How to Narrow Down Choices?

While no one can decide for you . . . I might suggest studying video game design. It would allow you to combine many of your interests, except perhaps golfing. :)

In NYC, there are several video game studios that depend on local professional actors in the creation of their characters. And there are more and more schools who offer video game design programs. http://successfulstudent.org/27-best-video-game-colleges-2015/

Just a thought!

Hi K.J.

Excellent question. I struggled with this myself. We get a lot of pressure in our culture to really commit fully to one or two things. While there certainly is merit to focusing in on a few things and doing them well, there is still room to enjoy many other hobbies and pass times as well. I'm a computer programmer professionally, but I don't do any programming or learn about programming outside of work. This might lead to me not getting promotions quite as quickly or being less prepared for some jobs, but it also gives me time to focus on my hobbies--mainly acting, writing, videogames, and so on.

My suggestion to you is to think about what professionally doing each of your interests would look like. For instance, while I'm no expert on golfing, I believe that in order to be a professional golfer you would have to pour countless hours into practice in order to be good enough to get paid. With such an intense commitment, you may not have much time to spend on other hobbies. Another thing to consider is how much you could get paid at your different interests. For instance I know that acting is typically a rather low-paying career. While payment should by no means be the ultimate decider, it certainly can help break a tie because the more you're paid the the more free you'll be to pursue your other passions. You can also look at things like which of your passions work well together. If you like singing and acting maybe you could try to perform in musicals. Maybe having artistic hobbies like drawing, singing, acting, etc. will help inspire you're professional work as a writer. Lastly, consider how much energy it takes to do each of your passions. If you love writing, but find that it taxes your energy a lot then maybe it's better off as a hobby than as a job.

There's a lot of variables and you'll ultimately have to be the one to choose. I do want to stress though that once you decide and take steps towards a career let that decision be a firm and solid one. Even if you don't feel very strongly about your decision, decide that your decision is good and go with it. Kind of like with acting--if you're going to fail, fail confidently and it won't turn out bad. That's not to say that you can never change your mind, but you should decide to not float back in forth never sure of what you want to do.

Finally, where you are in your life can effect this process quite a bit. For instance, when you're in college you will likely have the chance to explore other passions by taking an elective related to it. If you really like it you can probably change your major without much impact. If your moving into the professional scene though, you'll likely want to give each passion you decide to work on at least a year before deciding to switch simply because companies won't be as inclined to hire you if you tend to switch jobs every few months.

I hope that helps. Best of luck. :)

Regards,
Kenneth

This is a great question. I wish I had someone that would have given me an answer when I was younger like I am about to share.
You sound like you are an artist. If at all possible explore every option, but you will find you have a stronger passion and stronger skill set for a few areas. What topic do you dream about and wake up in the morning wanting to pursue it?

There is your answer. It is simplified but when you do what you love, life is simple.

I don't think there is much I can add to the replies you've already received above. I, too, struggled with what I wanted to do because I was interested in a lot of things. In college I started as a psychology major but dropped out of school and went into the Army. While in the service I realized that the one thing I had been interested in since I was a kid was writing. In college I majored in journalism because I felt that if I liked to write being a reporter or journalist was the profession that offered me that possibility. The only issue was that I didn't do any creative writing, which is most of what today's journalism is. During my undergraduate years, however, I became interested in the law and considered law school. I did well in school and could've taken just about any educational path and been successful at it, but I spent too much time, I think, in trying to decide. So I didn't go to law school, which is something I have regretted. I did, however, become a professional writer and was able to have a good career with the federal government. People who can write are an asset to any organization, you just to have to convince some people of that. I was, lucky, however, because many of the people I knew who studied journalism never got into that field. I also taught English composition in junior college and wrote a book. I guess this is a long way to getting to my point, which is to decide while you're still young what you really enjoy doing and focus on that, even if you are good at a lot of things. You're still young and can always decide to do something else. But explore your options. Take a writing class and see how you do in that. I've known people who thought they could write but really couldn't, and because they were friends I didn't have the heart to tell them. I didn't want to discourage them, but they found out for themselves later. I can't say anything about golf because I don't like or play the game, but I think natural athletes are born, not made, although anyone can improve with practice. I know a lot of kids want to be the next Michael Jordan, but how many will even make it to their high-school team? Be realistic. Make an honest assessment of your talents. Maybe take a standardized test at some college. Ask others to be brutally honest with you. Then you can start eliminating those areas you might think you might be interested in but don't really have the talent for. Make them hobbies or life-long interests. Play golf on the weekends. Keep writing. Take a course. Volunteer with a theater group. Do some of these things before you decide to commit to one or two things. The last thing you want to do is wake up some day - when you're sixty-five - and decide you've wasted too much time on things you really didn't like or had not real talent for. But, in any event, keep striving for excellence in everything you do.

Good luck.