Revealed: The Top Most Fulfilling Careers for Old Souls

We consider so many things when choosing our career path such as qualifications, hourly contracts vs. salary, and so on.

But how many of us consider important factors of our personalities such as being an old soul?

We all know how much it sucks to be stuck in a job you hate.

If you're not enjoying your 9-to-5, getting up each morning becomes a chore. You can't even enjoy your time off because you're dreading the next time you have to clock in.

Many of us assume that stereotypically boring jobs such as admin, lower-paid, or service jobs are the cause of most people's lack of job satisfaction, but have you considered that it may not be the job to blame, but the worker?

While anyone can do most base-level jobs, jobs themselves are not one-size-fits-all in regards to career fulfillment.

Even jobs we've had our heart set on can disappoint, leaving us career hopping or stuck in a job we deem to be ‘dead-end'.

Why is this?

Often it is because we set our goals focussed on who we want to be in an idealistic sense, vs. who we actually are.

Failing to accommodate for inherent personality traits such as empathy, introversion, or, the focus of this article; being an old soul, is a sure fire way to end the working day with a sigh instead of a smile.

In this article, we'll be taking a look at the inherent traits of an old soul, and finding out how you can use some of the benefits and drawbacks of having a soul older than your years to guide your career motivations.

What is an Old Soul?

An old soul is someone who appears older than their years.

This can be in the way they act, dress, or their interests.

Either way, an old soul had a level of maturity beyond their years and may feel as though they are ‘out of their time.'

Because of this old souls often develop an affinity with a bygone era; for me, this is the 50's and 60's, though I also have a strong nostalgia for the 1990's.

An old soul tends to have interests that are different from the norm for their age group and may find modern trends and ‘hype' banal and boring.

The old soul looks for deeper meaning in all aspects of their life.

When interacting with a friend, they don't just want to talk about what was on TV last night, but their friends hopes, dreams, and thoughts.

Old souls are also critical thinkers which means that they will never blindly follow (which is why trends usually have no appeal).

Money and fame is another factor where you'll find the old soul differs from the norm. Old souls are seldom money-driven.

Because they are driven by a need to understand the world on a deeper level, the old soul values meaningful experiences and interactions as well as the acquisition of knowledge above financial gain or notoriety.

Some spiritual thinkers believe that the old souls habits are formed from the knowledge gained from past experiences, incarnations, and lives.

This may explain while many old souls feel adrift from their time, or are more drawn to traditional hobbies or pursuits.

Whatever the reason however, for an old soul to achieve job satisfaction they need to be aware of the pros and cons of their nature.

The Positive Traits of An Old Soul

While society often focuses on the  negative traits of being an old soul, there are actually so many positive factors about being older than your years such as:

• Travel Your Own Path: Old souls aren't slaves to trends or fashions or even societal expectations. Because of this they are liberated to forge their own path and can often be trailblazers.
• Hunger for Knowledge: Old souls are always trying to look deeper and discover the true meaning of life. Because of this old souls have a hunger for knowledge and often become experts in their field.
• Spiritual Connections: Because they're skilled at looking deeper and uncovering hidden truths, the spiritual world can often appeal to the old soul.
• Inner Reflection: Old souls know how to look within and truly learn from their life experiences. The knowledge learned from reflection often helps the old soul to guide and support others in their lives. They are also great listeners.
• Seeing the Bigger Picture: Old souls are well oriented within the ways of the world and know their role in the bigger picture of life. The needs of many are the focus for old souls and not the needs of the few.
• Representative: Many old souls become figureheads for their community, profession, or even country because they have a knowledgeable authority.
• Carpe Diem: Old souls understand the value of immaterial things and know that life is short. Because of this old souls love to make the most of every moment.
• Shun the Material: Because they see the world more deeply old souls are able to put material goods in perspective.
• Laid Back: Some old souls like to take things at their own pace and are rarely ruffled by the banal stresses of life.

