Your career choices can’t be isolated from other areas of your life. Whether it’s studying towards your dream career, relocating for a new job, working long hours, or changing your career path, every career choice will have an impact on your other life decisions. Let’s take a look at some of the impacts you should be aware of.
Financial impacts
Career choices can have a number of impacts on your finances. Firstly, you will need to make allowances for the costs of the college course you want to study. It is worthwhile to investigate financing options such as monthly instalments, which will make the costs of your studies easier to bear.
If you’re pursuing your studies on a full-time basis, then there won’t be much spare time available to make an income. Part-time studies are therefore a useful option for those who need to earn wages to finance their studies or cover other costs, such as rent, food, and transport.
If you are at the stage of applying for a new job, you will also need to consider potential relocation costs, and whether the salary you’ll be earning will be sufficient to cover all your living costs.
Relationship impacts
What you decide to do in your career will inevitably have an impact on your loved ones. If you’re married or in a serious relationship, then you will need to consider how your choices will affect your partner and the overall health of your relationship. Here are some questions you may need to ask:
- If you’ve found a new job in a different city, then are you going to expect your partner to relocate with you, possibly sacrificing their own job?
- Are you able to balance your work hours with the time you spend with your partner?
- Have you discussed your career choice with your partner and is he or she comfortable with it?
- If you have children, then have you considered their schooling, their friendships, and the new changes they will have to adapt to?
Completely changing the direction of your career can be particularly stressful on your relationship, as it could involve further academic studies, a change in salary, or different working hours, all of which will have an impact on you, your partner and your family.
Mental and emotional impacts
Since your career will take up a significant portion of every day, it is natural that your career choices will have an impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing. If you’ve chosen a career with high stress levels, then you need to learn how to manage or cope with this stress. If you find yourself working in a job that you don’t enjoy, then there is a potential risk of developing work-related depression, which can extend into your personal life.
On the other side of the coin, making the right career choices can be highly beneficial for your overall wellbeing. If you are passionate about your career and excited about going to work every day, then you’ve taken care of one of the most important factors influencing your personal happiness. This is why it is always wise to follow a career path that suits your personal characteristics and interests.
When making your career choices, don’t neglect to weigh up their powerful impacts on the most important areas of your life.