Why the big questions are the best ones to ask when considering career choices

Is there life on Mars?

It is a good idea to look up every once in a while. Very often, our awareness extends only to that which is directly in front of us. As such, we fail to see the bigger picture, limiting our thoughts and beliefs over what might be possible. And without the belief that something is possible, no positive action is taken.

That’s how our thought process works. It is called the Cognitive Triangle. Our thoughts affect how we feel, and how we feel affects how we behave. So if our thoughts are gloomy, this affects our mood, and we begin to feel gloomy too. And when we feel gloomy, we are unlikely to take any positive actions to improve our situation. That’s why our thoughts are so important; they ultimately influence how we act.

The key to improving our thinking process is to control the inputs. What we expose ourselves to. The things we see and hear. That’s why looking up can help. It shifts our focus away from the immediately obvious and provides new input.

For David Bowie’s girl with the mousy hair, it was a god-awful small affair, this life that she was living. Small town, grey days, repetition, boredom. She wondered, as many of us do, is there something more? So she looked up. Is there life on Mars?

Curiosity killed the…

It’s a question of curiosity, which, despite our unfortunate feline friends’ experience, is actually a good thing. For the girl with the mousy hair, this curiosity led her to consider what else might be possible?

This is a great question to ask when considering your options. Be it a career or career change. What else might be possible? Try to look beyond the immediately obvious. You might not find life on Mars, but you will find new possibilities.

Life is full of possibilities, but we often need reminding. This is your reminder.

It could be leaving school and deciding you want to become an astronaut. Quitting a job for a mid-life career change, starting a new business venture or side hustle that eventually allows you to give up your day job. Why not? Others have done it. And with over 8 billion people on this planet, not only will you find evidence of this if you look for it, but you’ll also likely find some who are willing to offer you advice on how you can do it too.

Turning these possibilities into realities won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. All it takes is the initial bravery to look up.

But the film is a saddening bore…

Looking up often means being prepared to leave the well-trodden path. The path where we see only what others see. The lives and career choices of those directly in front of us. It seems a safe bet, this well-trodden path. But it flirts with becoming a saddening bore.

Glancing up awakens our senses to the possibility of more. And if we can resist the urge to immediately lower our gaze, and instead let our thoughts lead us off the well-trodden path, into the undergrowth of uncertainty yet possibility, we might just catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

Shooting stars encourage us to dream. To consider our ambitions, what truly makes us happy, and what would we do if we knew we simply couldn’t fail? And so what if we do fail, we’ll still be better for the experience.

Better to try and fail than to never try at all

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Perspective is everything…

Looking up also provides perspective. We get a sense of just how big the world is. And in a big world, our problems generally look pretty small.

A failed exam result or job loss seem overwhelming at first. But, when we stop and look up, we see them for what they are. Problems? Yes, perhaps. Unsurmountable problems? No way, not by a long shot.

We don’t crash and burn, we bump and glow. Then we use the experience to look up again and ask another question. The important part is not that we find an answer to whether or not there is life on Mars, but that we keep considering new possibilities.

Asking the big questions in life stimulates our curiosity. And this leads to seeing life’s possibilities. We don’t have to watch the same film on repeat, we can change the script.

We do this when we make it a habit to look up. When a thought that starts out questioning what might be, leads to a feeling and belief that this could be, and ends with an action that tries to be.

Is there life on Mars? Who knows. The value in the question is in the opportunity to catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

But the film is a saddening bore,

’Cause I wrote it ten times or more

It’s about to be writ again

- Is there life on Mars

David Bowie — Life of Mars

Originally published at https://www.lessonsfromlyrics.blog on February 4, 2022.