Reddit mentions of The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success (Touchstone Books (Paperback))

I failed out of college and had a gpa of 1.9. Several years later I actually figured out what I wanted to do with my life and went back to college. I got A's in nearly all my classes and became a veterinarian.

It's a lot easier to study, and get good grades, when you are on the right track. Try this workbook:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Pathfinder-Lifetime-Satisfaction-Touchstone/dp/1451608322

Hello. I am 47 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up 🤣🤣 In the meantime I’m homeschooling my kids, and practicing my sculpting and my gardening.

I think perhaps it helps to understand that if you have failed an exam seven times, then that’s probably not what you’re supposed to be doing. I would also suggest that law as a career for an INFJ sucks. And I can say this with my hand on my heart because I studied law for four years without ever actually becoming a lawyer.

Fluffy careers for INFJ’s which pay well include things like being a psychologist, or a counsellor, or a librarian. Focus on jobs which give you creative control, and control over your own time.

I’ve spent decades for searching for a career direction, and the best advice that I can give you is to find a job that you enjoy Ie: don’t hate, that gives you enough free time to pursue a personal life and hobbies you love.

In my experience, trying to monetise hobbies ends up with you hating the hobby. It’s all very well to talk about doing what you love, but for example, I love sitting on my arse and reading and drinking tea. Not sure how I’m gonna make money out of that.

One very helpful book to read about this issue is Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic”. She had always loved writing, and she had a night job as a bartender which allowed her plenty of time during the day to write, and which paid well enough for her to live comfortably. Even if she had never hit it big with “Eat Pray Love”, she would’ve had a perfectly content happy life as a writer, with her bartending paying the bills.

There is a fascinating book called “Daily Rituals” which talks about the different ways in which a wildly diverse group of creatives structurws their lives. Some worked full time jobs their entire lives, and did the creative work in the evening.

So in answer to the question ”Should I do what I love and try to make money from it ?” the answer is, “Do what you love, but try to make money from something else”. You won’t burn out on doing what you love, and your day job will allow you to indulge your hobbies to a very high degree.

It’s clear to a complete stranger that law just isn’t working to for you. Have you thought about segueing that into something like psychology or librarianship at a Masters level?

If you’ve got a law degree then you are perfectly clever enough, and capable of working hard enough. The advantage of being a psychologist is that it helps you to fulfil that need to help other people. I ended up getting a Philosophy degree, and then became a Librarian, which was a pretty good job; but if I had my time again I think I would probably become a psychologist. It pays well and you’re genuinely helping people.

Don’t despair. We feel things very powerfully, it’s one of our secret powers, but it can be overwhelming until we’ve learnt how to both shield ourselves, and control input by other people. The other advantage of a psychology degree is that it gives you a rock solid tool kit to not only deal with other people, but to help yourself as well.

Another thing I can add, is that there is no one thing that we are supposed to do, and I feel that that’s actually a really unhelpful concept. It’s right up there with the idea that there is one perfect person for us. There are many people for us, for many different reasons, at many different times in our lives.

In the same way there is more than one job for us; there is more than one career for us, for many different reasons, and at different times in our lives. What you’re doing in your early 20s is almost certainly not what you’re going to be doing in your late 50s. Find something that engages you, that you don’t hate, that allows you to help other people.

Things for career choice is that I have actually found useful include the Sparketype test Yeah I found this on Facebook but it’s actually quite accurate 🤣 I’m a Maven.

And the best book is The Pathfinder

I think it really helps to be aware of the limits of your capabilities. So for example, I don’t have an entrepreneurial bone in my body, so I need something that has a structured career path. I also don’t like hard physical labour, so something like being a Park Ranger, which would otherwise appeal to me, is right out.

If you want to save the world (don’t we all ?) watch Regeneration 2040, and get a Permaculture Design Certificate and go from there. This is basically the point that I’m at, at the moment. I watched Regeneration 2040, I basically decided that for my kids, and for the future,that I was gonna keep fighting. And I think Permaculture is the way to make it happen. But that’s just me.

Don’t get too hung up on any one thing and you’ll be fine. I think we’re Seekers at heart and will keep Seeking even if we find what we were initially looking for !

The trick is to become ok with that, and you do that by seeing the world as a field of possibility, where you have the privilege and opportunity to sample many of its delights.

And you have something to give – your gift is that passion and energy, which is currently driving you crazy because you can’t find an outlet for it. But one secret is that no matter what you choose to do, if you pour that passion and energy into it, you will change the world for the better, and you’ll change the lives of the people around you for the better, and you’ll change yourself for the better, too.

Two books that you could read at work that might help you figure out jobs or careers you'd be interested in are What Color Is Your Parachute? (updated yearly) and The Pathfinder. The subreddit /r/jobs might also be able to give you some tips. And career counselors can be incredibly helpful if you find a good one. Good luck!