Career planning exercises for when you're feeling lost

If you’re anxiously trying to figure out what your dream job is, you’re not alone. Figuring out my own career path in high school was no small feat. There were so many jobs I wanted to be able to do. Firefighter? Marine biologist? Astronomer? Neuroscientist? Check, check, check, and check. It took me a while to decide to pursue aerospace engineering. In this article, I’ll show you some career planning exercises and questions that helped me narrow down my own career path options…and that continue to help me with my career path decisions today.

What is the perfect career?

I believe that the best career is one that builds and fosters your ideal lifestyle. Some of you might think this is cheesy, but hear me out. A career that doesn’t let you do the things you really enjoy in life will make you feel miserable. Who wants that?!

If you’re passionate about spending 6 months every year traveling around the world, there’s a good chance you’re not going to be happy in a job that doesn’t allow you much flexibility in vacation time or work locations. If you love building stuff with your own hands, you’re probably not going to be satisfied in a career that requires sitting in front of a computer 100% of the time. If you dream of building a family where your children can see their grandparents every day, you may be discontent if you have to move far away for work.

To help you narrow down your career options, we need to first focus on you. What your perfect day looks like. What you value the most. What fits well with your unique personality. What sparks your interest.

You don’t need to complete all these exercises right now or in one sitting. Instead, add the exercises that resonate with you to your task list and come back to this page when you’re ready.

One more tip: Be brutally honest! This is for you. You don’t need to share this with anyone else, so don’t let society, your parents, or your friends influence your responses here. Don’t live someone else’s dream. Don’t go to college just because someone said it’s the “right thing to do.” Instead, look at what professions align with your dreams, your interests, your life.

Ready? Let’s dive in!

Exercise 1: Picture your perfect day and week

Instead of listing out everything you want to accomplish in life, first focus on what a perfect day and a perfect week look like.

Why?

Because enjoying your journey is more important than achieving your dream destination. Focusing on your perfect day or week can help you discover what you value the most. Those little daily things can add up to create an entire life of happiness. And that can be more satisfying than reaching a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.

Ready?

This is a three-part exercise. You’ll start by envisioning your ideal day and week, and then brainstorm what you’ll need to look for in a career to support that.

Fast forward 10 years from now and picture your perfect day.

Write it, paint it, draw it. Do whatever it takes to capture your perfect day. Think about the following as you’re going through this exercise:

What does your perfect day look like from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep?
Who’s with you? Where are you? What are you doing?
What emotions come up the most on that perfect day? Happy, content, comfortable, loved, accomplished, strong, healthy, energized, safe, joyful, inspired, amused, proud, relaxed, creative… you name it.

Personally, I like to think 10 years in the future for this exercise, but feel free to extend it to 25 years (or any other number you want) if that helps you to brainstorm!

Now take it one step further and picture your perfect week (or Perfect Month)

How often do you want to work? Are you at a desk, working in a lab, traveling to clients, pitching ideas in a boardroom, etc.? Do you spend lunchtime or happy hours with colleagues?
How often do you interact with family and friends? What does that look like? Are you meeting up with friends for dinner, spending time playing with your kids, or talking to your mom on the phone?
How much time do you want to devote to hobbies, fitness, and community events each week?
How often do you want to save to relax and recharge? What activities make you feel relaxed and recharged?
Do you cook at home or eat out?
Are you traveling somewhere or are you at home?

Important note: It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers yet! You can be as vague or as detailed as you want in your answers. No one knows if their perfect day/week is actually “perfect” until they experience it. This is simply an exercise to get you thinking about your life holistically instead of jumping straight into career planning.

If your perfect Day/week doesn’t include “work”…

Let’s be real, you’re probably in good company here. How often have you heard someone say “if I won the lottery…”? Or “if only I had a million dollars”? We all like to dream about not having to work (even when we love what we do).

