Image from strangejourney

I considered titling this article “The Best Advice Ever” because that’s exactly what it was for me two years ago.  I was in the process of applying to jobs, sitting at Starbucks, agonizing over career choices, feeling like I was graduating  in two weeks and still had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.

That’s always been the question, hasn’t it? What do you want to be when you grow up?  At various times I’ve wanted to be a writer, a dancer, an interior decorator, a journalist, a psychologist, a nutritionist, and a professional organizer.

The scary part was that at graduation, I still wanted to do 10 different things.  I could have exploded with jealousy of the people who had known that they wanted to be a teacher since they were 5 years old.  It just wasn’t fair.

I was about to cry into my coffee, when a mentor I had during college approached me.  She told me (as always) to just calm down.

“Don’t think about what you want to do,” she said.  “Just think about what you want to do next.”

She was right.  The days of starting at a company and on a career path at age 22 and staying there until retirement went out with the days of Mad Men.  Today, it’s the norm to move around. It’s estimated that the average person changes careers 3-5 times in their life, not jobs, but complete fields.   If you’re like me, this is the best news ever.  You don’t have to plan your life away, its okay to take it a step at a time.  Ask – what next?

Suddenly, it all seemed manageable.  I still don’t know exactly what I want to do with my life, but every day I feel closer to finding out.  Life’s not a treasure hunt for one singular purpose, it’s an adventure that can take you all over the place with many roles and many things to give it purpose.

So if you’re still looking for your path, hang in there, you have plenty of time to do it all.