Congratulations! You have accomplished something significant.
After the party is over, where will you go from here? What’s your longer term plan? Your plan is the context for decision-making? Your toughest challenges are yet to come. Take time to “know thyself.”
Think about your criteria for assessing life’s strategic opportunities and challenges as you understand them, today. Life is a succession of experiences and decisions. Many easy. Some not. Here are some themes (add your own). Draw upon everything you know. There are no right answers:
- Higher education is an expensive experience, and you may have skated-by with B’s and C’s. On the job, you need to make A’s every day. Your degree is only the beginning. Life-long learning (and unlearning) will be crucial to your success. Develop a life-long learning plan.
- Getting your first job is significant, so have a strategy and prepare your elevator-speech. There are many choices. Will you work in a profession? Apprentice? Military service? Buy, or start a business? Find other interests? The choice is yours and no one else’s
Work establishes connections – where you will live, people you will meet, how much you have to spend and invest.
Get in the habit of earning every paycheck even if peer pressure dictates otherwise.
- You may choose a life partner. Be selective. Make sure the partnership’s chances of success are high – very high. Take time to assess character and shared values: finances, family, children, lifestyle, and other important issues. Delaying discussions until later may lead to unforeseen financial and emotional hardships.
- Enjoy now, but invest for the future. Pop-culture and spin-marketing urge us to have it all. Limit debt. Sacrificing some things now may pay huge dividends later.
- Consider your relationship with the Divine – whatever that means to you. It may be personal prayer, meditation, or faith community participation. Take comfort that those before you asked and struggled with similar questions: What is the purpose? Does it matter? Why me?
- Accept the responsibility to live with the consequences of every choice you make.
Each year – when you do your taxes and update your resume – review and revise your life plan. Conditions change. Life is a journey. Don’t be afraid to change and adjust. Take time to listen and ponder. What can go wrong? Know why and what to change. Have contingency plans.
Regardless of where or how you pursue life’s work; the most valuable person or business you will ever lead or manage is yourself.
Best wishes for continued success. Success includes taking responsibility for your choices. There are no guarantees.
Terry Myers, Principal of Business Edge, is an experienced Management Consultant. His book Let’s Get Down to Business, a Consultant’s Journal is available on Amazon. Terry partners with Tom Schnurr to guide companies to bridge the gap to revitalize and optimize stakeholder value. Contact Terry at tmyers@bizedgeusa.com, or Tom at tschnurr@bizedgeusa.com.