Benjamin Todd

And if personal fit is as important as we've argued, it could be worth spending many years finding the job that's best for you.

But of course, exploring is also costly.

Changing career paths can take years, and if you do it too often, it can look flaky.

Also, some paths can be hard to re-enter once you've left them.

Steve Jobs liked to say that you should never settle.

But that's not realistic advice.

The real question is how to balance the costs of exploration with the benefits.

Fortunately, there's been plenty of research in decision science, computer science, and psychology about this question.

We interviewed Brian Christian, author of Algorithms to Live By, the Computer Science of Human Decisions, about how to summarize this research.

These are some of the key findings.

Explore more when you're young.

Everyone agrees that the earlier you are in your career, the more exploratory you should be.

This is because the earlier you discover a better option, the longer you have to take advantage of it.

If you discover a great new career at age 66 and retire at age 67, you've only benefited for one year.

But if you discover something new at age 25, you may have decades to enjoy it.

In addition, early on you know relatively little about your strengths and options, so you learn a lot more from trying things.

Society is also structured to make it easier for younger people to explore.

For instance, many internships are only available to people who are still at college, so the costs of trying other paths are also lower when younger.

consider trying several paths with careful ordering.

One exploration strategy is to try several paths and then commit to whichever seems best at the end.