Imagine you are in year thirteen, your last year of school, and now is the time for you to make your final decisions in terms of your future studies. You kind of know what you want to study at university, but you are not sure, so you decide to try new things, new subjects, new sports… Things that you never really thought you would want to find more about, or keep as a habit in your daily life because it makes you feel either physically or mentally better. After a while you realize, “I actually like this better than everything I had considered before”. And then you think to yourself, “if I could only go back in time and start this earlier…”
Well, you can. Of course, depending on your age you might have had some opportunities gone by already, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking about that very distant future, and when you do, you will be able to achieve whatever goal you might have.
For you students of a younger age, it’s obviously much easier to change your minds several times, and be more flexible about how you spend your time. However, it’s important to be careful when keeping that same routine for quite a long time, which could then make you end up forgetting about finding something you like and you won’t practice, to the point where it’s going to be too late for a certain plan in the future.
It is quite tough to think about this very early on, I understand, especially because your teachers and parents won’t be pushing you nor expecting much from you at this point. Also, because maybe you don’t want to play a certain sport, or study a certain subject with more commitment than you have to, people won’t force or encourage you to do so, most of the time the reason being that you are too young and they probably think that you will change your mind in the future.
However, the earlier you can start the better. Even if you do change your mind in the future, you will have gained skills that will help you in whatever sport, subject or hobby you might later on opt to choose differently, and you will also be able to use these in your daily life. For example, things like analytical thinking, fast logical reasoning and compassion are things welcome at any point in your life, and towards others.
One of the biggest mistakes people tend to make would be not having a goal, and therefore sitting back and wait for the years go by. Even if you don’t, you can find one, and this will prevent you from being quite upset with your life or career in the future.
Regarding sports, if you are completely lost and don't know what your sport is, start with sports that usually require long years of training to get your body use to the exercise, for example, sports that stimulate the flexibility of the body. When you are young you tend to be more flexible, so the earlier you start using the flexibility in your body, the more flexible you will be in the future, which could then, make it possible for you to have a career in sports such as ballet, gymnastics, maybe contortionism, etc. Deciding to have a career by playing any of those sports towards the time you start to apply to universities without having any experience before, is likely not to happen, as you will need some years of training before achieving a very good level at them (and what I mean by not being 'likely to happen', doesn't necessarily mean that even if you start a year before you are not capable of doing it, but because you might be too busy to find time for such a big commitment).
Rio Anderson, is a ballerina who started ballet when she was fourteen years old (which is pretty late for ballet), and by being very persistent and working much harder to catch up with the younger bailarinas in her class, at 17, she won a silver medal in a competition in America and was given a scholarship at Harvard University, and The Royal Ballet school, to which she turned down Harvard. This shows exactly the idea that, it’s never impossible for you to do anything at any age, but you are going to have to work much, much harder.
Another thing to think about are instruments. Try playing different instruments when you are young. You don’t have to be decided until you reach adolescence, as you might change your mind shortly. This is something quite personal, but I am sure everyone has that gratifying feeling when they hear the sound of an instrument or a melody, and everyone feels music the same way, no matter which kind. Therefore, it’s likely that you will enjoy playing a certain instrument.
Watching motivational videos on youtube or in movies can definitely inspire you a lot. However it is important to be careful, because videos can be very convincing, and you will end up wanting to do and become lots of things you have seen. Therefore, make sure that after watching those videos, you choose the one that you can relate to the most, and feel a smooth emotional and physical connection with. If you are unsure, find places you can try these main things that interested you, and try them all before committing to one.
Lastly, if you can’t find anything that can motivate you enough to spend your free time doing, simply wait until you get bored. According to an article on the “World Economic Forum”, “children need to sit in their own boredom for the world to become quiet enough that they can hear themselves”. However, I believe that this applies to everyone having difficulties in getting started with something. No matter how old you are, besides helping you relax, this gives you more space to think without having all that daily noise accommodating inside your head. This way, I’m sure sooner or later you will find your thing.
