Quantifying career options based on a Scale of potential regret. Do we choose what the mind needs or what the heart wants?

First up, don't worry most of the post does not have much to do with the first part of the topic. Breathe easy and enjoy the rest of the read! 
Normally, our mind tells us what we need but as goes the saying, 'the heart wants what the heart wants'. The mind applies logic and reasoning to determine what we need, in most cases. It is a tiresome process to make a decision and once the mind is set on something, it needs a lot of determination and will power to ensure that we get what we need. That is not the case with the heart.  Once the heart wants something, nothing can stop it in its way and it usually needs no extra bit of inspiration or that x-factor to attain it.
We are all faced with many situations such as that. With logic and reasoning on one side and irrationality on the other, we usually choose the latter because the heart wants it.
A majority of people think this way although it may seem silly to some. But it is true and nobody can deny it.  I have faced this situation many times and I chose my heart over my mind more often than I would have wanted to. But this time, I am seeing a scenario where the needs of my mind and the wants of my heart are somehow aligned. Thankfully for me, it was about my career. Therefore, this article will deal with the topic of career choices in the current perspective of my mind and heart and why I think this actually makes sense, for a change.

My mind:

Quantifying career options based on a Scale of potential regret.

There are so many factors that one must think of when deciding on a career. Professional satisfaction, academic achievement, personal needs and last but not the least, remuneration. Somehow, the last aspect seems to be our major concern. Initially, in almost every profession, nobody starts off with being paid a six figure salary. It is unlikely that anybody can win a Nobel Prize or any other academic achievement in their first three years. The average age of a winner of the Nobel prize is 58 years and the last few years, it has been over 65 years of age. Clearly, none of us are going to make a career decision and go so wrong within 5 years, that the cost could be a Nobel prize. 

It is easy to get disillusioned by failures even in a field one is good in and the credit for many inventions has gone to the person who was persistent rather than the person who had the idea in the first place. Therefore, it must be a field one loves but also one with a future. But potential regret is of more importance than potential growth. I have met successful cardiovascular surgeons who are unhappy professionally, so clearly growth and remuneration are not as important as potential regret. Comfort is a necessity but it apply to both professional and personal needs. When we think of comfort, we almost always only consider personal comfort but never professional comfort.

Academic achievement of some sort is necessary and possible in every field available for choosing. I am not going to give any examples as it may seem like I look down upon that field if I use it at this point but there is room for achievement and improvement at every possible level. Even Usain Bolt's 100m record of 9.58 seconds will be broken some time in the future.

Therefore, one must consider all these aspects when choosing a career but of more importance is potential regret. Comfort in all these aspects is necessary to determine regret. Getting out of one's comfort zone is the mantra for achieving the impossible. But one must put oneself in a position of comfort of these aspects to be able to reach a level where one can actually achieve the impossible.

It may seem straightforward but takes immense deliberation to finalize on a path and I believe it is possible. Look out for anything that may cause regret and avoid it as it will definitely lead to discord.


My Heart:

We all go through a time when we decide what to do in our career. For some of us, it is earlier than we thought. In my case, as you already know, I decided to be a doctor when I was very young. When I grew older and closer to deciding what I would do after high school, the decision only got easier. I knew that I would never regret being a doctor. I was not forced into it and neither was I not able to do it. But now that I am a doctor, I am at a crossroads in my career. What do I do next? Which way do I go?

This is where I wanted to ensure that I do not fall into the wrong path for the sake of financial comfort or professional success. I want to be able to strike a balance between my personal and professional life. It is like a seesaw that must be balanced or else one is just swinging up and down indefinitely as both sides are equally important and demanding.

All I wanted to do was to ensure that I take my time to choose something that I must do, love and want to do. Although it might take me more time to do so, at least I know how to decide now.


We are taught to make quick decisions and not ponder. We are also taught to stick by our decisions. But we are never taught how to make a well informed decision. We always cannot stick to our decisions or do too much to stick to our decisions, thereby affecting our ego and eventually ourselves. By learning how to make decisions after considering multiple aspects, we add success to our decisions. 

Therefore, I learned that regret can happen because of an ill thought out decision or when our mind and heart are not on the same page. The latter can lead to unhappiness as all versions of our ego must be satisfied to avoid regret. I might have had to beat around the bush to make my point but believe me, it is necessary to do so to be sure of what we wanted to do. I am sure now of the path I am going to take. I have taken my time getting here which I used to regret but I definitely am not doing so anymore. Clarity of thought has come to me after much deliberation and I not letting it go for anything. Hope you liked this post. A tad too long maybe but future posts will be shorter and that is a promise! Thank you for spending your time with and I hope you will continue to do so. Look out for what more is in store!


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