A pen in hand and with fixated eyes staring openly down his paper where sits the question “what would you be in the future?” left Steve daydreaming of endless possibilities. “So, have you decided yet?” asked a voice spontaneously beside him pulling him from his deep thoughts. “I want to be a doctor,” said Steve. “I thought you want to be a painter, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” “Bro, if I want to be making millions by the time I’m thirty then I should start reconsidering my career.” As his last years of college approached, Steve ended up shifting from one course to another, unable to settle with one course that both guarantee a big salary and satisfaction. What did he gain? Regret. He, however, neither blamed the pursuit of money nor passion but being INDECISIVE.

Money or Passion? This dilemma had long left young people stumped over which is best considered especially in their years of choosing a substantial career to pursue. A wise choice would be to choose a degree that can guarantee you a high salary but what good would it do if it won’t make you happy? The same thing goes if you choose your passion; would you be happy even if that means putting your future in a stake of a HIT-OR-MISS? This series of irony that goes along with either decision you choose would make it more difficult to settle with one consistent decision, instead, you might end up like Steve–shifting from one course to another until such time that you’d fail in considering any of the choices. A study finding suggests that indecisive individuals not only need more time to reach a decision but that they also actually fail to reach decisions (Muris & Rassin, 2005). Think of it like beer and liquor, if you choose to drink one then you’ll be fine, but if you choose to drink the other because the first one doesn’t sit well with your taste, then you run the risk of irritating the lining of your stomach.

Choosing one isn’t necessarily as bad. There are a lot of reasons why choosing paycheck over passion to be practical can still be a good thing (Goeglein, 2019). It could help you in a state of the financial crisis and hoists you up in a stable position. You might not like it at first, but the more time you spend doing it, the more you’ll learn to love what you do. Choosing what you’re passionate about is also good since you won’t feel like being forced into doing work you don’t actually like (Cuffin, 2013). Although the salary might not be linear with what you wanted, it can certainly open doors for self-perseverance and it won’t take too long for you to start receiving what’s worth your effort.

So have you decided yet? The world is full of multiple choices, it is not exclusive on making a career-decision only. It can happen in all situations. Yes, you may experience regrets, but who doesn’t? There are a lot of Steves in the world and it is only in due time that you would become one too. Make your mark. With a pen in hand and a vision of focus, decide on a path, and minimize your chances of straying. For as a quote goes “INDECISION IS THE ENEMY OF PROGRESS”; not saying yes to one possibility is possibly saying no to one opportunity that might have changed your life for the better…