else won´t be better. Well I guess life will show us. The best advice have been already given- just pick one you like a bit and which you can imagine doing in your future, too.

As for myself, I always thought I study law and will be a lawyer..It was for years. But the next important years, a few things changed in my soul and and I stuck with the idea of becoming a shrink ,it became my big dream and I was decided to give it all my life(and it SEEMED a perfect idea in THAT TIME), so I ended up here (studying medicine) and..I found out the medicine in general really doesn´t interest me and I´d like to return to the law idea . But I can imagine my life being a shrink and although this isn´t perfect, I won´t run away, because I want to tell myself once, after many years, that I didn´t give anything up and that I am useful and that I achieved my dream..so I guess that my initial imagination of life would also work anf maybe better than this but who knows?

I was very lucky to have the chance to bum around for a couple of years, and then spend a couple of years truly and freely taking whatever classes I wanted to--mostly dance. I also was able to travel, very much a lifelong dream.

I was lucky to get space, and time, and opportunities to experience lots of important (to me) things. I wish everyone could have the same.

Also, I should add that while for most of us the "one true way" bit is not useful, there are certainly better and worse choices for any given person. . . and also, that the better you can develop a set of, sort of, governing values and principles--along with a sense of what things you are good at and want to be good at (and therefore, what ways you are or might be most effective at supporting those goals, values, and principles)--the easier it will be to see what paths are better than others.

Of course it has to be flexible for when you learn new things, or grow and change, and it must be adaptable to circumstances, but I think it's certainly worthwhile to work towards an understanding of one's direction in one's endevours.

I also find a lot of thinking and writing helps.

This probably won`t help very much, but I didn`t so much find my purpose as decide upon it. I wasn`t completely sure if it was what I wanted, but it was close enough, and I`ve thrown myself into it whole-heartedly. Best decision I`ve made in a long time