Maybe you are about to graduate or maybe you've just graduated. Regardless, what do you envision for your future? You know there are a number of options available for you to choose from. For instance maybe you see yourself attending college, whether that's at a two-year or a four-year institution, maybe you're more inclined to pursue training at a vocational school to study a particular trade, or maybe you feel ready to enter the workforce immediately and to begin your first job. You have many options to choose from. The important thing is that you pursue the option that suits your natural talents and abilities, and that sets you on a course toward the vocation you envision in your future. Consider all of your options. Take a look at this image of a long winding path. At the end of this path, out in the distance, lies your future and symbolically your future begins at the start of this path in the here and now. The steps you take along this path will become your journey. What you must know is that whether you've already graduated or you're soon to graduate, that's neither here nor there. What's important is that you begin the process of considering your future. You know, your dream for the future will not simply come true on its own in the here and now. Only by taking the initiative to actively pursue your dream can you achieve it. You must begin by actively participating in the realization of your dream. You can start by simply considering your ideas for future employment. What are your gifts and abilities, what are you passionate about, and what drives you to succeed? Starting now to answer these questions will begin preparing you to step out onto the path of your journey toward the future. Whatever ideas you have for your future, you should begin to write them down. Maybe one of the goals you'll write down is to own a beautiful home or to raise a family. Perhaps you'd like to own and operate your own business. Maybe you've struck upon a dream of becoming a celebrity, or maybe you want to be renowned for creating innovative products. Whatever you imagine for your own future, your dream should be important to you, and it's critical that you carefully consider your own wishes. I encourage you to take a look at these pictures and allow them to guide you toward imagining what your future career might be. There are a number of occupations to choose from. A few examples are working with computers, dentistry, welding, or the arts. And these are just a few of the many possibilities. What's of critical importance is that you give serious thought and consideration to what your future career will be. Let me tell you why this is so important. For example, maybe you dream of becoming a mechanic; a certified, gifted mechanic, working at an auto dealership. To achieve that dream, you may have to start by working as a detailer, an entry level job where you'd be cleaning the interior and exterior of cars and retrieving cars to park on the sales floor or wherever need be. From there, maybe you'd become a repair assistant, listing the repairs that need to be done on a given car and passing that along to the mechanics. Each additional responsibility will increase your skill and knowledge base and set you on a path toward achieving your dream of becoming a certified mechanic. Or maybe you're not a mechanic, suppose instead you want to be a master chef. But again, to start with, you may need to work in food preparation, prepping ingredients to provide to the chef, or maybe you'd start off by bussing tables. With any of these duties, you'd be gaining valuable skills and knowledge that would eventually lead you down the path of becoming a professional and competent chef. From here on out, you must carefully consider what each step along your path should entail. And similarly with each step, you must explore and determine what supports and resources are available to you and how to engage these resources, be they tools or people. The more resources you can take advantage of, the more steady your journey will be. Whereas not utilizing these resources could cause your path to be strewn with obstacles and barriers. What's important is that you embark on your path so that ultimately your dream may come true. Well as you can see, there are a number of occupations to choose from. What's of critical importance is that you find a job that's right for you, that plays to your strengths and abilities, and that leads you to your goals and your dreams; that's what's truly important. Perhaps you'll be fortunate enough to fall in love, as they say, with your first job, so much so that you stay at it for years and years. But that's highly unlikely. Most people these days end up in a number of different jobs throughout their career, and each new job brings with it a chance to learn new skills and to develop new strengths. That is in essence what makes up your journey. There will be unexpected twists and turns along your path. One of these will involve learning the ability to keep a job. At some point, you may become unhappy with the job and decide to find another job, or you may decide to leave a job to pursue additional schooling, or to seek out specialized training in a different field. All of these changes are part of the unique path that comprises your journey. What's important though, is to not just suddenly quit one job without forethought. After all, landing another job is not all that easy and it's not likely to happen overnight. Give it some thought because a successful journey down your path will require careful planning.