Be yourself, if you can remember how - Bhagavad Gita ch3:35

Gone are the days when a young person followed their parents into the family vocation. That disappeared several generations back. Times have changed and society looks different compared to the previous century.

Now a young person has more freedom to choose their career, though parents may still try to steer their children in a preferred direction.

Also careers themselves are changing so rapidly in the current fourth industrial revolution that some jobs are becoming obsolete while new ones emerge. Mechanization and robotics are taking over manual labor. AI is replacing many jobs once performed by artists, artisans and more.

Still, each of us has a preferred inclination toward certain kinds of work or action, based upon our inherent talents inherited from our parents. If we become aware of our talents early enough, we can train in that field and specialize.

That said, gone are the days when one simply needed a university degree to guarantee a job. This is especially noticeable in China today, where youth are forced to compete for limited jobs and even graduates are jobless or forced to take work for which they're vastly overqualified, or have no interest, just to survive.

Nowadays specialization is not the secret to success. Rather the new skill required is generalization. In other words to succeed today one needs to be able to generalize, or be skilled in multiple areas at once.

Thus, very few people have the privilege of being able to make a living doing something they love, or enjoy, or are good at. Most need to adapt, be flexible and do the needful. The system is skewed by questionable economics.

It used to be enough to simply "follow your bliss" or do what you love, and be assured that loving your work will encourage you to work hard at it and thus obviously attract the financial reward as a result. But that's not certain any more, or hardly possible in our lean financial times.

Therefore, it's not enough to make general statements and expect them to work for everyone in all conditions. The lifestyle gap between rich and poor is so vast and widening, that not everyone has the same opportunity in life.

Nevertheless, anyone who is willing to learn and to work hard can still make something of themselves, or at least survive in our current capitalist economy, though the future may change that.

Concepts like the Great Reset, and the New Normal, get thrown about, suggesting that society is being steered into unchartered waters, where the most helpful skill is actually the ability to adapt.

Yet despite all this change, some things remains the same - like our need to survive plus our need for meaning. Humanity's search for truth, self-realization and the bigger picture, will anyways be present in every one of us. Without it we die.

So that search for meaning and the answers to life's greatest existential questions is our real duty, regardless of our time or class position in history. All of us, throughout all time, are on a quest for individuation or self-realization. Any other duty is secondary or temporary.

We may struggle to fit in or find our true vocation or career, but we will always seek to know who we really are. That should be our primary duty in life. It's only when you truly know yourself that you can really be yourself.

Bhagavad Gita ch3:35

śreyān sva-dharmo viguṇaḥ
para-dharmāt sv-anuṣṭhitāt
sva-dharme nidhanaṁ śreyaḥ
para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ

SYNONYMS
śreyān—far better; sva-dharmaḥ—one's prescribed duties; viguṇaḥ—even faulty; para-dharmāt—from duties mentioned for others; svanuṣthitāt—than perfectly done; sva-dharme—in one's prescribed duties; nidhanam—destruction; śreyaḥ—better; para-dharmaḥ—duties prescribed for others; bhaya-āvahaḥ—dangerous

TRANSLATION
It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though they may be faulty, than another's duties. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.

PURPORT
One should therefore discharge his prescribed duties in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness rather than those prescribed for others. Prescribed duties complement one's psychophysical condition, under the spell of the modes of material nature. Spiritual duties are as ordered by the spiritual master, for the transcendental service of Kṛṣṇa. But both materially or spiritually, one should stick to his prescribed duties even up to death, rather than imitate another's prescribed duties. Duties on the spiritual platform and duties on the material platform may be different, but the principle of following the authorized direction is always good for the performer. When one is under the spell of the modes of material nature, one should follow the prescribed rules for particular situations and should not imitate others. For example, a brāhmaṇa, who is in the mode of goodness, is nonviolent, whereas a kṣatriya, who is in the mode of passion, is allowed to be violent. As such, for a kṣatriya it is better to be vanquished following the rules of violence than to imitate a brāhmaṇa who follows the principles of nonviolence. Everyone has to cleanse his heart by a gradual process, not abruptly. However, when one transcends the modes of material nature and is fully situated in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he can perform anything and everything under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master. In that complete stage of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the kṣatriya may act as a brāhmaṇa, or a brāhmaṇa may act as a kṣatriya. In the transcendental stage, the distinctions of the material world do not apply. For example, Viśvāmitra was originally a kṣatriya, but later on he acted as a brāhmaṇa, whereas Paraśurāma was a brāhmaṇa, but later on he acted as a kṣatriya. Being transcendentally situated, they could do so; but as long as one is on the material platform, he must perform his duties according to the modes of material nature. At the same time, he must have a full sense of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original MacMillan 1972 edition, freely available at prabhupadabooks.com.

Edited on my mobile device, uploaded onto the Hive blockchain for posterity.Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-relax-be-yourself-1737038/