If you want to know more about the good side of being an old soul check out this post: 9 Benefits Of Being An Old Soul

The Challenges of Being an Old Soul

Now we know the positives of being an old soul, before we can truly choose the right career path we also need to consider the downside of being an old soul.

Being mindful of the inherent weaknesses of your nature will help you avoid the creeping dislike for your job that can occur a few weeks or months in once the initial joy and excitement has settled.

• Don't Fit In: Often old souls feel adrift from people of their own age, however, because of their age older people can immediately dismiss them as being typical for their age group.
• Emotionally Aloof: Because they see the world in a different way the emotional reactions that an old soul has can differ wildly from their peers or ‘the norm' causing them to appear emotionally distant.
• Alone Time: Old souls value moments alone as this suits their introverted nature.
• Alternative Goals: Because experiences, knowledge, and memories are of greater value than money or material possessions for the old soul, they can often have different goals and aspirations to their peers.
• Burden of Responsibility: As old souls tend to be the wise mentor that people turn to or the ‘responsible' one in the group, old souls can often feel burdened by expectation.
• Unique Point of View: Old souls can simultaneously understand the opinion of others as well as hold their own opinion. It can be hard sometimes for the old soul to feel heard or valued.
• Ignored Advice: Old souls tend to stick to their word. Therefore it can be frustrating when a friend comes to them for advice only to ignore their wisdom a few days later.
• Intuition: Old souls are perceptive and can often tell when something is a bad idea and are not afraid to voice their concerns. This can cause them to be seen as a buzzkill by their friends.
• Letting Go: Old souls can struggle to let go and let loose due to their complex, high-functioning nature.

Best Careers for Old Souls

If you take anything from the pros and cons of being an old soul it's that having a soul older than your years can take many different forms, which means that careers which work for one old soul may not work for others; there's no one-size-fits-all approach.

Luckily, as we've learned, old souls are intuitive and great and reflect, so figuring out the career which best suits the unique nuances of your personality shouldn't be too tricky.

When compiling this list I've considered the strengths and weaknesses of old souls to truly pinpoint career paths where old souls can thrive.

With that said, let's take a closer look at some of the top career pathways for old souls.

1. Being Self-Employed/Working Freelance/Small Business Owner

Old souls often find that they don't fit in well with most social groups, particularly those from their own age group.

As we've learned old souls are also trailblazers and are perfectly happy with their own company.

Add in a strong sense of intuition and you have the perfect ingredients for a successful small business or career as a freelancer or self-employed party.

By choosing to go their own way old souls can avoid the draining frustrations of enforced teamwork, the banality of office discussions, and working for a boss that judges them by their external age as opposed to the age of their soul.

It also gives the opportunity for the old soul to specialize in a field that truly appeals to them which may not be readily available in a broader career setting such as furniture restoration, antiques, handicrafts, and so on.

The old soul's intuition and sense of responsibility are particularly beneficial when going it alone.

When you work for yourself it is your responsibility to keep on top of factors such as taxes, profit, and loss accounts, not to mention making essential business decisions.

When working freelance for example, you have to weed out the potentially problematic clients, or the clients which may ghost you or short change you. Therefore the old soul's strong sense of intuition can mean that a lot of business risks can be avoided or mitigated.

Great examples of careers suited to old souls in this sector include:

• Freelance writer
• Portrait Artist
• Craftsman
• Self-Employed handyman/builder/plumber
• Antiques Merchant
• Small business owner such as an antique shop, book shop, craft store

2. Researcher/Librarian/Academic

What some may perceive as careers that are ‘stuffy' or ‘boring' are intensely engaging to the old soul.

Careers in this pathway directly appeal to the old souls thirst for knowledge and their quest to understand the world on a deeper level.

An environment that is centered around learning and discovery is an enriching environment for many old souls and it is unlikely that careers in this field will ever become boring.

This type of career pathway also works perfectly for old souls who are more introverted.

