I have read many books on the subject of careers and life planning. But what I have found is that life is a process that one cannot stop to examine. One must let the process flow, in order to figure out how the whole thing works. The advice I have given to the youth about career planning is to plan as much as you can, but when push comes to shove you need to start down the road. You make the best choice at the time with whatever limited information you have, and then you put one foot in front of another. Are you on the right path? You will know sooner or later.
As Frank Herbert says in “Dune” — “A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.”
Some people find their interest early and stick with it for the rest of the time on this planet. Others find their interest early, but change their mind later, for many reasons. Some never find their interest in life, but enjoy the journey of search. Others never find their journey and worry about that all their life. You choose you your life, there is no playbook. Flip a coin if you have to, but get on the road to discovery earlier.
Another quote from “Dune” goes like this — “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”