As I write this post, I’m 41 years old and I’ve been stirring on this topic for all of my adult life. I don’t know what to do with my life. It started when I was thinking about college majors and bounced around the sciences only because I was good at them. It continued after my first year of teaching high school in Texas when I realized that corralling 180 kids throughout the day was not something I was cut out for. I was 28 with a young baby and I didn’t know where I was headed. This might sound familiar to you if you are reading this post.
My wife spent her early thirties working part time at a yoga studio and mostly at home with two small kids. She wondered if a career she loved was in the cards for her prior to starting a now thriving real estate business in her late 30s.
What we’ve learned from our meandering journey is that you can find a great path even if you don’t know what you want to do with your life, and it may be that you just need to keep going to find something special.
Looking for Your Passion
The world has been well intentioned by telling every kid born after 1975 to look for their passion. I think that the baby boomers were so practically focused on their careers that this was their wish for the future. My parents told me this all the way along and with good reason. They were great parents and wanted my sister and I to find a passion that would be the fuel for our happiness as we moved into adulthood.
The challenge that all of us have found is that it’s pretty tough to find that driving passion. I saw it in some of my friends who wanted to be doctors and that is when I knew that path wouldn’t be for me. I also knew and have known a lot more people like me who have their various interests, but don’t really have that major anchor for their journey.
I don’t know what to do with my life, but I’m still Happy?
The big question then becomes whether to keep searching for this passion. Is it out there to be found or is it better to just get down to the business of providing for a family and enjoying life?
My take has been that it is better to allow life to take its course and not put too much a focus on finding this greater purpose. I’ve enjoyed working in biotech manufacturing for over a decade and have also found a cool community at each of my workplaces. Part of the comradery that developed in this atmosphere is that almost everyone wasn’t in the job because it was their driving goal in life.
We had all ended up there because we were good at science, and we needed to pay the bills. Many were thinking of something bigger and better down the line, but what we did have was a good job that we all enjoyed going to each day.
I’ve learned from my various stops between Austin, Texas and Spokane, Washington that even if you don’t really know what you want to do with your life, there are still good opportunities to be had. I’ve also wondered if maybe focusing on a narrow passion could have made me miss several of these opportunities that I truly enjoyed.
Meaning in Life is Sneaky
I spent most of my thirties wondering if I’d missed some cosmic train that would have guided my dream job. Should I have just worked harder to figure it out in college? I had all the thoughts swirling about whether I was behind and wondered why I couldn’t be like some of my friends who had found “It.” When I look back at the relationships that I’ve had along the way and the unique work that I’ve been involved with in my career, the story looks much more fulfilling.
I loved getting to work with a bunch of young biochemistry grads at Agilent in Cedar Creek, Texas who ran out of the lab to catch Pokemon from time to time. I’ve also enjoyed working in my current role where we produce injectable drugs that are sent to treat patients all over the world for cancer and Covid.
I wouldn’t have picked this path, and I wouldn’t say that my current job is my passion in life, but it’s been a solid base. I’ve found much more purpose and meaning from the people I’ve worked with along the way. The other thing that I can see now that I’m older is that even though I don’t know what you want to do with my life it also leaves the future much more open.
Not Knowing What You Want to Do Can be a Huge Blessing
Going into 2025, the world is incredibly uncertain. AI threatens the future of many jobs and political uncertainty is keeping the world on its toes. If you don’t have a clear passion but can ebb and flow with the uncertainty you might be in the perfect spot. Especially for people who are early in their careers, the ability to jump on new opportunities is the most critical thing and that can be tough if you are chasing some narrow passion.
I personally think that embracing curiosity and being open to solid options is the way to go in the future. You can build a sweet life by allowing it to develop in the random pattern that we often fight against. I don’t know what to do with my life and it’s turning out to be okay.
By: Chris Bemis