Now that it is nearly the end of the academic year, many high school juniors and seniors are standing at the threshold of college. We bet that 100% of future students now feel excited about their upcoming admissions. About the same amount of them are dreading this upcoming chapter of their academic path. But only a small percent know what they want in life and can align it with their choice of college and degree program.

What if you are not one of them? On the one hand, you have plenty of time ahead to figure it out. But on the other hand, having at least some idea of what you want in life before applying to college will help you be better prepared for the future and choose a program that suits you. To help you figure everything out, we’ve gathered some simple tips that you should try.

1. Study Different Subjects

The best thing about school is that it gives you a chance to try different subjects and extracurriculars to figure out what you really enjoy and what interests you the most. But unfortunately, many students don’t use this chance due to a huge academic load and lots of other obligations they have. If it is the same for you, you will never discover your passions. So, our first tip is to use this chance and try different directions.

If you are afraid that spreading your focus across many different things can affect your performance, don’t worry. You can always get essay writer help from EssayPro to fill in the gaps and keep your grades up. And the free time that you get can be used for discovering your interests and passions.

2. Follow Your Passions Fearlessly

There is no secret that in our childhood and teenage years, we can quickly get interested in something and, just as quickly, we can switch our point of interest. That’s natural. But, this doesn’t mean that some passions are less valuable than others. On the contrary, it is important to live through every passion and discover it.

If you get interested in comics and superheroes, don’t hesitate to develop this hobby. If you then get interested in sports, then go ahead and make this shift. Having your interests change is okay. But it’s not okay to give up on something that truly involves you. After all, you never know which of your hobbies can turn out to be your calling. And be fearless in following your passions. Remember that there will always be some people who will judge you, but you are the only one who knows what is best for you!

3. Find Someone You’re Jealous of

Thanks to the internet and social media, each of us is watching other people. We watch people we know, our friends, influencers, celebrities, entrepreneurs, etc. Often, looking at someone else, we start thinking, “I wish I had the same job, hobby, etc.” And this is one of the things you can use to define what you want in your own life.

The trick is pretty simple. To get started, find people that you are jealous of, ideally, people who are older than you. After you find them, ask yourself one main question – what do they have in their life that makes you envious? It might be their style of living, career, values, fame, and pretty much anything else.

You can be surprised, but answering this simple question can really help you understand your own needs and wishes. For example, looking at a famous blogger and feeling jealous might mean that you also want to reach a large audience and make money by running a blog.

4. Experiment

Basically, one of the main things you need to do in order to understand what you want in life is to discover what you like and don’t like. And that’s where our next tip comes in handy.

Be open to experiments! If you have never tried yoga, go ahead and sign up for a trial class. If you have never taken an interest in the IT industry, take some time to learn more about it and give it a shot. Always try new things, and don’t be afraid to fail. Only this way will you be able to learn what things you like and what you don’t like.

5. Understand Your Basic Needs

Sometimes, especially when you are young, the question “What do I want?” turns out to be too difficult to answer. And, often, even when we answer this question, we can feel like the answer doesn’t really satisfy us, and there is a reason for that.

According to psychologists, our wishes are not always aligned with our core needs. When this happens, it can create a feeling of dissonance and make us feel unhappy even when we implement our wishes in life. In order to avoid this, it is important that you first understand what your basic needs are.

To think more about your needs, take some time to study Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow’s theory, there is a common hierarchy in our needs that can help us feel fulfillment in life. According to this hierarchy, there are basic needs like food, water, safety, and similar that must be fulfilled before satisfying higher needs like self-actualization.

6. Define What You Don’t Want

While it can take quite a lot of time to understand what you want in life, understanding what you don’t want typically comes much faster. And, once you understand what you don’t want, figuring out the rest gets a bit easier. So, our next tip is to ask yourself where or what you don’t want to be in life.

To answer this question, all you need is to look around. Just like there always are some people that you might be jealous of, there most certainly are some people that you feel pity for. Looking at them and their lives can help you understand what you don’t want in life.

7. Start Early

As was mentioned earlier, figuring out what you want in life before applying to college can give you a number of benefits and help you find the right academic path for yourself. However, it is worth noting that discovering your passions and needs doesn’t really happen overnight. So, be sure to start before it’s too late.

Start using the tips from this article early on when you still have some time before college. By doing so, you won’t have to rush and will be able to discover all your needs and wishes thoroughly. So, the earlier you start, the better!

The Bottom Line

For some of us, figuring out what we want is a lifelong path. It takes years and even tens of years to understand what we like and what we don’t. And some never find their true passions.

But, the truth is that this happens most often just because we start looking for our passions too late or that we don’t do anything at all to discover them.

Luckily, now you have a detailed guide that will help you avoid this. Use the simple tricks from this article to start understanding yourself better and define what you want in life even before you apply to college!