I officially finished my undergraduate education about three days ago –Class of 2009. I walked out of the graduation ceremony not knowing in which direction I will be taking my next steps in my immediate life and maybe even more frightening what the future may hold for me. I work towards living for the present, but in today’s society it’s hard to not think about the future. I consider myself one of the more lucky undergraduates who managed to secure a relatively competitive job; still, I have approximately three months before that begins. What do I do to prepare myself for the next chapter in my life?
Three months to gather and direct myself in the right direction. It’s a terrifying thought. For about sixteen years, I’ve had an obligation to sign up for classes to take. After elementary school, there was middle school, then high school, and finally college. It was somewhat of a set path. School was my life and grades were a way of keeping score. Now that they are gone, I am left to carve another path. There is no designated road map and the paths are limitless. I can travel and see the world, volunteer, improve my golf swing, and anything else imaginable. I did give this some thought before I graduated, but ultimately I have settled on just enjoying what time I have before I start working. Let the chips fall where they may, I suppose.
Tiger Woods said, “The greatest thing about tomorrow is, I will be better than I am today.” I am always looking to become a better man and to change for the better. Whether that means honing my stock trading skills, my golf swing, or being more considerate and humble, it’s all part of becoming better. But, sometimes we forget what we learn and revert back to what we were like before. That’s why it’s important to revisit some of the core values we all so work to live through.
I was fortunate enough to come across a post by Tim Ferriss. In this post he embedded a video of his talk about stoicism. More specifically he talked about defining your fears instead of your goals. His five minute talk is best summed up by Mark Twain’s quote: "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”. The reality of most situations is that we can recover from whatever happens. Humans are extremely resilient and it’s proven by the longevity of the time we’ve spent as a species on Earth. I suppose I can say that it is better to have tried and gotten hurt then to have done nothing at all. Carpe Diem!