There are two decisions in the life of an individual that are made very early in life: one is the choice of a partner and the other is the choice of career. It is in adolescence when we are forced to decide on the activity that we will develop for a long period of our lives and on which we will base a large part of our personal development. When we ask ourselves what professional career we want to pursue, we should not lose sight of the fact that a career is, above all, an opportunity. It is through a career that we will have the opportunity to be, to do and to transcend, so the choice should be made based on all the elements that will help us forge these pillars of our existence. Terms such as vocation, profession, work, performance, fulfillment, success and goal setting -among others- must be defined with absolute clarity so that the choice is as accurate as possible. María Moliner's Dictionary defines vocation as "Call, inclination, born from the most intimate part of a person's nature, towards a certain activity or type of life".
The term profession refers to "Activity to which a person is dedicated". In almost all languages (Greek, Latin, Romance, etc.) the word used to express a person's work activity comes from a root that originally meant something unpleasant and painful. Thus, for example, the Greek ponos indicated a great effort and its long duration; the Latin labor derives from the verb labo, which means to stagger under a great weight (Cicero feels compelled to point out the differences between labor and pain because of their close proximity in content), the Spanish term trabajo (and the parallel used in other Romance languages: travail, treball, travaglio, trebalh, etc.) derives from the noun tripalium, a kind of trap made up of three sticks that was originally used to hold oxen and horses for shoeing and, later, was used as an instrument of torture to punish slaves and those convicted of certain crimes. However, work can be the expression of vocation accompanied by a spirit of service, of usefulness to others. Thus, it is a manifestation of a self that is useful and this usefulness is returned to it and translates into an economic income. But this must be the result of an authentic revelation, not realized as a sale. Although work does not constitute the superior activity of man from the point of view of his dignity, it does absorb most of the time and effort of the common person.
The true meaning of professional success can be that the person, through the work he does, expresses himself deeply and enjoys his work. In other words, it is not a success of opinion, but of self-affirmation. The transcendence that the work has with respect to others, in any case, has been a consequence. This success, we would say social, does not add a single milligram more specific weight to the work. Moreover, the real success of the work will depend on its real effectiveness, on the effective captivity it has for others. In this way, both concepts will go hand in hand, since work will have to be a means of service, that which allows us to create something valuable for others and which, in a certain way, only each particular individual can do optimally. Until a few years ago, it was still the case that the son of the family was a lawyer, a medical engineer, because his father and grandfather had been lawyers, engineers or doctors; in other words, it was a tradition of the profession. Today in day, the same person may need to study three different professions, one or two master's degrees, or at least a few refresher courses.
Although writing to those who intend to study psychology is somewhat presumptuous, the purpose is not to make this a journey full of unconnected data, but to try to link the necessary research on the subject with what the experience has left in me (and forgive me for putting myself first, but in this case, the order of the factors is not the product) and in other psychologists, known, recognized and unknown. I was fortunate to study at a time when psychology was trying to make its way from an academicist and medical preeminent position, to seek specific and differentiated places: behaviorism and cognitive-behavioral theory were making their way to achieve a scientific place and, moreover, to make a proactive and proactive psychological science. Despite the fact that I studied in a public university, there were no strikes that made it difficult to finish it in the expected time, despite the fact that the Faculty of Psychology protested for the deficient education in a supposedly empirical psychology, which taught everything and did not prepare for anything. Like any self-respecting student who freely chose his or her career, I believed that mine was not only the best but - so to speak - the only one. By an orientation dictated by the curricula that my university had, I firmly believed in the motto "By my rat, the mood will speak." Despite my taste for diverse knowledge, I never questioned why I had not studied a useful career such as medicine or accounting. I was and am convinced of the usefulness of my chosen profession. Students tend to be idealistic, so at that time there was a desire to combine Marxist philosophy with psychology and bring it to the people for their benefit and liberation. The old canons and the great figures of psychology prior to this cultural explosion were treated severely and knowledge was pursued with rigor, rejecting anything that was anti-scientific, old-fashioned and boring (even Freud!). Throughout my professional career I have met many of them (with pleasure or disgust, as the case may be) and of my peers, both driven and triumphant. Others fell by the wayside between the first and last semester of their careers, or suffered the disenchantment of life's realities. Yet they all kept their jobs and, with the implications of a common affliction, the world is a small place: extremes always end up on the road.
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