Invest in Yourself
Where do you begin?
It’s really not the end of the world if you do not have it all figured out yet, just start somewhere.
Find something you love
Times have changed and young people are not settling for jobs just to make ends meet like older generations did. Instead, they are looking for something that will be fulfilling and make them happy. These days one of the most dreaded things we hear often from young people is to be tied to a desk from 8 to 5 in a dead-end job with no freedom.
The notion of working day in and day out until you’re a certain age, retiring, and then only starting to live your life is dying fast. Younger generations have realized that you might not even reach that age and end up never living your life fully doing all the things you had planned.
Living now, 'in the moment' has its good side as well as a downside. The wonderful thing about lots of young people entering into jobs or careers that they like or even love is that they become passionate and driven people. They end up making big changes in industries and the world. There's a vast amount of new opportunities that the new digital age has brought and these young people become entrepreneurs creating new jobs for themselves.
The downside is that many parents may end up with a ‘failure to launch’ situation. With kids well into their late 20s still living at home and trying to figure their lives out and the path they want to take.
Deciding on your future career is never an easy decision to make. Young people need clear guidance, that's why a life skills gap year is a great idea.
You need to start somewhere
It’s not the end of the world if you do not have it all figured out yet, just start somewhere. A gap year can give you a good place to start.
Studies have found that millennials will change jobs an average of four times in their first decade out of college. Generation Z is the youngest entry into the workforce. This generation also tends to job-hop or often change careers. Many assume millennials are just chasing money when they job-hop, rather than waiting patiently for their slice of the pie as their seniors did. However, that’s not true of all job-hoppers.
Many employees who seek other jobs early on are willing to take pay cuts for the right job, especially if there is a mismatch or lack of positive work culture. Other factors for switching jobs quickly include having too much work to do, resulting in an uneven work-life balance. Environmental and social consciousness drives the younger generations, to care about their fellow man. When a company’s mission matches its values, millennials and Gen Zs are in — more likely for a longer haul than their last gig.
Finding happiness
Take time to invest in yourself, not only for your career choice but for your emotional well-being.
Working through problems and emotional baggage will improve your quality of life tremendously. I say this because at the end of the day, it’s not your job that will make you happy but the relationships you have formed. It’s a shame that we give so little attention to our emotional well-being, as this will have the greatest impact on the happiness of our future selves.
Everyone needs to learn emotional life skills, especially young people.
It’s never easy to face your true self, to take off the masks, or to go back into your past and deal with difficult things, but it’s always worth it. You will never regret dealing with something and putting it behind you. This frees you from the things dragging you down and holding you back and opens up doors to wonderful new things.
What better time to do this than while you’re still young, before finding a marriage partner or making other big life decisions? A life skills gap year offers you this opportunity.
Just Africa Life Skills Gap Year
Article by
Madelein Wolfaardt
