I recently met with a friend who is about to graduate from Waseda University (one of Japan’s top universities) and is currently in the process of searching for a job. One of the biggest difficulties he is having in his search is deciding what he really wants to do. The decision is further complicated because of the influence and expectations of his family, friends, and society. He has been offered a position working for a manufacturing company, but isn’t really interested in this type of work. He would much rather prefer to work in services where he can interact with and help people. His parents, friends, and most of Japanese society push him to take what they perceive as the more secure job working at a manufacturing company. How do you choose?

This is a question that I spent a lot of time thinking about. I grew up very poor as a child living with my mother and moving to a new place each time we were evicted. When I started high school, I began living with my father. He had just started his own pest control company, and as with any new business we struggled through the first few years as the business developed. My father always told me that I should make a lot of money. That having money wouldn’t necessarily bring happiness, but having it would certainly help. Growing up in a household with no money, I could see his point.

I entered college because I felt that I needed to get an education to get a good job and distance myself from the life I had as a child. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to study, but it had to be something that I could make good money. This mentality caused me to start giving up on dreams. All through high school I thought I wanted to work with animals, in college I eventually gave up the idea because I didn’t think I could make enough money. I instead choose to major in international business. I figured that regardless of the career I chose it was something I could use.

When it was time to find a job, again I chose places to work where I wasn’t excited about what I was doing. Actually, I was quite miserable. I felt as though I was being pulled in two separate directions. The direction my heart wanted to go and the direction I felt I was supposed to go because everyone else was. The question I kept asking myself, was did the money really matter if I had to spend most of my life doing something I didn’t really want to do?

To try and answer this question I started to re-educate myself. I began reading books on personal development, finance, time management, careers, and success. I also began to meet more people and get advice from people who had already done what I thought I might want to do. The information and advice I received was priceless. I would learn something and then try and put it into practice. I got better and more efficient at my job, greatly improved my finances, learned a lot about myself and what made me happy.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that I would be happier trying and failing at my own thing, than succeeding on my current path. I have since quit my job and am moving to a tropical island in less than two weeks. Though I do not have the security of the standard job, I feel happier and have less worries than I ever have.

I realized how important it is to do what you really want. For a long time I was afraid to follow what I wanted to do because I was afraid to fail. Eventually I came to realize that the benefits of success greatly out weighed the negatives of failure. Not to mention, I would always have the chance to jump back into the work force if I really wanted to.

Your friends and family may also encourage you to take what they consider the safe road. They may be doing this because they think that you are better off to have a stable and standard life. For some people that makes them happy. However, each person is different. Not to mention that societies and economies are always changing. What may have been considered safe and stable during your parents ages may not be so when you are looking for a job. In my friends case, his parents want him to take the manufacturing job because they believe his father has worked in a similar company and they believe it is a very stable job. With many factories being shut down and work being outsourced to cheaper areas, this may no longer be true.

I leave you with advice from the world’s richest man, Warren Buffet.

Helpful Books:

• Personal Development for Smart People
• 4 Hour Work Week
• The Dip
• Eat That Frog