My dad once directed me to, “Look at where you’re at, where you want to be, and then take the next best step to get there.”  At the time I was graduating from high school and trying to figure out which university to attend.  I knew I wanted to be an English Major, but that was the only detail I had worked out.  Figuring out where I was was easy–I was a 17 year old high school senior in a small town without any universities close by.  Regardless of where I went to school, I was going to have to leave home.  So then came figuring out where I wanted to be.  Ultimately, the most important thing to my future ended up being independence.  I chose a university more than a few hours away from my hometown so that I wouldn’t be attending with half the people I went to high school with, and the one that offered me the best scholarships because I didn’t want to rely on my parents financially.  It wasn’t so far away that I couldn’t visit home, but far enough that visiting wasn’t easy.  My next best step was to go, and I did.  Eventually I changed my mind about the English Major and went into social work instead, but I’ve never regretted my choice in universities.

If you find yourself asking, “Where do I start?” when trying to make a decision about your education, career, relationship, family, or really anything, try asking yourself where you’re at and where you want to be.  These two questions come together; it’s difficult to know what changes need to happen currently unless you know where you want to go.  What is important to you?  What needs to change in your current situation to put you where you want to be?  Chances are good that you’ll come up with a few things.  You can’t get where you want to go by staying where you’re at.  When you’ve figured out some changes that need to happen, my recommendation is to do the easiest one first.  Little changes often have a ripple effect that will improve other areas of your life, and are easier to maintain than big changes.  Start where you are, take the next best step, and you’ll end up in a place where you want to be.