How to choose an ideal career and become successful in your life?

Choosing a right career for yourself is probably one of the most important decisions of your life. This requires some deep thought and deliberation into your abilities and interest. There are 4 major factors which need to be kept in mind while planning a career for yourself.

1. Before deciding a future career do a thorough self introspection. It is your own life and what you are going to do in future should be entirely your own decision and you should give ample time and thought on this. Self-introspection or self assessment is a process of analyzing yourself by gathering information about yourself from parents, peers and by your own experience. Each person has a certain set of traits, talents and interests which in combination with the ability of your mind and personality traits can help you to decide the idea path for your life. Such a study would be a life changing experience for you, the knowledge of what you can do best and the future scopes for that interest will help you to plan on how to hone your skills to pursue a career in that field in future.
   
   There exist a set of scientifically designed tools which helps an individual to indentify his/her abilities- what he is good at, doing what comes naturally to him and what are the traits of your personality which identify you in the public. Career councilors have with them a range of professionally prepared tests and exercises designed to bring out your strength ability from a range of abilities like reasoning, verbal, numerical, scientific etc. These tests and exercises help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, motivational drives, attitude, personality traits and help you to decide for a career path which have the highest probability of giving you success as well as satisfaction.
   
   You can also do your own assessment by talking to your parents, teachers and peers and asking them to make a profile of yours. The other option as mentioned above is to go to professionals like career counselors or career guidance professionals who are trained to examine you by interaction and tests to help you decide the most suitable career for yourself according to your strengths and weakness, educational background and your personal aspirations and interests.
   
2. The second point to keep in mind are the opportunities available in the particular field. With the human advancement the number of career options available nowadays is just too vast! The opportunities are innumerable and are being created in every instant of time not only in your country but abroad. Therefore it is of utmost important to collect as much information you can about the potential of different work fields. Find out the nature of jobs related to your interests, the future opportunities in the area, scope in future, salary, potential of satisfaction, working conditions, competition and whatever more information you can collect about it which finally helps you in narrowing down your selection.
   
   Shortlist about 4 to 5 options for yourself and against them right the required educational qualifications, study route and the other pros and cons of them. Also match the options with your abilities, interests and personality and see which one is the most appealing to you. Each field has its own pros and attraction and you should select the one which interests you otherwise if you are not comfortable with your field then you won't even enjoy your work nor be successful in it.
   
3. See if the occupation you have selected matches your skills and passion. The career which matches most with your interests, passion, personality and skills might be the ideal career for you. To choose a job that will be most satisfying to you, it is important to know which in interest category is closest to you and select a job that falls into that category. Find out as much as you can about from the people currently employed in it and learn from them the skills and abilities required in it.
   
4. Once you are decided with the best job option for you matching you personality and interest proceed towards making a plan on how to develop and hone your skills for your career goal. Your plan should have all the information about the 4-5 career options you have selected as well as:
   
   • Availability of study options: Higher educational study options with recognized courses, degrees or diplomas best suiting your career goals.
   • Number and quality of institutions offering these courses in India and abroad.
   • Other steps which can be taken to make you better prepared for your dream job like a internship or apprenticeship, which will also help you in deciding if the work is really for you.
   • Development of skills related to the dream job: All type of work requires some sort of skills which might vary from being technical, language, physical, leadership or management skills. Most of the times you will find these skills handy while trying out for a job and enhance your career prospects.
   
   If you are still studying or even elsewhere you can incorporate some activities in your daily life to enhance these skills like taking part in group discussions and debates which will hone your communication skills.
   
   Preparing your group for a debate or a class presentation will improve your leadership qualities and management skill while preparing charts, decoration or designing costumes for your group will improve your creativity quotient.
   
   Finally, choosing a realistic goal is most important for choosing a right career. You can only be successful in a field if you know which field you can do well in and are able to use your time efficiently in equipping yourself for your future life.