Confidence in Finding Your Dream Job

Fundamentally, there are two types of people in the world: those that have confidence and those that do not.

Is this an oversimplification? Most definitely. I make no claim to the contrary. Human beings are too complex to describe as being simply this or that. Science can play all they want at trying to quantify emotional and psychological responses, but let's be honest: people do not fit into nice little categories.

But for the sake of argument today, let's say that they do. While this is a little more behind the scenes principles rather than processes that we go through, it's important that we all understand the reasoning behind the success of some people and the failure (or lack of success, if you don't like the term) of others.

Simply put, principles will always trump processes. No contest. There's nothing on Earth that can make a person that doesn't believe in himself into a success. Certainly, you can hand them money through winning the lottery. Or get a nice inheritance. Or happen to cash out of a company at just the right time. But where does that get him? Every study done has shown that people that have money (re: success, though I would argue this) simply handed to them do not tend to hang on to it very long. There are plenty of horror stories of people who have won millions, only to lose it within a few short years and wind up back at their previous standard of living or lower.

As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Success or happiness cannot just be handed to you. Doesn't work that way. Anything worth doing has always required time, sacrifice, and dedication.

So what does all this have to do with choosing a career? Everything.

If you're going to find that dream job of yours, you're going to need to have confidence in the choice that you have made. Second guessing yourself is a surefire way to erode confidence and cause doubt. Thomas J Stanley, author of the enormously successful The Millionaire Next Door series that studies the wealthy, made a very interesting observation. He noted that millionaires were in the habit of making decisions and, having made that decision, stuck with it. They didn't let self doubt creep in and dissuade them from the path that they were on. Once they had make their choice, they never looked back.

Now, granted, many of us may never become millionaires. You may not want to. The drive for wealth is simply one of many paths that people can take in this life. It's not for everyone. You may find fulfillment in writing novels or expressing life through art or helping others overcome mental or emotional problems or designing bridges or working to make the community a better place. All of those are good and noble goals that have nothing to do with becoming millionaires, and each of them are capable of helping you have a fulfilling life, if that's what does it for you.

But you have to decide first for yourself if it does. And only you can make that choice.

In my experience, the only way to make a choice or decision in confidence is through knowledge. As corny as it sounds, the old catch phrase from the GI Joe cartoon series of "Knowing is half the battle" is pretty applicable here. Until you know what you want to do, it's impossible to decide exactly what to do with your life.

That's really the aim behind Conversations: Find Your Niche!: to provide you with inside knowledge of work force professionals and gain a greater understanding of what it really means to work in a particular field. Without that knowledge, you won't make it anywhere fast.