How to “out-niche” your life and embrace all your interests

To everyone that is afraid to be defined by his major or career choice.

Hi! It’s been a while. The semester has been flying by. The past month has been a period of questioning about my career choice, but now that I have emerged from the torment of my questions, I have a special post for you.

As some of you might already know, I am currently a student in education to become a teacher of French as a second language. It is a four-year bachelor’s degree, and I’ve just started my second year. Two years ago, I was doing a technical degree in accounting and management. So, as you can see, it is not the first time I questioned myself regarding my career path.

That being said, I’ve realized in the past weeks that I tend to be afraid to be defined by my career choice only. It feels like if I am on the “teacher path,” it needs to be my only passion and personality, too.

Have you ever felt that way about your career choice?

However, as much as we can be passionate about our job or field of study and find fulfillment in it, we are other things. And it is okay to love different things.

You can be an artist

But also be interested from time to time in politics.

You can love reading and learning more about literature

But also like making awesome Excel sheets for your finances.

You can love philosophy

But also like to watch scientific documentaries.

Choosing a career is one of the hardest decisions we have to make in life. Once you engage in a specific path, you have to cross off other interests. Like in many countries, in Canada, you start choosing your career path around the age of 16-17. You have to choose between the social science path or the natural science path. So if you choose the first one, you must draw a cross to the other one.

When I had to make this choice back then, it felt like I wasn’t allowed to be interested in natural science (maths, physics, biology, chemistry) anymore since it wasn’t what I had picked in school. Then, when I arrived at university, it felt like I had to shut down many more interests, one by one, until I was put in a specific box.

Have you felt that way when you had to choose your career path?

My point in telling you my experience is to share with you what I have realized: you are so much more than your degree, and choosing your career field shouldn’t feel like being put into a specific category or box. This “box” that we imagine is actually made of a very fragile class, and if you look closer, you can see the crevices to break it.

How to embrace all your interests and not limit yourself to your career choice

The first step is to recognize that you are more than your job. It is to reconnect to what activities or interests created a spark when you were younger or what always picked your curiosity but that you never dared to try.

The second step is to let go of the fear of not being “good enough”. In a world where performance and success are what is applause, it is essential to acknowledge that having a passion or interest does not mean trying to be the best at it. We often feel discouraged to start something new because “we are too old to start,” or “I should have started sooner if I wanted to be good,” or “there’s too much to learn.” Go get that guitar and play for fun, not to impress.

Then, the third step is to embrace all your interests and not try to make your personality out of only one, but rather out of everything that you undertake that sparks joy to you. Be that sparkly accountant, animal lover, part-time writer, and chess player who likes to read environmental magazines. This might be a little extreme…but you get the point;)

And lastly, give yourself some time. Some time to reconnect with what you used to like, what you want now, and what you would love to try. When we are in a specific niche for many years, allowing ourselves to be open and interested in other things can be challenging.

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So, from now on, I wish you to embrace all your interests and different personalities and not limit yourself to what is related to your career choice. In social media and blogging, we always talk about the niche. But what about “out-niching” our lives? Because, after all, the more you do things you like, the happier you are. So why not start now?

À bientôt!

Juliette