No matter what age you are, be that in your late teenage years or mid-forties, you probably experience stress daily. You might even think that with the progression of time that pressure on you steadily increases as if there were a correlation between the developing world and greater challenges in regards to stress.
This may not necessarily be scientifically proved, but is experienced by masses of individuals in their day-to-day lives. I bet that as a child you jokingly laughed at your elders or even found it annoying when they used the phrases “back in my day” when they referred to the “good old times.”
The “back in my day” assertion may suggest both hardships that one may have experienced and positive events that the current generation is missing out on. However, despite the magic and the aesthetic of the 40s and 60s, life back then was difficult due to world wars and often extreme political struggles.
So based on past events you may re-evaluate your definition of stress and in a way even feel grateful for being born (or being alive) in the 21st Century.
However, not living in a war zone doesn’t mean that you don’t experience stress, because you do just a different form of it.
Academia and having a higher level educational diploma became an almost essential qualification in many contemporary parents’ lives. This can be justified by them previously witnessing or personally experiencing success as a result of it. However, lately, it started heading towards the extreme, with children often being forced into professions that they don’t even want to pursue.
So how can you protect yourself or your child from not falling into that vicious cycle?
Firstly, allow yourself (or your child) to decide what to do in the future. I bet you’ve previously been told that selecting a job for your liking is very important as that’s the only way you can truly enjoy what you are doing and be happy in the long term.
Of course, you cannot fully ignore financial concerns and the thought of future paychecks when deciding what to do in your life. You might even catch yourself thinking “I want a raise” and there is no problem with that. By being ambitious you can push yourself to achieve more.
Making a living is needed for survival, however, money is not everything and if you are not the biggest spender then you don’t have much to worry about!
But do make sure that you have some extra finances in case of an emergency or doctor’s bills to pay off.
Secondly, be prepared that your decision might not be received too well by everyone around you. At these moments, family members and those the closest to us are capable of saying really nasty things and hurting our emotions.
As difficult as it is, you have to ignore the bad comments as they are probably not even being serious or are very different to you as a person, preventing them from understanding your way of thinking.
Regardless of the backlash, it’s very important that you stick by your opinion. After all, if you can’t stand the sight of blood but your aunt actually manages to push you into med school then it wouldn’t be her working in a hospital day and night but you.
Choosing a career is a big step in everyone’s life as it will lead to you becoming almost, if not fully, financially independent from others.
You may also be selecting a profession to work for the rest of your life which could not only be ideal for you but can be considered as one of the top 10 jobs from home by others.
The selection process of an area of study or employment is one source of stress, especially with the family’s (often not too helpful) input. However, once deciding on what you would do comes the real stress of applying to college, getting in, and most importantly, staying in until you have completed it.
It may appear overwhelming and intimidating, but in the end, it’s worth it. By completing your desired training or educational course, you will be fully equipped to start working in an area that you have chosen for yourself.
Nevertheless, despite your course of idea offering you an incredible sense of freedom, degrees sadly cannot be obtained overnight and require you to really work for it.
If the key to your personal success and happiness is a university degree then you must do everything in your power to achieve good grades and maintain those in the long run. For this, you have to make sure that you are managing your time well, but also keeping a healthy balance between your social and academic life.
You should also make sure that you are taking part in fun activities or sports at least a few times a week.
Being a part of a larger friendship group can also be very useful as you will feel a sense of belonging. Being surrounded by people with the same interests can motivate you to keep working hard, also giving you people that will act as a crutch that you can rely on and will support you through your hardships. Do make sure that this action is mutual!
Studying and gaining experience can be incredibly tiresome, however, it’s worth it if in the end, you can do whatever you would like to. Don’t give up and keep pushing!
