There’s a well-known saying that goes, “if you find your passion, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Doing things we’re passionate about helps give purpose to our lives and makes life and work enjoyable. By helping our children recognize what they’re enthusiastic about parents can put them on the path to eventually crafting the kind of career and life they’d like to pursue when they grow up.

Encourage exploration
Some people know what drives them from an early age and they doggedly follow their passions through to a career. But most of us discover our passions by recognizing patterns in what excites us as we do various activities. Encouraging our children to try out different things exposes them to the myriad possibilities life has to offer.

Taking art or cooking classes, playing a musical instrument and playing sports are obvious creative activities that might inspire our children. Joining a chess club or going to computer camps can also help children learn to use skills that may not come naturally to them. They may even find they have a particular talent at one or more of these things that can be further nurtured as they grow up.

Even if they don’t end up pursuing any of these activities in the long term, children will develop a better sense of what interests and excites them. This will guide them as they go through different stages of life if they seek to change careers or lifestyle later on as well.

Encourage kids to volunteer or take co-op classes
Activities, like volunteering or taking co-op courses, help older children try on different types of jobs and tasks that may inspire them to take up a certain career path. They may find a cause that matters to them that turns into a career. Or they may choose to incorporate volunteering into their lives to give them a balanced sense of purpose if they choose to work in another field.

Similarly, co-op courses allow students to pick up new skills that will be needed when they enter the workforce. These hands-on opportunities also give them a sense of how different types of work are organized and lets them learn which types of tasks they enjoy doing and which ones they don’t. Co-op courses allow young people to determine how they prefer to work as well. For instance, do they enjoy working on teams or do they prefer working alone? This is all vital information that will help them achieve work satisfaction later on.

Make it about a holistic journey
While finding a career that we’re passionate about and enjoy is an important goal, if we make this the focus for our children, we may put limitations on their ability to explore. Many passions that people have don’t translate into careers but nurturing those passions may help people lead fulfilling lives. So keeping a balance between career-focused exploration and encouraging whatever weird or wonderful thing that fascinates our children is important. Enjoy the journey and see the world from their eyes, where ever it leads.

By supporting our children’s interests and encouraging them to broaden their horizons, we are also helping them develop the skills they will need to craft the best work-life balance possible for themselves in the future.