Finding what you are looking for

Arriving at your destination

One advantage of the Internet is that an incredible amount of information is instantly available. One disadvantage of the Internet, and many websites for that matter, is that an incredible amount of information is instantly available.

Where do you begin? How do you find the specific information that you are looking for?

More to the point: How do you avoid having a nervous breakdown in the process of your exciting journey of discovery? Spend too much time on the Internet and before too long your brain starts to shut down.

Entering this website is like opening a book. You could spend the same amount of time reading here as it would take you to work through a 300 or so page book. If you want to do that, fine. But if not, here are a few questions to consider in order to determine where to begin:

1. Are you here because you are young and have no idea what to do with your life?

If so, may I suggest beginning by trying to gain an overview of the task that is ahead. In other words, identify the steps that you will need to take in order to move ahead in your life. Imagine that you are watching your life from very high up and from very far away. At the moment, you notice that you seem to be standing still. Would it concern you if you were still standing still, stuck, frozen in place, five years from now? If it would, you will need to take some time and work hard now to prevent that from happening.

From there, go to the “Discover” section and work your way through what you find. While it is all important, pay close attention to the part about identifying your personality type as you begin.

In the near future, a more complete online career-planning tool will be offered at Career & Life Direction for a small fee. This resource is something you may want to take advantage of when it arrives in September 2012.

2. Are you here because you are a little older and very frustrated with your situation in life?

What you may need right now is some encouragement at an emotional level more than anything else. If you are deeply discouraged, if you have been wounded to the core, words of affirmation and encouragement and perspective might benefit you the most. You will need more than words, but words can help. You will need time to heal and rest and recover before you can launch out again on an exciting new adventure.

You will also need other people. You will need people who understand you and who are interested in your life. Interested in your future. Interested in your dreams. Wanting to be alone during a difficult time is understandable; it is sometimes necessary. Be careful, however, not to stay in a solitary state for too long. Find ways to make meaningful connections with other people. The “Connect” section on this site can help you do just that.

3. Are you here because you need help making a specific career or life direction decision?

If that is your situation, if would be prudent to talk to somebody you can trust about the details of the various opportunities before you. One way to organize your thoughts before hand, is to take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, and then write down possible positive and negative results. Do this for each individual option. Then, when you meet with your friend or mentor, you will be more prepared to talk about the decision that you will soon need to make.

Nobody to talk to? Sometimes confusion is present because you may not have a clear vision of where you are going or how you are going to get there. I have personally worked through a couple career-planning books which helped give me a better idea of what I wanted to do with my life. But this takes a long time. And not everyone enjoys sitting alone by themselves for hours on end reading and reflecting.

For now, try to separate your career and life planning into two separate categories: short-term and long-term. If you don’t have a fairly firm long-term plan at the moment, I would recommend that you avoid making any major decisions until you do. At the same time, be sure to make the best possible short-term decisions that you can.