If this is you, no worries. This exercise can still be beneficial to you. Approach it in one of these ways:

Anaylze your perfect day/week again. Is there a way you could make money doing the activities you have listed? Maybe you want to be in nature and fish every day. Could you support your lifestyle by fishing? There are many options: sell the fish, create a fishing charter, get a sponsor for fishing competitions, or create a fishing YouTube channel. Or maybe you simply look at finding a job that’s located near good fishing spots and allow you to fish every morning before work.
Figure out how to create a life where you don’t need to work. I’m being serious. How much money will you need to support that dream lifestyle? Now, how will you get that money? Read books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and a 5 Day Weekend. Learn about the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Research millionaires and billionaires. Just make sure you still complete the exercises below (especially exercise #2).
Do this exercise twice. Once assuming you won the lottery and you can do anything you want. And then again, but this time assuming that you need to work to support your ideal lifestyle. There’s nothing wrong with having more than one “perfect” day/week that you want to aim for.

Pause this excerise Until you’re ready to narrow down your career options

As you dig into different career options, come back to this exercise. Is there a profession that could support your perfect day/week lifestyle?

Ask professionals what their average day looks like (or Google search it).

How close does it align up with your perfect day or week?
Would you enjoy that kind of workday?
Would you enjoy that kind of lifestyle overall?

Also, ask those professionals specific questions based on your perfect day/week responses above.

Note that everyone spends their time differently, even in the exact same company. But you may see some general trends that will help you make a more informed decision. Like how many hours they work a week versus how much time they have for vacation, family, or hobbies.

Keep asking these questions even after you’ve picked a career. These same questions can help you narrow down your job searches by analyzing a company’s work-life culture. They can also be helpful if you want to change your career path later on.

Exercise 2: What are you willing to sacrifice?

Okay, this is a tough one. Who actually wants to sacrifice anything? Wouldn’t it be nice to have the perfect body, commendable achievements, endless supply of money, a wonderful family, or [insert your own dreams here] without any effort?

The reality is that sacrifice is part of the journey. We make a sacrifice in nearly every decision we make, whether we realize it or not. Want to build muscle and feel strong? That means you’ll be giving up some time in your week to regularly workout. Want to save money for a down payment on a house? That means you can’t use that same money for other purchases. Want to travel the world for an entire year? That means you may be missing out on events back home.

Sacrifice can be easy to forget in the era of social media. We don’t always see the years of hard work or other sacrifices people have made when we’re scrolling through picture-perfect Instagram feeds.

What’s important… and what’s not?

When it comes to deciding on a career path, think about what’s important to you. Be willing to fight for the things that you value the most … and be willing to leave behind the things that you don’t.

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”
— Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

When I decided to pursue an aerospace engineering career, I knew I was going to have to have to make several sacrifices. Time away from my family. The long hours of studying. Moving across the country by myself. Some friendships that didn’t survive the long distance.

The thing is, I don’t view those sacrifices as negative experiences, because it was a choice I made. Long hours of study and work make me appreciate my accomplishments more. Relationships I’ve lost make me value the new relationships I’ve built and the old relationships I’ve kept. All of that struggle was worth it because it created a life that I enjoy today. I might not be happy every single moment (who is?), but I’m satisfied with my life overall.

What compromises are you willing (or not willing) to make for your career?

I’ve listed out some categories to help you answer that question, but don’t feel limited to this list. Remember that there’s no right or wrong answer. You just need to be truthful with yourself.

Relationships: Family, friends, and other social interactions
Location and community: what city/region you work in may affect your commute, hobbies, etc.
Finances: Not all career paths have the same earning potential or hiring rate. Will you be able to pay back college loans? Can it finance the lifestyle you want?
Homelife v. travel
Health and fitness
Work environment: Here’s a quick list to give you some ideas on work environment values. Work culture varies across career fields and different companies. Even different teams in the same company may have a unique work culture based on location, management style, mission statements, etc.
School/training: How much time are you willing to spend in school or on specialized training?

Exercise 3: Does it fit with your personality?

When I’m feeling a bit lost and need some more direction, I like to take personality tests. They may not always be accurate, but they help me refocus.

One of my favorites has been the Myers Briggs test, like this free version. But there are a ton of other options out there too.

After you take a personality test, do the following:

Read the results. This is the best part! How close do the results line up with how you view yourself?
Google search your result + career. For example, I’m an “INTJ” according to Myers Briggs, so I’d search “INTJ career” and see what ideas come up. You can also narrow down your search (like “INTJ engineer”) to see if there’s any interesting information for a field you’re already considering. Engineering isn’t actually on the top of every INTJ career list, but it’s definitely compatible with an INTJ personality (and maybe that’s one of the reasons I enjoy my engineering career).

