‘Wanted to be a different thing every single year’: Priyanka Chopra on starting her career at 17, not having a ‘clear ambition’

Starting her vocation astatine 17, Chopra attributes her travel to a mix of serendipity and divine guidance. Reflecting connected her puerility aspirations, she revealed, “I wanted to beryllium a antithetic happening each azygous year. I truly didn’t person a wide ambition… I started moving erstwhile I was 17, truthful I conjecture God helped maine find what I was expected to do.”

This position is refreshing successful a nine that often equates ambition with success. It challenges the ‘Roadmap to Success’ content that achieving occurrence requires a meticulously planned and linear vocation path. But it besides raises intriguing questions astir however radical navigate beingness without a wide absorption and whether specified an attack tin pb to happiness and fulfillment.

How does the unit to person a rigid vocation program interaction intelligence health?

Psychologist Anjali Gursahaney tells indianexpress.com, “A batch of times, household expectations forestall young individuals from exploring what they would genuinely enjoy. Instead, they often find themselves caught successful a rat race. In India, this unit is communal whether it’s authorities exams similar UPSC, engineering colleges, oregon an MBA. This relentless absorption connected a prescribed way often leads to anxiety, stress, and a fearfulness of nonaccomplishment erstwhile things don’t spell arsenic planned.” 

Mental wellness counsellor Anuckriti Garg adds, “In the agelong term, this tin pb to chronic stress, fearfulness of nonaccomplishment and pain retired which is characterised by carnal and affectional exhaustion. In specified a situation, unpredictable developments tin bring up hard emotions (you tin notation these — feeling of hopelessness, feeling trapped, being anxious astir making the close decisions, the request for perfectionism) which tin intensify accent and enactment arsenic a trigger for intelligence wellness issues similar slump and anxiety.”

Fulfillment and intent tin commencement from small things and does not person to beryllium professionally driven. (Source: Freepik)

Embracing uncertainty and unplanned opportunities

Gursahaney agrees that embracing uncertainty tin beryllium liberating, arsenic it reduces the request to power each facet of the future. This mindset encourages individuals to absorption connected maturation and resilience alternatively than fixating connected predetermined outcomes. 

“Unplanned opportunities tin service arsenic catalysts for self-discovery and innovation, often starring to experiences that align much intimately with one’s evolving values and interests. This displacement successful position tin alleviate accent and beforehand a healthier attack to navigating life’s unpredictability,” she confirms.

How tin individuals find fulfillment and intent without having a accepted oregon defined ambition?

Garg notes, “A probe survey titled ‘What constitutes a fulfilled life? A mixed methods survey connected laic perspectives crossed the lifespan conducted successful 2022 defined fulfillment successful beingness arsenic ‘a cognitive-affective acquisition referring to a consciousness of wholeness, fit, and worth toward the self, one’s life, and one’s impact’ [Baumann, Doris & Ruch, Willibald. (2022).”

Fulfillment and intent tin commencement from small things and bash not person to beryllium professionally driven. It is important for america to research our interests, indulge successful hobbies, beryllium portion of a community, effort thing new, and measure our greater ambition from this lens, says Garg. 

“Rather than focusing connected traditional ambition, individuals tin research divers interests, physique connections, and prosecute successful meaningful enactment oregon hobbies. Reflecting connected idiosyncratic values and aligning regular actions with those values tin supply a beardown consciousness of purpose,” Gursahaney concludes.