On parental pressure and choosing the wrong career – Photo credit: madamenoire.com

If you watched The Middle on ABC last night, you couldn’t have missed Axl struggling with major anxiety the entire episode, before being admonished by his father to pick Business.While in Axl’s case, he needed the admonition, in many other cases, most of us could have done without…

Your mom told you so. Heck, everyone else did too…The immense pressure of career choice was upon you as you graduated from high school, you just had to make the best decision, for yourself and everyone else…but mostly for everyone else. My mother raised all four of us as a single mom, and wanted us to pick lucrative, well-regarded careers. Her dream was for at least one of us to be a doctor, which didn’t exactly work out as planned.

Overcoming parental pressure to pick the careers we really want is no small feat. It goes even further than that, as parents often play a big role in determining their children’s success, and happiness. And most often, the reality is most of us did not exactly resist the parental pressure. Instead, we caved in, got the degree and ended up in some office with all the apparent signs of success, yet feeling like we failed ourselves.

So what should you do if your parents pressured you to pick the wrong career, and you actually did? Do you just chuck it up to bad luck, keep pursuing your dreams even if on the side, or just resign yourself to your fate?

1. There’s a reason for everything! As lame as it may sound, it’s true. There was a reason I got this Accounting degree, paid my dues and learnt what I now know. If anything, I can write about it…

2. Make your dream a part of your life! Dreaming of a writing career? Well, start writing right where you are, at work, in your side hustle, everywhere you can get your pen through. Use your talents in your current career, moonlight when you can, and have faith it will all come together…

3. Stop blaming your parents! Let go of the resentment and blame, accept that your career was also your choice. As soon as you start letting go of the “what if’s” and the anger, your path becomes clearer, even in the midst of uncertainty and confusion…

Did your parents pressure you to pick the wrong career? How did you cope?

The Corporate Sis.