Imagine for a moment that you met a friend on vacation. This friend lives on the other side of the country than you, where you have never been. Now, let’s say your new friend invites you to come and visit. You decide that you will, and your friend gives you the address for where to go. What do you do now? Chances are, you will get online or on your phone’s GPS and navigate to the destination, but what if you don’t have those options? What if you did not have internet or satellite assistance? What if you didn’t even have a map available to help you? Do you think that you could find your friend’s house by chance? Doubtful!
So many times, we attempt to navigate our life and future, like traveling across the country without a map or GPS. Someone tells us that we should turn, and so we do. We stop at a crossroads, look around, and pick our direction based on appearance or less hills. When traveling, we can always turn back, but in life, u-turns aren’t usually easy.
If you are in high school or college, you are still at the beginning of the journey. It may not feel that way, but it is true. One day, the days you are living now will be a distant memory.
A GPS is a good tool to have whenever you set out on a journey. A Global Positioning System will show you where you are and the path you should take to get to where you are going. The same is true when preparing for a career, but this time your GPS stands for Goals, Prepare, Survey.
Goals
Creating goals is a significant first step in preparing for a career. As baseball legend Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Setting goals is not something that most people get excited about doing, but, like mapping out a trip, the enjoyment comes in reaching the destination on time. For high school students, now is the perfect time to set career-related goals. Look for more posts on this blog about goal setting in the coming week.
Prepare
Once you set goals for your future, you must prepare. Just like traveling, you will pack the right kinds of clothes and bring everything you need. So, how do you prepare for your future? It would help if you positioned yourself well to accomplish your goals. For example, let’s say you know what career you are interested in pursuing, but the college you plan to attend doesn’t have the right major. Or, you have a particular school you want to attend, but you need to raise your ACT score a few points to get in. What do you need to learn about potential career paths, and how do you do that? Look for another post on this blog in the coming week about doing research for career options.
Survey
Once you know a direction and a plan to get there, you need to survey your surroundings to look for detours and shortcuts. Sometimes, when traveling, you may get a notification on your phone that a construction zone is ahead and a detour is recommended. If you aren’t using a GPS, you will discover the traffic as a surprise, but if you are prepared and aware of your surroundings, you can easily re-route. In life, goals have to be updated or refined, and it is those who survey their surroundings that make those adjustments well.
VisionWise Career Development is the sister company to The Launch Mission. Not only do both organizations share the same founder, but both work together to help students prepare for life after high school. At VisionWise, we work with high school and college students with a comprehensive career assessment, one-on-one career coaching, and training to help you go from where you are now to who you are called to be. For more, go to www.visionwisecareer.com.