Wait, What Do I Actually Want to Do With My Life?

I'm sitting across from yet another 16-year-old who looks like they're about to cry. Their parent has sent them my way with that familiar plea: "Can you help them figure out what they want to do?" And the kid is staring at me with hope and absolute terror because apparently, I'm supposed to have a magic formula.

Here's the thing: I don't. And that's actually the best news I can give you.

The Pressure About Career Planning

You're supposed to have your entire life figured out by application season.

It's not necessarily true. Nobody actually does figure out the next 20 years of their lives.

Not many will talk about the person who thought they wanted engineering, discovered they hate math, fell in love with environmental policy instead, and is now running a nonprofit.

That journey is messy. But it's where the real stuff happens.

What Actually Matters Right Now in Career Decision-Making

Forget the five-year plan. Focus on this:

- What makes you lose track of time? (Not what you think you should like)

-  What problems make you angry?   (The "this shouldn't be this way" feeling)

-  What conversations do you actually engage in?   (When nobody's making you)

-  How do you like to help people?   (Solving? Creating? Explaining? Organizing?)

-  What environment energizes you?   (Chaos or structure? Solo or team? Travel or roots?)

Here's What I Want You to Know

You don't need to have your entire life career path figured out. Give yourself permission to be curious. To try things. To fail. To change your mind.

Some of the most interesting people I know spent their twenties figuring out who they actually were separate from what anyone told them to be. Some changed careers three times. Some created something completely different.

Give yourself permission to not have all the answers yet.

Nobody really does.