Also, people don’t need to actually follow a career in any of the fields mentioned in this article in order to have their life perfectly sorted. They can have these as hobbies too. However, not everybody follows the same path they think they will when they are little in the future, actually, the majority of the people in this planet change their minds several times before choosing their career. Therefore, please bear in mind that this may not apply to you, but the future we hold is always unclear, so this should help you in some way in the future.
Well, you can. Of course, depending on your age you might have had some opportunities gone by already, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking about that very distant future, and when you do, you will be able to achieve whatever goal you might have.
For you students of a younger age, it’s obviously much easier to change your minds several times, and be more flexible about how you spend your time. However, it’s important to be careful when keeping that same routine for quite a long time, which could then make you end up forgetting about finding something you like and you won’t practice, to the point where it’s going to be too late for a certain plan in the future.
It is quite tough to think about this very early on, I understand, especially because your teachers and parents won’t be pushing you nor expecting much from you at this point. Also, because maybe you don’t want to play a certain sport, or study a certain subject with more commitment than you have to, people won’t force or encourage you to do so, most of the time the reason being that you are too young and they probably think that you will change your mind in the future.
However, the earlier you can start the better. Even if you do change your mind in the future, you will have gained skills that will help you in whatever sport, subject or hobby you might later on opt to choose differently, and you will also be able to use these in your daily life. For example, things like analytical thinking, fast logical reasoning and compassion are things welcome at any point in your life, and towards others.
One of the biggest mistakes people tend to make would be not having a goal, and therefore sitting back and wait for the years go by. Even if you don’t, you can find one, and this will prevent you from being quite upset with your life or career in the future.
Regarding sports, if you are completely lost and don't know what your sport is, start with sports that usually require long years of training to get your body use to the exercise, for example, sports that stimulate the flexibility of the body. When you are young you tend to be more flexible, so the earlier you start using the flexibility in your body, the more flexible you will be in the future, which could then, make it possible for you to have a career in sports such as ballet, gymnastics, maybe contortionism, etc. Deciding to have a career by playing any of those sports towards the time you start to apply to universities without having any experience before, is likely not to happen, as you will need some years of training before achieving a very good level at them (and what I mean by not being 'likely to happen', doesn't necessarily mean that even if you start a year before you are not capable of doing it, but because you might be too busy to find time for such a big commitment).
Rio Anderson, is a ballerina who started ballet when she was fourteen years old (which is pretty late for ballet), and by being very persistent and working much harder to catch up with the younger bailarinas in her class, at 17, she won a silver medal in a competition in America and was given a scholarship at Harvard University, and The Royal Ballet school, to which she turned down Harvard. This shows exactly the idea that, it’s never impossible for you to do anything at any age, but you are going to have to work much, much harder.
Another thing to think about are instruments. Try playing different instruments when you are young. You don’t have to be decided until you reach adolescence, as you might change your mind shortly. This is something quite personal, but I am sure everyone has that gratifying feeling when they hear the sound of an instrument or a melody, and everyone feels music the same way, no matter which kind. Therefore, it’s likely that you will enjoy playing a certain instrument.
Watching motivational videos on youtube or in movies can definitely inspire you a lot. However it is important to be careful, because videos can be very convincing, and you will end up wanting to do and become lots of things you have seen. Therefore, make sure that after watching those videos, you choose the one that you can relate to the most, and feel a smooth emotional and physical connection with. If you are unsure, find places you can try these main things that interested you, and try them all before committing to one.
Lastly, if you can’t find anything that can motivate you enough to spend your free time doing, simply wait until you get bored. According to an article on the “World Economic Forum”, “children need to sit in their own boredom for the world to become quiet enough that they can hear themselves”. However, I believe that this applies to everyone having difficulties in getting started with something. No matter how old you are, besides helping you relax, this gives you more space to think without having all that daily noise accommodating inside your head. This way, I’m sure sooner or later you will find your thing.
Also, people don’t need to actually follow a career in any of the fields mentioned in this article in order to have their life perfectly sorted. They can have these as hobbies too. However, not everybody follows the same path they think they will when they are little in the future, actually, the majority of the people in this planet change their minds several times before choosing their career. Therefore, please bear in mind that this may not apply to you, but the future we hold is always unclear, so this should help you in some way in the future.