so what do you want to do one day

This question is a particular favourite of relatives with moustaches, (and yes, they include aunts) at family gatherings.
But knowing what you want to do is not easy. Very few people feel any kind of certainty about their future profession when they are still young. Even though you might have announced proudly when you were five that you wanted to be a be a fireman or a ballerina, you may very likely have changed your mind in between.
So how on earth does one decide what you want to do one day?Think of the things you enjoy.

If you really enjoy one or two subjects at school, investigate which professions they could lead to. In any particular field there is a wide variety of possibilities. If you really like music of any description, you could, for example, become a DJ, a rock musician, play in a symphony orchestra, work for a radio station or become a sound engineer. Bottom line, is that if you can find a way to make a living from something about which you are passionate, you are likely to be happy in your work.
Think of the things you can do.

Be realistic. Each person has different talents – choose one where your talents are an asset. Certain professions have specific requirements: there are no jockeys that weigh 102 kgs, or rocket scientists with average IQs, or ramp models that are short, or actors that are really shy and retiring. Choose something where you fit the bill, otherwise you are only setting yourself up for a series of disappointments.
See a career guidance counsellor.

These people are trained to help you choose a profession, and they should also be able to give you information about different courses available. Aptitude tests can also point you in the right direction. Guidance counsellors can also give you information about careers you might not even have known about, like food styling, horticulture, adventure sports coach or furniture restoration.
Think of your financial requirements.

What sort of lifestyle do you want to have? If the jetset lifestyle is important to you, you might have to get qualified in something that is difficult, such as chartered accounting. If you are looking for something that will pay the bills, but it's more important to you to feel that you're assisting others than to have wads of cash, you could settle for the helping professions.
Think of where your chosen profession is practiced.

If you want to be a mining engineer, you are not going to find a job in Cape Town or Port Elizabeth. If you like city nightlife, farm manager is not going to cut it for you. Similarly, most journalists are centered around the big towns and cities. Professions such as teaching, law, nursing, computers and business will take you more or less anywhere – from small town to pulsing metropolis.
What sort of training is involved?

This is important as, training costs money. If you can get qualified to do something in six months with which you can earn a decent living, why study for six years and run up a student debt of thousands? Studying is expensive and if your parents are unable to pay your fees, consider the shorter courses.
What does this person do every day?

It's all very well to say you want to be a veterinary assistant, but have you got any idea what this person's daily task consists of? It is always a good idea to spend a day 'workshadowing' someone just to get an idea of what it's like. You might have unrealistic expectations or glamourised notions with regards to what a policeman, or a web designer or an art restorer or a restaurant manager does every day.
Take a look at what's needed in the country.

There is little point in becoming a teacher or an architect, or whatever, if they are being retrenched left, right and centre. Choose a profession for which there is a demand in the country at the time you have to make a choice. So whether you want to become a church minister, an events organiser, a builder or a psychologist – take a look at where there is a shortage. If you don't do this, you might very well have difficulty finding a job.
Choose a profession that travels.

With the exchange rates being what they are, many young people are going overseas to work for a few years to get some capital together and also to pay off huge student loans. Many teachers and nurses are doing short stints overseas to fill their coffers. Check whether your chosen profession's training is internationally recognised.
Don't be pressurised by parental dreams.

If your mom always wanted to be an engineer, but never got round to it, don't feel obliged to fulfill her dreams for her. You don't want to be stuck in a profession you don't enjoy, decades after the people you tried to make happy are dead and gone. And even if they're still very much alive, surely they would rather see you happy than frustrated?
(Susan Erasmus, Health24)

Source: www.health24.com

one day when I'm grown up...

Being a teenager is not always fun and games and parties. On the contrary, problems with parents, a boyfriend or girlfriend, fights with friends, money worries, skin problems, worries about sex – this is no picnic.
But it does get better eventually. Even when it doesn't feel that way right now. Right now, you feel as if the sun will not come up again. But, don't despair. Your life is almost certain to improve in certain ways.
Not without your license.

Imagine having your own car and being able to come and go as you please. The freedom it brings is unspeakable. But so is the cost of servicing the car, replacing the tyres and paying for the car license. Life both gives and takes.
Wear and tear.

In a few years' time you will be able to wear exactly what you choose. Or pierce your tongue should you want to. If a kilt and a poncho blow your hair back, you can wear it. After all, what we wear says a lot about us, and who can express themselves properly with parental style police hanging around?
Eat your brocolli.

Right, you know it's good for you, but why must things that are good for you taste so vile? When you leave home you can live on burgers and pizzas, but just remember to eat some fresh fruit and vegetables – recently there was a student in America who was diagnosed with scurvy after eating nothing fresh for six months.
Heartbreak hotel.

Take solace in the fact that getting your heart broken is always worst the first time it happens. Next time around, you will be older, wiser and have the knowledge that you survived this before. Also, the knowledge that you have fallen in love more than once, shows that it could happen three times.
Zits are the pits.

Massive hormonal changes during your teen years are largely responsible for this. Rest assured, that there will come a time, usually before your 21st birthday, where this problem sorts itself out. If not, a dermatologist can usually recommend medication to fix this.
No more curfews.

"As long as you live under my roof, you will do as I say". Ever heard this? There will come a time that you will be living under your own roof and can do as you please and will not have to explain why you are ten minutes late. Your own roof also means, however, that feeding the cat and washing the floors and doing the ironing will become your responsibility.
Clean your room.

When you are on your own, you can leave your room in exactly the condition that you please or can tolerate. For weeks. The only thing is, what if you want to take someone home and you can't get the front door open?
Turn that down.

When you're on your own, you can play what music you like when you like at the volume you like. Then it's best to rent a cottage on a fram where you have no close neighbours who might complain because their floors have been vibrating for three weeks.
You're just like Uncle Winston.

Being compared to a family member, especially one you don't particularly like, can be a heavy burden to carry. Everything you do gets compared to what he would have done given the circumstances. At least when you're on your own you can be your own person and not live with constant odious comparisons.
Home is where the heart is.

Even though you might feel you would like to go and pack fish in Iceland and never return, there will come a time when things get better between you and your parents. You grow up, they grow up, you all see things differently. Even if you are out there on your own, working as a DJ, a computer boff, a dancer, a teacher – it's nice to know you can go home for a cup if tea and some support. So best you don't burn too many bridges now, because they wouldn't let you go away for the weekend with your three friends.

(Susan Erasmus, Health24)

Source: www.health24.com