The Top 5 Career Choices You Will Regret Forever

We have all made life decisions and choices that we immediately came to regret. For instance, maybe you went out on a date with someone you shouldn’t have and it came to bite you later. Or maybe you decided to party the night before work and you had to deal with a nasty hangover. Having regrets is not pretty, and it gets worse when those regrets have a negative impact on your future.

When it comes to your career, you cannot afford to make wrong choices. This is especially so when the choice you are making is going to affect every aspect of your life. For those of you who chose the wrong career to pursue after high school, you’re probably stuck with the pain of your decision. The same goes for anyone who said yes to a job they never wanted in the first place.

But while the above mentioned choices can be averted early in your career journey, there are those career choices that will haunt you forever. Below are some of them.

5 Career Choices You Will Regret Forever

1. Not Taking that Leap You’ve Been Thinking About

I started with this one because it affects so many people today. You want to take up a challenging opportunity in your company, but you are too afraid to apply for the role. You wonder what your boss will think, what your co-workers will say, and what will happen if you don’t get the job. These are just unfounded fears that will lead you to a life of regret.

If you come across an opportunity you are interested in, go ahead and apply for it. If you think it’s time to quit your job and embark on something more fulfilling, go ahead and quit. And if you feel that you are ready for a raise or promotion, walk into your boss’ office and demand for it. The outcome may not be what you hoped for, but you’ll be glad you took the leap.

2. Taking a Job for the Money

Don’t get me wrong. Earning a huge salary is everyone’s dream. And no one is ever truly happy with a meager salary. But don’t allow money to be your greatest source of motivation. Why? Once you are earning a good pay, getting good benefits and feeling settled, your job may start to bore you.

Many people today confess they would take a lower pay if they had a chance to quit their jobs and embark on something they love. Others want a position with more flexibility so they can make time for family. These people are in their mid-30s and above.

If you don’t want to regret your decisions later in life, choose your priorities wisely. Don’t allow money to be your only motivator, because when it’s gone, you’ll not know what else to do. Choose career growth every single time.

3. Working too Hard

Working too hard does not pay. In fact, if you were to ask any successful person today for advice, they would warn you against working too hard. Instead, they will tell you to focus on working smart, so you don’t have to give all you have to your job.

Life is not about your job or how hard you work. If you can’t make time to be with your kids because you are “busy”, can’t make it for family events because a “work emergency came up” or can’t make it home for dinner because you are “finishing up on work”, you’ll retire a very sad person.

Don’t work too hard and forget about your family, friends and networks. You may think making time for these people is wasting time, but in truth, you are setting yourself up for the biggest fail of your life.

4. Not Being True to Yourself

If you are pretending to be someone that you are not, or will never be, you are preparing yourself for massive regrets. Saying you love golfing in order to impress your golfer-boss, pretending to be a football fan when you clearly don’t understand why people like the sport, or avoiding to speak out on matters you care about because it’s more peaceful is no way to live.

You may be successful in your scam and even go up the ladder faster than your peers. But years down the line, you will wish you had been more vocal about your concerns. You will also wish you had been open about hating sports. And you will wish you had been yourself the whole time.

5. Living Entirely in Your Mind

Do you find yourself making future plans in your head? Daydreaming about anything and everything you’d ever want to become? According to you (or the person in your mind), your life is well planned, your goals are in order, you know how to execute each one and you have made decisions for every single step.

But you never actually get to do any of it. Day after day of planning, saying you will do a, b and c, but that day never comes. It’s all in your mind. If this is you, stop living in your mind and making plans that you never get to do. Live out your dreams, say you will do something and actually do it. Don’t worry about the society, your family and how they’ll react. That’s their problem, not yours.

Regrets are painful. If you have lived through one, then you know you don’t want to go through another one. Make career choices that align with your dreams, goals and long-term happiness. That’s the only way you’ll avoid regrets.

The writer is a Communications Officer at Corporate Staffing Services. Email her through selipha@corporatestaffing.co.ke