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When broaching the topic of possible future careers, our kids say exactly what I said at their age. The idea of an office job completely repels them. Any suggestion of a profession that might bring about stability in their lives is greeted with the same retort: “That’s so boring.”

It’s difficult to dispute that observation. Most of us are bored out of our minds, stuck in jobs which suck the life out of us. Appearances of having made it, whether attaining status or a top salary, are mostly an apparition. Nobody is really happy, it seems.

My top career choices as a teenager were to be a farmer, gardener, architect or graphic designer. Naturally, I wasn’t encouraged to pursue any of them, each idea roundly dismissed by those around me for perfectly rational and sensible reasons.

Now, in my mid-forties, I’m rather torn. On one hand, I don’t want to discourage our kids from following their dreams, to pursue whatever it is they would really like to do, regardless of the expectations of family or society.

On the other hand, there’s that belated realisation that your choice of career has a significant impact on opportunities available to you. From choosing where you live and what kind of house you live in to investing in your children’s future, your ability to do so is intimately linked to your income.

So it is that our advice has become more considered: pursue a profession you will love. Find a career that interests you, but keep in mind the cost of living. Listen to dad’s reflections borne of his experiences and regrets. Understand that work is a very significant means to an end.

Perhaps you will pursue all that truly appealed to you in your free time, or in later life. In a way, that’s what I have done. We have a little homestead farm waiting for us. We have a garden of our own to tend. I have designed and built a house for us. Graphic design makes a fine hobby.

As for the day job: yes, it is a means to an end. It serves a certain function, even if to our kids it seems that all I do is press buttons all day, and sit in boring meetings. Unfortunately, this is the nature of work today. You drive a computer or you drive a van.