Ah, this happens to the best of us. I remember being in college and voicing my desire to major in English. My mother got into nervous overdrive. She told me it was not reasonable to major in English. She asked me what job I would find. My father was an engineer and surprisingly he didn’t mind.

Ultimately, I majored in Economics. I don’t regret anything and probably it was true to some extent, I was able to find work in that recession period much more easily with a Economics degree. But as I went through my twenties, I found my desires to be dramatically different from my parents.

My idea of a man was different from my parents. My idea on what to do for a career was different from my parents. In other words, the way I wanted to live my life was completely different.

Voice Your Need for Support

I wanted to live my life on my own terms. I love my parents. I want to make them happy. But what do you do when you want to lead your life differently from your family?

First things first, voice your desire to your family. Be open and expressive. And then voice your need to be supported by them.

Tell Them You Respect Them

Tell your family they don’t need to agree with you, but that you still want their support. If you didn’t agree with what they’re doing, chances are you would still support their need to live their life on their own terms (of course, as long as they don’t hurt anyone).

You’ll Do It Anyway

If your family supports you, that’s fantastic! But sometimes, that doesn’t always happen. In that case, you will have to do what you want to do anyway. You can tell them you’ll do it, too. Over time, they will have to respect you for being honest and who knows they may even come around. But life is too short to not live it your way 🙂

What are your thoughts on this post? Please share with me in the comments!