The main stream media recently reported on the starting salaries of graduates in 2008 which was released by SMU, NTU and NUS in their respective graduate employment surveys.

My own sense of the figures are that they are somewhat high because they were taken prior to the economy feeling the full effects of the global economic recession brought about by the US financial crisis. This post doesn’t debate which courses lead to a better career money-wise but rather to the underlying reasons WHY we choose a course/career in the first place.

Your Career Choice: Money or Love

When I was leaving JC and considering what course to take up, it was really about money. My decision then was based on which undergraduate course would be easy to get a job and provide a career path. I was then still pursuing the “Singapore Dream” of the 5Cs being young and naive. Now that I am older and slightly less naive, I look back and realise I never really considered the real choices I had then which was: MONEY or LOVE?

We have to work for a living. But if that work is unfulfilling and soul sapping then we are making a dying instead of making a living. When I was 19 years old and thinking of what course to pursue, it really didn’t dawn on me that the real choices were to pursue a course that I love or to pursue my passion.

What was my passion when I was 19? The usual, trying to get a girlfriend, playing computer games and generally being a clueless pre-adult that I was.

I know now what I didn’t know then was that if you truly have a passion and you pursue it, chances are you will succeed in it. The problem, which faced many of my peers when growing up, was that the measure of success was (and still largely, is) using money.

You are deemed successful if you make a lot of money relative to your peers even if you hate your job and would gladly trade it for a lesser paying but more fulfilling one. You are complimented, admired and referred to positively by people around you by the car you drive, your residential address and how you spend your money.

It takes a brave soul to not make use of money to measure success in life.

Success = Dollars in Your Bank Account, Material Possessions in Hand

In my journey towards financial freedom, I found the direct opposite was true. Success should be measured by how effective you are in meeting your life goals. What is your mission in life? If it is set only in terms of money, then money is really the only measure. But you know what, I’ve come to realise that money by itself does nothing! You need to use it to achieve your goals, to live your experiences and to use it as a means to fulfilling your life mission however you define it.

My goals in life include being financially free. But it is a means to which I become fulfilled in that it frees me up to pursue health goals, family goals and more importantly gives me more choices in what I want to do in life. Being able to have choices is in itself a goal.

Your Career|Your Course|Your Passion|Your Dream

If I were to go back to when I was 19 again, I would have taken time to talk to people more about career choices and finding out what is my passion. I would have spent more time thinking about what I wanted to do, especially when my brain was rotting in the SAF serving my 2.5 years of full-time national service.

I don’t regret the choices I made as regret doesn’t help you become better for now and for the future. But it made me understand more now that the choices I took when I was 19 have led me to where I am. I am thankful for the choice I made as it has given me a relatively fruitful career and allowed me to embark on this journey towards financial freedom.

If you are in your 20s and just starting out your career, my suggestion is for you to try different areas. Sometimes, it takes us a while to understand what we really love or is our passion. It also comes with a certain level of experience and maturity. The older you get, the more aware you are of what you truly want out of life.

If you can do what you love, you’re in a very fortunate place. If you are not doing what you love, then consider loving what you do.

Be well and prosper.

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