Finding Your Passion, Purpose - First Theory Than Practice? (please Help)

[jakub_friso]

Hello guys

I'm 18 years old and I'm currently all about finding my passion and purpose in life, but now I face a pretty important decision.

I started dipping my toes of course in many professions that interest me and now I'm on psychology - writing an academic paper about Graves Model. I'm already in a middle of it - slowly getting into an end but suddenly I have a problem.

You know, not only I do the real life practice but also I hugely supplement that with all the (psychological) theory about this topic.
That means value, strength assessments and tests, concepts about following this road and pursuit and just in general - self-discovery through theory.

Further I go I'm starting to think that I should probably stop and pause real life experiments, go full bore, in theory, get to know myself better and after finishing being a student go again into the world with better idea and focus about where to go and what I'm really after + what I should avoid and be aware of on this road...

Because maybe now I'm just wasting time - shooting straight into the void, which I will maybe realise while tackling theory. Or not - that with psychology I was on a right track, that I should come back to my project and finish it.

The only thing that I'm the little bit concerned about (what is really keeping me still on this strategy).
Is that I could be not experienced enough to reflect back on my life and all that I did in terms of work while taking all the tests, assessments and doing exercises - therefore, getting bad results or none at all, meaning that I would end up where I was, lost.
Lost and being necessary to get all the experience and data from the world and come back to theory to help me guide myself and reveal my authentic personality.

What do you think guys?
Practice first, then theory?
Theory, then practice? (this is option I'm considering)
Practice and theory at the same time?

Please, I need your help on this decision because I'm afraid I'm just avoiding lasting work in front of me OR I'm having a great authentic and strategic insight from my mind and intuition.
I just need somebody to help me and pin point where I am - friendly therapist you can say...

[Tancrede Pouyat]

Practice and theory, both at the same time. In my experience, these are synergistic - one supports the other, and vice versa.

[jakub_friso]

@Tancrede Pouyat

I think I answered my question while asking. 

If you think you have enough experience to offer and only thing you need is to guide it and reveal it - then go for theory to help you,

And after that go back to practice of course, now smarter, more focused and everything...

But if you lived in a bubble - what do you want to reveal and guide? What information do you have to provide?

Did I get it right?

And thank you for your advice of course