Choosing the right course or career is no walk in the park. It is really easy to give advice to others for almost anything but when it comes to taking tough decisions for your own life—the hardest thing ever. You certainly don’t need 10 tips to choose the right course or follow 15 steps to choose the right course.
“Choosing the right course is as much of an analytical task is it to find a solution for a maths problem.”
Not so Good Advice
Wouldn’t it be perfect to do what you love for the rest of your life? Like playing Xbox for a living, or playing your favorite sport for a living, or making music, something you really love doing. But we do not live in the perfect world, and one of the most common and overused suggestions given to the people is to do what you love.
Instead, do what you’re good at, not what you love. Many people enjoy watching movies, but making a movie is a whole different experience. Even relatively successful actors, writers, movie directors eventually start hating the constant burden, strict deadlines, constant stress, and the career look less and less glamorous after a while.
Why do what you are good at
Today, 90% of the start-ups fail and are shut down in less than a year. Not because the entrepreneurs weren’t passionate, but they didn’t have enough knowledge about the business. Similar to students choosing the wrong course to study without understanding their strengths and weaknesses.
For some the decision is easier to make, the parents are doctors; I want to be a doctor too, or I enjoyed Physics in high school and scored well, I would like to be a Physicist or an Engineer. But some have multiple interests, which makes it tougher for them to make up their mind. And that’s the thing, the mind is constantly developing new interests, and it can be difficult to just stick to one thing.
So, with all the information available online and hundreds of courses available for you to study, how to choose the right course?
Step 1: Evaluate your personality, skills, and interests
Find a quiet place in the corner of your room, and evaluate what kind of person you are. Are you an extrovert, or are you an introvert? Do you like public speaking, or you prefer to be backstage and not be bothered too much, more questions like that. You can give a personality test online to help you understand better.
Skills are another important factor in deciding to choose the right course. Know what you are good at and what interests you. The greater the overlap between the two, the greater are the odds of succeeding. You may be passionate about a sport and would want to play for your country or your favorite franchise, but what you also need are the skills to be able to represent the sport at the highest level. To evaluate your skills. If after evaluation the answer that comes to the mind is nothing or multiple things, ask your friends and teacher, they’ll give you a better overview of your skills.
Step 2: Research for Courses
Let’s say you have understood that you are good with Mathematics and Physics, and you have an interest in cars. You could opt for a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) or Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Automobile or Mechanical.
The second part of the process involves researching courses and universities best suited to your interest, budget, and willing to offer you an opportunity to study. For this, arrange a consultation with an expert.
Step 3: Make it happen
The final but, but without a doubt, one of the most important factors to be successful at almost anything is to take action. Once you understand your personality, interests, skills, and do thorough research; the important part that will make a difference would be to taking action. Trust your gut, believe in yourself, and make it happen.
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