Developing your career is a lifelong process and something that is well worth investing your time and energy into. At its best, your career can provide you with the opportunity to express yourself and allows you to spend your life doing something that you enjoy. Knowing the type of person you are is crucial to developing a fulfilling career and often it can take us a long time to understand ourselves. This is where self-exploration is important and can help.

People constantly evolve throughout their lifetime, never more so than during their teenage years. These are the years when most young people learn who they are. You question the world around you, you measure yourself against your peers and you slowly grow in confidence. Many more life events and experiences lie ahead but the teenage years are when your unique identity is forged and also when big decisions about your future life and career are made such as applying to college.

Self-exploration is about identifying your strengths and weakness and how these can fit into particular career areas. If you can understand what motivates you and what your hopes and aspirations are you can then begin to start moving in the right direction for you.

The relationships and contact we have with the significant people and groups in our lives, how we communicate, the bonds we develop and the influences these people have on us all contribute to the development of our self-concept. Increasingly, in more recent years, media and social media are now playing a role in how young people develop their self-concept.

Role of Parents

Parents obviously play a crucial role for their children as mentors, coaches, counsellors, safety nets and many more roles. Although parents should not tell their children what career path they must embark on, they can, however, be vital source of guidance and support to help their child develop as an individual. A young person who is exposed to a range of experiences while growing up will be more likely to consider different possibilities for themselves. The ambitions will often change over time but these are all part of the journey of self-discovery.

Self-Esteem is also an extremely important factor to take into account when exploring our sense of self. The amount that a young person values and believes in themselves is of crucial importance. Therefore, growing up in an environment that instils a sense of genuineness, acceptance and empathy will help develop a healthy level of self-esteem in a young person.