I've come to realize that we need to change how we think about choosing a career. What you need from a job is not the same in your twenties than in your fifties. So, that means you need a different job or career at those points in your life.
In my twenties I wanted diversity, challenges, travel, and fun. I wanted to build my experiences to enrich my life. I enjoyed work travel and would seek it out. I had jobs that involved travel and I liked it.
In my forties I want to be home and eat home cooking and I have a job that allows for that.
This may be a simplification but you get the point.
So, when teenagers are trying to pick a career, they should be thinking about what they want to do for the next ten years or so, not the rest of their life. If they want their evenings and week-ends free then pursue a nine to five gig. If they want to talk to a lot of people find a public facing job.
It's all about building your skill set to get the job you want to fit the lifestyle you want. If you don't have a job that fits with your lifestyle, start looking for one that does.
Most importantly, we need to get educators and parents to grab this idea. We need to match careers with lifestyles so people will be more likely to stay in their job. How you see the world makes different attributes of the job a benefit or a liability. It all depends on what you want. The jobs I worked in for long periods of time gave me a life that I wanted and what I wanted has changed, so I have changed what I do to make a living. If we pass this on to the next generation, we will have happier people around us and life will be a little bit better.
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