Cannot decide on a career and it's driving me nuts. Longish, sorry. Please help? | Page 2 | INFJ Forum

Cannot decide on a career and it's driving me nuts. Longish, sorry. Please help?

I am still worried about pursuing a career as a counsellor...
It is possible you will feel drained when you are trying to help people that cannot or will not learn. You can't pick and choose clients and what will you do when you have to face them weekly? You can't shut them out walk away, throw them to another counsellor... You'll eventually hate going to work.

I'm currently in pastoral care (essentially a psychologist that counsels/guides members of the church and relates issues with christian morals and principles)... I'm currently trying to recover from feeling drained by people who are unwilling to learn. But I am able to take as much time as I need or want to recover because my professional career will not be jeopardized. I work as a laboratory assistant for money and it creates a good emotional and practical balance. It is a monotonous job which means i have time to reenergize my brain(alone time) and gather my thoughts about other aspects of my life and other people's prolems. I chose that job because I need to feel a sense of accomplishment which I do by clearing my desk at the end of each day. This allows me to be more patient with the people i "cousel/guide" who don't readily understand concepts.
 
Good luck!

Amen to the comment about experimenting. It's hard to really know if it's a good fit until you get into the profession a bit, and there's nothing wrong with changing down the road. You wouldn't be the first person to completely change their career by the time they're 40. :)
 
I understand how you feel and it is also difficult for me to find the right career. My goal in life is to become successful at what I truly want as a career, but if I do not know what I want as a career than I find no meaning in my life and I just give up and sulk in my negative thoughts and become unmotivated for a very long time and the worst part of finding no meaning in my life is I become really depressed. The biggest struggles in my life is trying to deal with depression and finding meaning in my life. I also struggle with living a scheduled life. I am sick and tired of being unmotivated and depressed. Hopefully if I find the right career for me I will become motivated, inspired, and complete the goal of my life which is becoming successful at my career the only problem is trying to find the career that is right for me. I hope you find the career that is right for you and remember wants you find the one that is right for you try your best and be proud of who you are and I also wish you good luck and I hope you become inspired and motivated good luck.
 
You don't need a phd or a degree to be a life coach. There is a specific course that you can do.

Here is one. The taster session is free

http://www.the-coaching-academy.com...training.asp?gclid=CLP7oLKgg6oCFQEa4QodKn6bzA

The biggest life coaching type company in England is Goals UK

Here is their site

http://www.goalsuk.org/

Start volunteering for somewhere like Victim Support http://www.victimsupport.com/Get involved/Jobs to gain experience of dealing with clients. Complete the training and then start applying for jobs. If you work for somewhere like Goals UK you would be self employed.

Hypnotherapy would be perfect because you could do it from your own home. If you take this route these are the people you want to train with

http://www.general-hypnotherapy-register.com/

Good luck
 
Oh My GAH I am having the same problem as you. I feel soooo much better that I am not alone at it!haha I posted a blog post you should checkk eet out if you get the chance. I am also considering an English degree. The hardest part for me has been my anxiety. Especially exam anxiety. Last year my mark dropped 10% after the exam it was quite shocking. I have not yet figured out a way to deal with this.
Pleasee keep us posted with stuff that helps. I've considered letting my school know about my anxiety. Has anyone done this before? Has it helped?
 
You don't need your PhD to do therapy work, you really only need your Master's for a lot of that type of stuff. And as far as I understand, you could finish your degree in English Literature because it doesn't matter what your BA is in when you're trying to get into grad school. I'm sure your advisor would be able to help you get on the right track though. Good luck with everything! :) I'm finishing my Psychology degree and am extremely confused and directionless so, I know how you feel
 
Perhaps your life goals cannot be realised within a career.

You might need to just seek a paying job in order to cultivate non-work/unpaid interests.
 
I'm going to have to agree with Lerxt. If you are an INFJ, you are probably most happiest with pursuing a career you want to pursue. However, it does not mean you only focus on that career. It's good to have back up plans and be practical about it.

For example, I need to pay my student loans, so aside from applying to my dream job, I'm currently working at an entry level job in the same field. I'm also picking up classes and possible volunteer experience to make me more marketable for my dream job.
 
The best advice I ever got was to "find something worthy of passion". Doesn't mean it has to be your career, but for your life. A career is a lifelong directionality toward a field of expertise. A job is something you do to earn a living. One can have a job but no career. I would not expect a "career" right off the bat but give it a couple of years to find out your ideal niche. Just because you "love" something does not guarantee you will excell or have marketable skills by persuing it. Much better to make good plans and study/work in a field that gives you satisfaction and let life unfold as it will on some level.
 
Speaking from personal experience, going along with 'what feels right' is sometimes the best given the confusing situation. Gut instinct has taught me a few too many valuable lessons for me to ignore it. To supplement it with more research would go either way - either you get scared and unsure of your 'gut instinct' and you resume back to square one or, it re-confirms your decision.

Time is an investment. If you know you will enjoy it, then it is not wasted. Enjoy the process of your study, so that when you reach the end of it you have fully utilised these precious years of your life to begin the next chapter.
 
Presuming that you live in the UK, then I would recommend that you be a counsellor. That will allow you to have a stable job in which you work from home and interact with people, and you only need a degree either in counseling or in psychology. To be a psychiatrist you need a Ph.d and there is stiff competition. I'm an experimental psychologist and I only hold a masters, I'm working on a Ph.d with a group of researchers (so grateful to my lecturer for sponsoring me) and earning money at the same time. It's full-time work though and can't be done at home.... it's a bit cold too, to be honest. I love it though.
 
The first thing you need to do is get rid of the idea that money is a motivator, If your selecting a job simply based on money then you will never be happy. Money should not even enter in to the process. The second thing you need to do is start your education if you have not already. You can develop this in stages, get a 2 year degree, and start in that feild , then go for your 4 year and so forth and so on. You will be happier if you have messurable goals that are obtainable. Start with a broad scope and as you continue your education you can narrow it down to something meaningful. Accept that we are life long leaners, just because you obtain a degree in a specific feild does not mean you have to stop, I am working on my psych degree and when i am finished I plan to go into biology, and once that is completed I will learn somethign else. While you are getting you first degree, take a job that is low stress that allows you to focus, if we get pulled in too many direction it can lead to alot of down time and required isolation. Just because you can not pin point the exact feild you want, does not mean that you can't head in the right direction. No one chooses a career in art because they want to rich and famous, they do it out of passion and it is that passion that drives them to success. Psychologist do'nt become what they are because they want to be rich, they do it out of compassion for those in need. Find somethign you love and go after it , once your happy with what you are doing you find that money has little value.
 
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