What to do when your child doesn’t know what to do with their life

There are people who, at sixteen, seemed to have found out their purpose in the world and have proceeded to plan the rest of their life out with no doubts whatsoever. But there are also people who have no idea what they what they want to do, and that’s okay. It’s normal and unfortunately, there’s too much pressure on young people to feel like they should have a long, well thought out plan. As a parent, you should make it a priority to help your child recognise their potentials and choose the right path so that they know what to do with their life.

1.  Help them make a list of what they don’t want to do

Going to education fairs and attending career talks can often make your child seem even more overwhelmed by the amount of options they have. Actively scraping out the things you know you are never going to want to do is a good place to start. A lot of us who have trouble figuring out what it is we really want often know and have very strong opinions on what it is we don’t want. Making a list of things your child knows they aren’t interested in pursuing narrows down your options, ultimately making their final decision seem a lot easier to make.

2.  Encourage them to consider taking a gap year

Though it’s more typical that students nowadays jump from secondary school to college to university without any breaks whatsoever, taking some time off studying might be beneficial to some. Your child should use their break to work on building themselves. Maybe they’d like to learn a new language. Or improve their people skills. Or perhaps they’d like to make some money in the process. Remind them that this is time taken to explore themselves. What they plan to do on this short break might not have anything to do with their ultimate career, so they shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. With this is mind, encourage them to say ‘yes’ and be open to new opportunities. Maybe they’ll discover something new about themselves. Or realise they can make a living off what was once thought of as a silly little hobby of theirs.

3. Realise that it’s ultimately their decision

We get it, you’re their parent and you should know what’s best. But deciding what someone should do with the rest of their life is a decision best made by the person themselves. It might be tempting, as your child maintains a confused expression while looking through college brochures, to point out things they should consider, and this is fine. But understand that even though you think you know your child best, there’s a chance you don’t.  And you don’t want your dazed child going along with whatever you say only to regret it twenty years down the road when they realize their life only consists of a monotonous nine to five routine where the only true excitement they experience is at the very end of the week where the promise of a two day break comes along. You did make your child, but in doing so, did not choose each and every personality trait they would have. Only they can make the final decision.