How to Find What You Want to Do

Preface

Have you ever noticed that when filling out college applications, many people don’t choose their major based on what they like or are good at, but rather on what their parents or teachers suggest, or what is currently trending in the job market?

Even after graduating from university, many still don’t know what kind of job they should pursue. It’s strange that despite spending 13/16 years from elementary school to university, students haven’t learned to explore what they like or are good at.

Recently, some things happened at work:

1. Brother Lei mentioned how many people truly love coding.

2. A new intern chose an offer from Microsoft based on their interests and life/career planning.

This made me rethink whether my current job is what I really want. Coincidentally, I just finished reading the book “How to Find What You Want to Do,” which has some connection to these recent events. So, I decided to discuss it based on the content of this book.

Why Find What You Want to Do

Have you ever had moments like these:

• This job is so boring/painful, I don’t know if I should continue.

• After work, I still have energy but don’t know what to do, so I just scroll through Douyin.

• Why am I so tired after work that I just want to lie down, while others still have the energy to study and work on side projects after work?

Most of these moments are because the work you’re currently doing is not something you like or are good at.

I’ve always believed that when looking for a job, you should choose something you truly enjoy. From the age of 22 when you graduate from university, the legal retirement age is now 60 for men and 50 for women, and it’s highly likely that the retirement age will be postponed in the future. This means you’ll be working for at least 30 years. Since it’s such a long journey, why not choose something you want to do as your job?

Making what you want to do your job can help you grow continuously, entering a growth cycle:

• Learn and grow from what you want to do.

• Earn a salary.

• Invest the salary in learning.

• Use more advanced skills to earn a higher salary.

This is a positive cycle.

If you can’t make what you want to do your job, you’ll enter a vicious cycle:

• The first cycle: Use other means to relieve the stress from work.

• The second cycle: Because you’re not interested in the job, you lack the motivation to learn, so you can’t grow.

We often talk about self-motivation, which actually comes from learning what you want to do.

How to Find What You Truly Want to Do

In “How to Find What You Want to Do,” the author proposes the core of the book: the self-awareness method, which has three pillars:

1. Things you like.

2. Things you’re good at.

3. Things that are important.

These form two important formulas:

1. Things you like ✖️ Things you’re good at 🟰 Things you want to do.

2. Things you like ✖️ Things you’re good at ✖️ Things that are important 🟰 Things you truly want to do.

First, formula one simply means that what you want to do is using what you’re good at to do what you like. Let’s first define what we mean by things you like and things you’re good at.

Things you like refer to areas you’re passionate about, or industries, such as psychology, finance, computer science, etc.

Things you’re good at refer to things you naturally do better than others, things that don’t feel painful and make you feel good. But it’s not the same as skills and knowledge. Things you’re good at are innate, while skills and knowledge are acquired through learning. Therefore, I think what we call things you’re good at is very similar to MBTI personality types. MBTI divides personalities into sixteen types based on four dimensions: energy attitude, perception function, judgment function, and life attitude. Each personality type has things they’re good at.

As mentioned above, what you want to do is using what you’re good at to do what you like. For example, if you like fashion and are good at making things, then what you want to do might be making things related to fashion.

Many people, when considering what they want to do, only focus on what they like, such as liking books, so they want to open a bookstore, which is clearly not a wise choice.

Formula two adds things that are important to formula one, which can also be called values. Things that are important represent a state, most often how you want to live, such as wanting to live freely, wanting a stable life, etc.

Things that are important can derive work purposes. Think about why we work? Many people might say to earn money, but what is earning money for? To live the way you want. This is the purpose of work, but in fact, everyone’s work purpose is different. I remember reading this before:

Adults should be responsible for their actions, and when doing things, don’t “deceive yourself.” Work is not the purpose; what you gain from work is. To put it in a motivational way: If work is for a better life, then live well. If work makes you happy, then work seriously.

It’s the same idea.

Summary

Publicly, I hope that your current job is what you want to do, with enough motivation to stay self-driven.

Privately, I hope everyone can find what they want to do, at least not “painfully” earning money. Let’s encourage each other.

I also recommend you read “How to Find What You Want to Do.” This book also includes specific methods to help you find what you like, what you’re good at, and what’s important to you.