The key is not to over-identify with a particular outcome. When you’re using this to help you find clarity for your career, it’s simply a tool to help you either find career options (like this list) or help you narrow down career options. Your personality can definitely change over time, so if you find this exercise helpful, feel free to take these tests again anytime.

The first time I took the Myers Briggs test, the results triggered a career shift for me. I remained an engineer at NASA, but I moved into a completely different group. It was a game-changer! I went from struggling-to-keep-up to excelling.

Exercise 4: Brainstorm Career Path Options

Now that you have an idea of what’s important in your life, it’s time to brainstorm career options. As you go through the list below, keep exercises 1-3 in mind. Cross off options that don’t support your dream life, your values, or your personality. Also, cross off jobs that will force you to sacrifice something that you’re not willing to compromise on.

What are your interests?

What are you passionate about, what do you enjoy doing, or what are you excited about trying? List out as many activities as you can, then divide them into hobbies and potential career ideas.

Hobbies are something you purely enjoy doing, but you don’t necessarily want to devote all your time and energy to it. For example, I absolutely love baking for friends, but I don’t think I would enjoy it as much if baking became my job.

Take an aptitude test

A lot of career planning guides talk about aptitude. Aptitude is your natural or learned ability to do a job or task. You’ve probably taken at least one aptitude test in school that gave you a list of career options. Taking an aptitude test might help nudge you in the right direction or give you some career ideas when you don’t know where to start looking. Google ‘aptitude tests’ to get started – there are plenty of free options.

A disclaimer here – you don’t always need a natural aptitude for something to be successful at it later. Having a growth mindset is more important. In other words, most skills can be learned if you have enough interest, motivation, and determination.

Look at your surroundings

Look at the people around you (friends, family, neighbors) and look at the various businesses around you. What jobs could you see yourself doing (and enjoying)?

Think outside the traditional college degree

There are plenty of high-paying career options out there that don’t require a 4-year (or more) degree, especially if you’re a self-motivated person. Books like Rich Dad Poor Dad (see a summary here) help shift our mindset around personal finance and traditional career paths. You don’t need to go to college to be successful or happy. Follow Mike Rowe (from Dirty Jobs). He has a job posting site and even has a scholarship program for people that don’t follow the “traditional” college route. You can even google search “high paying jobs without a degree” and you’ll find a lot of options to inspire you (like this article and this one).

Exercise 5: Test it out

Once you’ve narrowed down your options, don’t be afraid to test them out. How? Here are some ideas:

Interview some professionals that inspire you. This came be via social media, email, phone or in person (grabbing coffee or tea together can be a good icebreaker).
Shadow a professional for the day. Yes, it can feel really awkward to ask someone to shadow them for the day, but go for it anyway! If they can’t fit in a full day of shadowing (or it isn’t allowed due to company policy, etc.).
Read, listen or watch related topics. Thinking about becoming a doctor? Read a doctor’s memoir or watch medical documentaries. How interesting is it? Could you see yourself as the doctor? This is defintily the most passive option on this list.
Try out a project. Want to be a writer? Google story prompts and write a short story. Want to be a software developer? Find a coding project online for beginners and try it out (or a follow-along online coding video/class).
Sign up for an internship. While this takes up the most amount of time on this list, it’ll give you the best opportunity to test drive a job! It’s also the #1 piece of advice I give to all prospective engineers.

Can you do it?

No matter what career path you choose, yes, you can do it!

But you need to want it enough to put in the work. That’s why it’s important to first think about the life you want, what you value the most, and what you’re willing to sacrifice along the way.

If you’re still uncertain about what path you want to take, that’s completely normal. The key is to start somewhere. Don’t let too many options paralyze you. Don’t be afraid to take action now. The amazing thing about being alive in today’s world is that we’re allowed to change our minds later. Dreams change as we grow and our priorities shift. They change as we learn what we love and what we don’t. Don’t let the “what ifs” and uncertainties hold you back. Use the exercises above to help guide you and then take the first step.

So what’s your next step? Share it with us in the comments below.

Remember: You got this!

Career planning exercises for when you’re feeling lost