Summary

Choosing a profession aligned with one's inherent nature leads to happiness and success, while a misaligned choice can cause unhappiness and regression.

Abstract

According to Vedanta, an ancient spiritual philosophy, individuals should live by eternal principles, including deriving joy from actions rather than their outcomes, a concept known as renunciation in action. This philosophy suggests that success or failure is beyond our complete control, and thus, one should focus on enjoying the work itself. The profession one chooses should resonate with their inherent nature, or vasna, which shapes thoughts, desires, and actions. Understanding this nature requires self-awareness and an understanding of one's world. Career counseling is recommended for young adults to discern their interests. Once a profession is chosen, it is crucial to embrace all aspects of it, including those that may be less enjoyable, to achieve long-term success. The Japanese concept of ikigai, or life's purpose, aligns with this idea, emphasizing the importance of synergy between passion, mission, vocation, and profession. Western philosophers like Viktor E. Frankl also support the pursuit of meaning through work as a source of happiness and fulfillment. Vedanta further posits that humans can change their inherent nature through actions, unlike animals, suggesting that by cultivating positive thoughts and desires, individuals can steer their lives towards happiness and success.

Opinions

Action represents life, and true renunciation means not being attached to the results of those actions.
Enjoying one's profession is crucial for personal happiness and evolution.
A profession should be chosen based on one's inherent nature, which requires introspection and understanding of personal desires and the world.
Career counseling is a valuable tool for young adults to identify their true interests and align them with a suitable profession.
Success in a chosen field requires embracing all aspects of the profession, including less enjoyable tasks.
The concept of ikigai supports the idea that a meaningful profession contributes significantly to one's happiness and sense of purpose.
Viktor E. Frankl's Logo-therapy emphasizes the search for meaning in life, particularly through work, as a path to success and happiness.
Individuals

Choose your profession wisely to unlock greater happiness and success

If your profession is in line with your inherent nature, you will be happy and evolve in life; if you choose a profession, not in line with your nature it will lead to unhappiness and regression.

As per Vedanta, which is one of the oldest spiritual philosophies in the world, based on Indian Vedas (the sacred scriptures), a person should live as per the eternal principles of Life. One of these eternal principles is to derive happiness in action and be dispassionate about the result, also called renunciation in action. Renunciation does not mean retreating to the mountains and doing nothing.

Action symbolizes Life.

Renunciation means not being attached to the result. Success or failure is not entirely in our hands. Hence, the recommendation to enjoy and find meaning in action rather than focusing on the outcome. Focusing on the outcome leads to anxiety, which will finally affect the outcome negatively and also sap out the joy from the journey (action).

Let’s look at this philosophy from the perspective of our everyday life. A lot of us spend a predominant time of our active life in pursuing our profession. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you will end up being a bitter, unhappy person. If you pursue a profession of choice, you will not only enjoy everything you do but because the work is being done with delight, you will, in all probability, do a great job and also enjoy the fruits of success. You will live your life with happiness, which will evolve you as a person and create meaning in your life.

As per Vedanta, the profession that you choose should be based on your Inherent nature. This inherent nature is defined as vasna in Vedanta. Vasna creates thoughts and desires, which lead us towards the actions we take in life. Understanding your inherent nature takes patience. You need to sieve through all the data (thoughts/desires) and figure out what exactly brings meaning to your life and how this can help you earn money. It needs a good understanding of self and a good understanding of your world, to be able to connect the two.

Career counseling in schools is an excellent way for young adults to figure out where exactly their interest lies. It will be foolish to get into a field just because someone influences you or because it is convenient to get into a particular field. Every individual is different, and everyone’s quest in life is different. Your choice of the profession will be driven by your inherent nature and will ultimately drive meaning and purpose in your Life, which will define your happiness quotient. So, choose well!

Once you have chosen your field, execute actions that will further build up your passion and interest in that field. It is also prudent to understand that not everything will be to your liking — a colleague, your boss, or maybe some steps that you will need to take to convert your liking/ passion to a profession. Let’s say you decide to become a painter. While you love painting, you hate the connected effort you have to put in marketing and selling your paintings. This, however, is an essential part of what you have chosen to do. If you have taken up painting as a profession (and not just as a hobby), you do need to earn money from your vocation, for which the business aspects of what you do are equally important. If you want to succeed in the long run, you cannot get driven by your likes and dislikes; your actions need a proper direction. It would be best if you use your intellect to guide you. If you are clear what your passion is and Why you are pursuing what you are pursuing, you will eventually start enjoying the connected actions that you don’t enjoy as much now.

Another philosophy that has influenced me greatly and echoes the same concept is the Japanese philosophy of ikigai. Ikigai means “reason for being” or better understood as “purpose in life,” is what gives us the reason to jump out of bed every morning and towards which we take action, hence giving happiness and a sense of meaning in life.

When you build your Life such that there is a synergy between your Passion, Mission, Vocation, and profession, you live your ikigai. As I mentioned earlier, while describing vasna, finding this intersection requires patient search and a deep understanding of yourself. It also requires a clear understanding of the world around you to decipher how you can connect what you like to what you can be paid for.

Among the western philosophers, Victore E. Frankyl, the founder of Logo-therapy, in his book ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ says that “Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure (as propagated by Freud, or a quest for power, as taught by Alfred Adler, but a quest for meaning.” Frankyl further expounds that one of the key sources to finding meaning in Life is work (doing something significant which an individual believes in).

Frankyl’s doctrine of Logo-therapy is based on finding the meaning in Life. As per him, ‘success and happiness cannot be pursued, it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s dedication to a cause.’ He quotes the words of another German philosopher, Nietzsche, “He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.” Frankyl lived through the trauma of the concentration camp! He survived, while many others perished. He credits his survival to his burning desire to introduce the world to his philosophy of Logo-therapy. When he was taken to the concentration camp, he already had a manuscript of his book ready for publication, which was confiscated. His deep desire to write this manuscript again was so strong; it helped him survive the brutalities of the concentration camp. If you know your why, you can bear almost any how.

This is an example of how one can keep going (even find happiness) in dire situations. What we are trying to achieve, is just to ensure that, as you find and pursue your ikigai (in other words, your profession of choice based on your inherent nature), you should not give up, when faced with obstacles or get carried away by emotions of what you don’t like.

Another great thinker of today, Simon Sinek, explains the same philosophy in his concept of the Golden Circle, where he says ‘start with a Why.’ Once a person (or a business) knows the ‘why’ he/she will figure out the ‘how’ and the ‘What.’

Another essential and connected principle outlined in Vedanta is that human being is the only specie on earth which can influence and change their vasna or inherent nature. Animals have no control over their actions; they act purely from their inherent nature. A tiger will hunt, how much soever you try, it will not turn Vegetarian! For humans, the cycle of vasna and action is intrinsically connected. We act out of our inherent nature, and the actions further feed-in and strengthen or change our inherent nature. Let’s say a person is inherently Lazy, if he wills himself to get out of bed and act in-line with his wish to achieve something, he will ultimately transform his inherent nature to a more dynamic personality; which will feed his vasnas further to strengthen this quality in his inherent nature.

Only humans have the potential to choose, so choose wisely and feed your inner self with higher, positive thoughts and desires; your actions will automatically be in the desirous direction, giving you happiness and success in whatever you endeavor to do.