Your Friends Are Not Your Career Counselors (And That's Okay)

Your friend just got into their dream university and suddenly has opinions about what  you  should do. Your cousin tells you engineering is the only "smart" choice. Your best mate is convinced you'd be perfect in finance because you're good with numbers.

And you're sitting there thinking: “Should I be listening to this?"

Short answer: Not necessarily - their story may not be yours.

Why Everyone Has Opinions About Your Career

People love giving career advice. Especially about your future. It makes them feel helpful. It lets them project their own desires, fears, and assumptions onto your life. They mean well.

But here's the thing: they're living their life, not yours.

Your friend who loves medicine? Their brain might be wired completely differently than yours. A relative who built a successful business? They might have a completely different risk tolerance than you do. A counselor who says, "You'd be great in law"? They're basing that on 30 minutes of conversation, not on knowing who you actually are.

The Problem With Taking Everyone's Career Advice

When you listen to everyone, you end up confused. You start studying something because your relative thought it was stable. You join a club because your friend said it looks good on applications. You're performing for an imaginary audience instead of actually figuring out what you want.

And then you wake up in university studying something that makes you miserable. Or you realize you spent three years trying to impress people who barely remember having the conversation.

Whose Career Advice Should You Actually Listen To?

Listen to people who know you. Not just people who like you, but people who actually  see  you. Who ask you real questions. Who don't have a stake in your decision.

Listen to people with experience in what you're interested in. Not judgment. Experience. If you think you want to work in film, talk to someone who actually works in film, not someone who watched a Netflix documentary and has opinions.

Listen to yourself. The quiet voice inside that says, "I actually want to try this" or "I'm doing this because I'm supposed to." That voice is smarter than you think.

What You Should Actually Do

- Ask the tough questions yourself first: What excites me? What bores me? What am I willing to work hard for?

- Then ask selective people for their thoughts, not your entire friend group.

- Notice whose advice makes you feel lighter vs. heavier. Trust that.

-Speak with a counselor, one who asks the right questions, counsels using scientific tools, not basing advise on grades or conversations only.

- Remember: you're allowed to ignore advice. Even good advice. If it doesn't fit your life, it doesn't fit.

  Your future is too important to be based on perceptions.