George Bernard Shaw once said, “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” I would never argue with Mr. Shaw, but I would certainly modify and apply his quote to the current college and career market and say this,
“College isn’t about finding yourself; it is about understanding yourself and creating your best life.”
That being said, there are two questions that follow: Why isn’t college about finding yourself and how does one better understand them self and create a “best life”?
Twenty years ago, students could go off to college with no specific career goal and spend four years finding themselves while acquiring a degree in the process. But in the last twenty years, the cost of college has increased 163% and the average household income has increased only 23% according to College Board and the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is no longer “affordable” to go off and “find” yourself at college.
Today, understanding yourself and creating your “best life” means investing in yourself. Getting a college degree or attending a trade school are investments in yourself. But those investments need to be directed. Would you simply hand your savings over to an individual and say, “Do whatever you like”? No! You would give them a directive to be aggressive or conservative with your investment. So in creating your best life, you need to have the tools and the plan just like a professional who invests your savings uses tools and has a plan to help you achieve your financial goals.
You can choose to continue on a path of uncertainty or you can choose to direct your path, invest in your future, and create your best life. Creating that life doesn’t happen by accident or by default. It happens because you make informed choices about how to spend your valuable time and resources. That investment may include a career direction specialist, use of specific tools that measure natural abilities, interests and values, and guidance by a professional in creating a plan that helps to define and direct your life goals.
Creating the best you requires an investment. What are you willing to invest in yourself or a loved one to be able to define and direct a career direction? Contact me if you would like to know more, or make a comment below if you have had a great experience Creating the Best You!