Having an aim in one’s life is of great significance as it gives a direction to how one may want to lead life. An aimless and directionless life leads to regrets, frustration and discontent. However, in our culture, where pressures from home, society and other avenues may be quite dominating, it’s imperative not to let our aims get influenced by various aspects rather be motivated and driven solely from our own wishes, interests and aspirations.

The great American thinker and psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow has extensively worked on understanding the various motivating factors which enable people to have aims in their lives. He believed that individuals possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires and they struggle throughout their life to achieve these. The youth of today, particularly in our part of the world, seem no different than the rest of the world in terms of following their aims and goals based on a systemic hierarchy of needs at the backdrop of numerous challenges and clashes within themselves and within their surroundings. Their occupational choices are influenced by many factors, including life context, personal aptitudes and educational attainment. Let’s highlight some of the dominating influential aspects of life that work to shape up the prime aims of youth today.

Parental pressure

Every parent carries in his or her mind a set of aspirations and wishes associated with the future of their kids. These expectations, many times, are greatly influenced by the various experiences, conditions, needs and deprivations of their own lives. Parents consciously or unconsciously tend to enforce their will and choices on the selection of career paths for their kids which they think would lead them towards more rewarding (financially and socially) future prospects.

To make their motives more convincing and effective, they usually compare or give examples of other people from within or outside the family who have acted well according to the set standards as they want for their children and have attained the luxurious and enviable benefits out of it for themselves and for their respective families. In many cases, this set examples/comparisons either convinces the young mind or forces it to become completely rebellious because in their own world of set plans, parents often forget or ignore the interests and aptitude of their child which later leads to many other complex issues.

In many situations when children see the perks of certain professions that their parents or other family members have chosen, they get influenced by that and make it a goal for themselves to also follow such professions regardless of their own aptitude and

surrounding conditions. Similarly, in situations where the children have witnessed financial constraints and hardships of their parents, they feel bound to make it a point to choose the career which is going to be highly fruitful in terms of money and position so it can enable them to provide the maximum benefit to their parents and family.

Societal pressure

Pressure to do and achieve well is one of the dominating forces which influence the aims of a flourishing mind. Normally, the society recognises and values those individuals who have achievements to their credit and have proven professional and economical strengths to boost their worth and presence in society. The mostly unconscious aspiration to achieve fame and reputation amongst people we know, socialise or are related to (relatives, peers, acquaintances) encourages the youth to make various choices in life in terms of education and career which may not be related to their caliber and requirements.

Peer pressure

This pressure looms around the youth wherever they go to seek education, be it in school, college or university. However, researches have indicated that a major turning point in young adult lives involves the career choice that they plan and make while in high school. Many young adults make their career plans in view of what is strongly embedded in their perceptions of the ‘ideal job’ and their career decision-making maturity.

In such situations, the thoughts and suggestions of friends and classmates put a strong impact on their minds and thus influence their decision-making ability and its process. In this regard, the discernment of the ‘ideal job’ acts as a filter for job suitability and sways future choices. Peer pressure greatly influences young minds where they tend to believe that it’s important for their self esteem and credibility to achieve what or better than what their peers have achieved otherwise it will lead to embarrassment for the rest of their lives.

In the pursuit of creating ultimate aims in life, a much required positive balance amongst all the pressures acting on a young adult mind is of great significance and here the encouraging and constructive role of parents, family and friends cannot be denied. Besides this, unrealistic and delayed career planning are both unfruitful for ensuring a sound and stable future.