Many teenagers start to drive, work, participate in school activities, volunteer in the community, and take on more responsibility. What guides and influences these choices? Helping to support your family? Having spending money? Saving money? Having something to do with your time? Learning/developing skills? Doing something that helps achieve your goals? Doing something that helps others? Having fun? Making friends? 

• Who already has a job? Who has worked in the past? Who is currently looking for a job? Did/does it feel like work or leisure to you? What about volunteering? What other out of school time activities are you involved with? 

• If you do work, how do you find the balance of work, school and leisure? 

What do you learn about work/life balance from those adults and others around you? What does our culture have to say? What do YOU have to say? 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? How can you choose a field/career you care about? How might you get there? What kind of lifestyle do you want? What hopes do you have for how you will spend your time and your life satisfaction/enjoyment/quality of life? What needs to be put in place to achieve that? What are the barriers? 

Look at and reflect on work related to motivation, maybe do it as a social barometer from want to to have to…

I do it because:

• I want to (intrinsic)
• I have to (extrinsic)
• I have nothing else to do (amotivation)
• For a greater purpose (identified)
• What someone else thinks or I’d feel guilty if I didn’t (introjected)

What type of things you do now in non school or work time do you think you will want to do in 10 years from now? What other things do you envision yourself doing? 

How do or will finances play into your lifestyle and life enjoyment/satisfaction? 

Might your current leisure activities or interest influence or help direct your career choices? 

What does the guidance department of your school offer as to career assessment tools? Do one? And also do a leisure interest inventory. Compare. 

Now, also, how might you balance out the work in your life? What types of leisure do  you see yourself participating in? What resources might you need and use?

Each person take a look through hard copies of Seven Days’ Jobs Section (popular Vermont based paper for seeking employment) to look at jobs you might like to have in the future (in 5/10 years)

1. Check  other online resources. What other resources might you look at to find a job now or in the future? 
2. Circle/highlight jobs they might be interested in. 
3. How might these jobs impact your lifestyle?
4. Do employers you already work for or are considering working for promote a culture of health? 
5. Think about the cultures and values of different professionals and how they might impact you (high/low, community, stress, substance use, flexibility, health, family, work hard/play hard).
6. Which jobs will keep you at a desk looking at a screen all day and which are more physically active or even, high risk for injury?
7. How might you find balance in your life as a person who works? 
8. What kind of leisure life or balance might you have if you had any of these jobs? 

• Did you know that some jobs do not have vacation or sick time benefits or pay you when you do not come to work? Take a look at US vacation policies and those of different organizations, or for different professions. (Add some resources on this)

• Did you know that some people don’t even take the two weeks (or whatever vacation time they are allocated annually). 

• How do different employers address sick time or paid leave? 

• What is a list of questions you might create for a potential future employer? Or maybe that future employer is you!
• For those approaching high school graduation- check out this worksheet. Leisure Time- Transitioning from High School to College