As adults we are all faced with making decisions each and every day and we have years of experience in making these decisions.   When it comes to the younger generation that are completing high school and looking at choices for their future, these decisions are not so easy.   Some of these decisions are small and really have very little impact on the big picture of our ives, such as buying a cup of coffee or just making one at home. However, some decisions can have an impact on about every facet of our lives.  Decisions about relationships, choice of college, course of study, and careers fall into this category.  Since these decisions can affect our happiness, stability and economic status it is important to make informed choices instead of shooting from the hip.

How can we make more informed choices (particularly the young adults just getting started on the journey)?  There are two critical areas to take into account and the good news is that with a small investment of time we can get closer to the mark!  The first step is to discover our personality traits and the second step is to learn a process to use that information to make informed choices.

There is a wealth of information available regarding personality that has been researched and validated over the past 50 years.  Personality traits can assist in identifying strengths, inform us on how to communicate more effectively, and help create a customized learning strategy.  Discovering our personality traits can also show us the areas where we gain energy regarding tasks and situations and the best way to use that energy in order to become successful in whatever we choose to pursue in life.

Here are some facts regarding personality as researched and documented by Drs Pierce and Jane Howard.

1. We are born with 60% of our personality traits. The other 40% is influenced by our environment and experiences.   In other words, we are hardwired very early in life!
2. There is no ideal personality or personality profile. However, there are ideal profiles for specific tasks or situations.
3. Being someone we aren’t can make us physically sick. We can change the way we naturally express a personality trait such as the ability to multi-task or expressing an opinion in order to blend in with a group or an organization, but our body physically reacts negatively.  In other words, we can get sick by choosing to be in a situation where we can’t act naturally.
4. Falling to peer pressure is a choice. Peer pressure has a greater effect on the modification or reinforcement of basic personality traits – more so than the influence from our parents!  Peer pressure is not something that your peers do to you, but something that you do to yourself.  Make wise choices.
5. It takes practice, but learn to think for yourself. The more we learn to think for ourselves, the greater the chance that our identity will be free of coercion.  No more hand me down dreams!  When we learn to think for ourselves and make decisions based on who we are, we will have fewer false starts as we make important choices.

So why is all this so important?  With the rapid pace of change in the world and the economic uncertainty it is more important than ever to make more informed decisions.  The cost of education has skyrocketed and the employment choices are limited.  We can’t afford to guess when making decisions about college or career choices.

Knowing who we are doesn’t mean that we are going to get it perfect every time.  The more self-awareness we have the better we are at working with our strengths and compensating for the challenges.  A good analogy would be the guard rails often seen on the road as we travel.  They don’t keep us from running off the road, but they do keep us from falling off the cliff.  Self-awareness helps us stay on the road and gives us boundaries for decisions.  Take the time to answer the question “Who am I?” so that the answer to “What do I want to be?”

Amy Ramsey – Go 2 The Peak

www.go2thepeak.com

I wish I had known who I really was!  I went off to college and changed my major 7 times.  I
actually changed colleges about 5 times and even spent a year in law school.  All of this change and frustration came about because I really didn’t know who I was.   What was my personality?  What was a great fit for how I was hardwired?  What
were my strengths, talents, gifts and abilities?  I finally did figure it out much later in life.  However, the cost for the wait resulted in jobs I couldn’t stand, frustrating relationships, lost wages and just pure happiness and joy with who I was and thankful for the gifts God gave me from birth.

My passion and vision in life is to share the lessons I learned later in life – but at a much earlier age.  I have started a
coaching company that is geared to the young adult (ages 17 through 30ish) to help them figure this out before they go to college and spend a ton of money only to find that what they majored in really is of no interest to them whatsoever!  I have a son who is a senior in high school, so I completely understand where the parents are coming from.  I also understand from
personal experience that we can longer give our kids “hand me down” dreams. I lived that myself.

I developed a program that is designed to help the student or young adult answer the question “Who am I?” so that they can make more informed choices and better answer the question “What do I want to be?”   These students (and their
parents) have serious and life changing decisions to make that will shape their future.  For the parents it means that they want to have the student make the best decision regarding the program they choose and get meaningful
employment afterwards.   The Student can no longer afford to choose a college or a major that isn’t going to meet their needs or match their personality strengths as closely as possible.  Education costs have risen and it is more important now than ever before to choose the right path – or get as close to the path as possible.

What I am really doing is accelerating the process of emotional intelligence.  The program creates self-awareness and teaches
the student a process to evaluate decisions leaving them better equipped to chart a more self-directed path. This understanding plus personal coaching enables them to maximize their opportunities.

I am very passionate about helping this age group figure it out before they are in their 40’s and start to say – I wish I had known that when I was 18!

Amy Ramsey (me) says follow your dreams!  Studies show that 60% of our personality is hardwired within us and begins to show itself as early as age 6.  What does that mean for those of us that are trying to choose between their passion and a paycheck?  That means that we will probably struggle through school because the material isn’t matching up with who we really are.  Many don’t even continue with the original program and change their degrees up to 6 or 7 times as they try to figure out what makes sense for them.  Certainly you can master the information, but it will continually drain your energy and become very difficult to stay focused. 

Until we take the time to fully understand and answer the question “Who am I?” we will never be able to say “What I am….” with any accuracy or conviction.  It is important to take the time to realize how you are hardwired and then make informed choices around college and careers.  Though you may make $90,000 going into that field will you be able to sustain the job and grow both personally and professionally?  It has been shown that is becoming harder and harder as the job market changes and globalization puts a different spin on who gets hired these days. 

My suggestion is to get closer to your dream and use the most of your personality as you can so that you enter the career journey with a happier and more sustaining outlook on your job !  No longer can we make blind choices based on things such as income without a better understanding of the entire picture.

Amy Ramsey

Go 2 The Peak

www.go2thepeak.com

http://www.recruitingtrends.com/hiring-expected-to-improve-for-new-college-grads-as-more-would-be-retirees-stay-in-workforce

This is the time of year when parents and students really start to think about going to college and choosing a career path.  It is the time when graduating from high school starts to become a reality as you pick out invitations and finalize senior portraits.  The natural thought progression leads you right to the first day of college and the sometimes painful question, “What am I going to declare as a major?”  These are very real questions and it can cause a lot of anxiety and tension between the students and the parents.  It is a hard question that now carries a lot of weight considering the cost of a college education. 

 How do you begin to answer these questions?  One of the suggestions that I use is to do what this age group does best and start to surf the web!  There are some very useful resources that will allow you to research potential career paths and help you make more informed choices.  I have listed a few of the ones that I use quite frequently with my clients. 

www.collegeboard.com

www.onetcenter.org  ( This one is my favorite because it is packed with detailed information regarding careers.  It includes educational requirements, salary ranges and even the day to day work routine for the profession selected)

www.careerkey.org ( This also contains quite a bit of information and uses the Holland Personality keys)