This article is the one that led to creation of Acaducate. Choosing an Education. This is for all the people who are at a stage in their life where they have to decide what path they want to pursue and for majority of us its something that we are going to do for the rest of our lives.

This article is a recollection of the phases I went through in life and would just want to share some thoughts that might help you.
So let us cut to the chase.

The situation

Now, as soon as you go through the secondary school exams, you have a decision to make, you decide whether you will be going in a science stream, humanities or commerce(basically these are the options that majority of the students have). It would have been great if it was only you who was going to make this decision, but instead this involves your immediate family, your Uncle X, your Neighbor Y or maybe even the entire neighborhood. They will start telling you or maybe your parents as well that what stream(science, commerce, humanities) to choose, which will give the highest “return of investment”.

You amid all of this aren’t sure what to do, you feel that maybe yes what Uncle X is saying is going to be the best, after all you will need money to get on with your life, you have that hidden passion to be a musician but “Huh? which MNC is going to hire a musician, what about a stable career?’, you want to be a dancer, “Dance can only be a hobby,Ok!” this is what aunty Z told you.

So you carry on with what they wish you to be doing and then you just stride along with the tide. I am not saying that what other people decide for you is going to lead you into a life where there is no happiness. But I have seen a lot of people being in places where they have no idea of what they are doing and why.
Even if the initial decision was not yours, you can always embrace it later but instead most people just “adjust”, yes that is what humans are best at. They are best at “adjusting”.

What do I mean by this adjusting? Just to let you know that I am not using this word in a positive sense, this is the kind of adjust that you do when there is no water supply in your home for 2 days, you still manage to survive, instead of using a full bucket of water you use half, drink as less water as you can and many other adjustments. So yes you adjust but this is not the situation you would want to be in for the rest of your life. You would definitely want to live your life to the fullest everyday.

What are you trying to say?

Now some of you might be thinking that am I telling you to follow your passions similar to the way that you have already read and heard in various forms of media. Yes and No, I am not telling you to follow your passions blindly and telling you that you will definitely succeed etc. Success at the core of it is a very relative term, as it has different meaning for everyone. Might go into it some other day. But what I am saying here is that even if somebody makes a decision for you, make sure that you understand what that decision is,? why that is the most sensible thing to do? what is your definition of being happy and staying happy.

I want you to make that decision consciously and I want you to accept it truly and fully and if you don’t stay away from it, find out what you really want to do, you might even be able to convince others of your decision, like a salesman who can even make you buy things that you would never need. You need to tell them what is important for you at the moment.
Observe yourself and see what you are good at, it might be anything, if you are good with numbers see what are the opportunities for people who are good with numbers, if you love animals, search around and see what are all the various things you can do to show your love for the animals.

I have came to know in this life is that if you believe that whatever that you choose as your calling in life and if that gives anyone a positive value, which adds to their life and makes it better you are going to get returns for it monetary and even much more.

Why this decision making is important?

This is important specially in the current age of marketing and advertisement, people are making you believe what they are not. They will make you feel that either you have what they are offering to you or you don’t even have a life. This is something I have mentioned in another post.

When I had to make such a decision I wasn’t sure what to do, I just kept on going with whatever was the highest rated thing at the moment. So Oh, medical is the highest you can go, so I went with that. Did I want to be a doctor. No. But I knew by that time that you get the dough and respect if you are a Doctor so why not?.

But every exam that I wrote from that moment on either I failed or barely made it. At some point my teachers thought that I will never be able to pass senior high school to even go for the medical entrance examinations, although I passed my school but didn’t do well and neither I did well in the entrance examinations.
Now if you are in such a situation I must tell you that life might become very difficult if your parents/friends are not that supportive. People like performers they don’t want or like the losers, some may even enjoy making life difficult for such people.

So basically all of this leading to unhappy people, and we want to make our earth a happy place. This is why it is important.

How to make this decision?

I have personal quote which I will use here as a reference:

The CHOICE must always be yours. Take all the time you need to make your choice. If you don’t have time to choose, then make a decision and then make it work.

So what I basically want to say is choose what you feel would be best for you, the Internet and various forum will help you do that. Keep connecting with people who do similar things, ask them what they had to do to reach where they are right now. Keep running after your thoughts.

Even after this effort you are unsure or maybe you didn’t get any help from anyone and finally you decide that you will go with Neighbor Y’s suggestion. Then be it. Go through the same loop as mentioned above, see how the thing that you wanted weighs with the thing that has been suggested to you. Now you can make a decision. Once you do that give your heart and soul to it. Make it work.

Don’t worry if you feel you don’t have a skills right now. You will build your skills. I failed in the fundamental of computers course many times but with sincerity and hard-work that hasn’t affected me and I have overcome it.

Remember

Interest and practice are the two most important things to learn new skills.

Engage with what you have chosen, build your interest in it and with practice you will achieve everything that you want.