Reverse Strategy in Career Choices Chapel Hill NC

Summary

• Decide what you don't want to do in your career.
• Explore opposite possibilities.
• Make a list and talk with friends about your ideas.

Sometimes the harder you try to figure out what you want to do for a career, the more you wind up beating your head against the wall.

Sound familiar to you? If so, then try the reverse strategy: Take a close look at what you don't want to do. That way, you can explore the opposite and start getting at least some sense of what you do want to do.

Admittedly, this is an unusual approach. After all, it isn't often that you try to accomplish something by first doing the opposite! But I've used this method many times with college students who were in the, "I have no idea what I want to do," stage of their career development.

The method to my madness: I've discovered that, more often than not, lost students can easily pinpoint what they're not interested in, what they're not good at, or what's not all that important to them. "I only know what I don't want to do" is a line these students frequently volunteer in my meetings with them. It's often accompanied by a sort of self-mocking chuckle, as the person seems to be thinking, "I'm an idiot."

There's no need to beat up on yourself for only knowing what you don't want. In fact, you might look at this knowledge as a tool that can help you slowly build a clearer picture of what you do want.

Let's look at a few examples to see how this approach might work for you....