Talking About Professional Goals
When I grow up, I want to be ….. how many times as little kids or heck even as teenagers we utter that simple phrase. I know my dream job had changed about 1000 times before I decided on teaching. I even see this now in my children. Sometimes the reality of life set in and that dream job doesn’t seem like a dream job after all. The economy and the cost of getting an educational can sometimes lead us down another career path.
For instance, my oldest daughter wanted to be a psychiatrist but after looking at her situation and realizing that she won’t be able to work during medical school and that she is always broke now, she decided that she would be a psychologist instead. Sure it means graduate school, but she would be able to work and get the degree at the same time.
I applauded her for her grown up decision, but that also got me thinking how many factors play a role in our chosen professions. Sure there are economic and time factors, but what other factors weigh in? Does danger weigh into our decision? Or does doing what we love to outweigh the risk. I remember an interview I once saw with a Nascar driver ( I think it was Tony Stewart), when asked if he felt his job was dangerous, his reply was that he believed to work a 9 to 5 job and being stuck in rush hour traffic was a lot more dangerous than what he does. I find that interesting, don’t you?
Then I came across this interesting study about the most dangerous professions. What really surprised me is that being in the armed forces or the service industry ( police officers and firemen) weren’t on this list. But what I did notice is that most of the deaths due to these professions were transportation related.
I can honestly say that danger did not play a factor in my chosen profession, but did it play a factor in yours? Leave me a comment if it did, inquiring minds want to know.