Research and academia are careers that often require a lot of solo work, so can provide a great opportunity for the introverted old soul to recharge their emotional, mental, and spiritual batteries.

When it comes to interacting with others, when in the field old souls tend to be surrounded by those older than themselves, or fellow old souls, meaning that strong working friend groups can often be formed.

This avoids the negative feelings of isolation and not fitting in that old souls can experience.

Great examples of careers suited to old souls in this sector include:

• Librarian
• Research Assistant
• Statistician
• Archivist
• Professor/lecturer
• Historian

3. Mentor/Therapist

While they may not always fit well into social groups, the old soul has a respected place in society as a supportive guide.

Using their intuition and knowledge beyond their years the advice given by an old soul is sage and meaningful.

This means that for many old souls a pathway that utilizes advice-giving can lead to true job happiness.

Mentoring roles allow the old soul to use their wisdom to guide others through challenging times. More academic old souls may find the world of psychiatry and therapy to be the best use of their skills.

It is worth noting however that this type of career pathway isn't suited to all old souls.

Those which are more reserved with their emotions or are 'emotionally aloof' may not be able to outwardly project the empathy needed for these roles.

Those who become frustrated when their wisdom is not enacted upon may also struggle.

Great examples of careers for old souls within this sector include:

• Youth worker
• Guidance counselor
• Marriage counselor
• Life coach
• Accountability coach
• Therapist
• Psychiatrist
• Learning support mentor

4. Charity Work/Care

While you might think that being more emotionally reserved means that the old soul is naturally hard-edged, the fact of the matter is that old souls can be highly caring and emotionally intuitive people.

Think about the wise figures in your life; many of us will think of our parents or grandparents, who balance being both loving and caring and being wise and knowledgeable.

It is for this reason among others that many old souls find themselves fulfilled in roles with an altruistic cause.

The biggest draw for old souls to this career sector is their search for life's true meaning. Old souls value truth, true experiences, and interactions as far higher currency than money.

This means that the old soul doesn't mind undertaking voluntary roles or roles with lesser salary as long as the enrichment to their soul is high. This means that rewarding careers such as non-profit or charity work can be perfect.

Alongside charitable roles, many old souls can find work in a care setting fulfilling; especially with the elderly.

Because their souls are older than their years it is often easy for an old soul to truly connect with the older generation which is beneficial for both parties.

Great examples of careers for old souls within this sector include:

• Carer
• Carer for the elderly
• Non-profit founder
• Volunteer
• Corporate roles for charities

5. Writing/Activism

Old souls have a unique perspective on the world which is insightful and of great value to others.

This often means that the old soul's voice is far more powerful than others which is why they can often become leaders and pioneers within their field. This is why old souls make great writers.

They can use their unique voice to inspire others through works of both fiction and non-fiction. They can use their researching and inquisitive nature to reveal undiscovered details and transform the truths that they discover into authentic pieces of work.

In a similar vein, another area where old souls can let their voice be heard is in the activism field.

The old souls powerful and authoritative voice can be used for good by sharing the message of their cause and educating others.

The fact that most old souls are driven by a cause and not by money is another factor beneficial to such roles.

Great examples of careers for old souls within this sector include:

• Investigative journalist
• Freelance writer
• Author/poet
• Playwright
• Activist
• Environmentalist

👉 Check out this post: 75 Old Soul Quotes (With Shareable Images)

Old Souls Work For a Cause not for Coin!

So, what have we learned about old souls in the modern career world?

Well aside from maybe avoiding working at Hot Topic, we've actually learned something quite valuable: old souls need to work for a cause and not just for capital gain.

Put simply, for the old soul it is motive over money.

So long as they can see the merit and purpose in the job they work it is unlikely for an old soul to be unfulfilled with their working life.

I think we all can learn a lot from the old souls' view on work.

So many of us become fixated on the dollar signs, but does that truly bring us happiness?

The old soul wisely knows that true happiness comes from doing what you love, and not doing what earns the most; and that's something we all should strive for.