I don’t know what to do after university!
Discover your values through journaling, then explore a career that aligns with them
Are you at college or university and you’re not sure what you want to do after you graduate?
Or, did you start off your degree 100% certain about what you wanted to do, but now, you’re not so sure?
Journaling can be great for tackling “I don’t know what to do” anxiety. Journaling involves writing down your thoughts, ideas and feelings in order to be able to make sense of them. When stuff is just swimming around in your head, you can feel like you’re going in circles and not getting anywhere, but by writing those things down, you break that cycle.
When something is on a piece of paper in front of you – rather than in your head - it’s easier to look at it more rationally and objectively. You can organize your thoughts, ideas and feelings and start to identify what’s really going on.
Getting started
To get started, set aside a regular slot for your journaling. I would advise journaling twice a week to begin with, leaving a few days in between them. Your first couple of journaling sessions might be quite long, because it’s likely there’s a lot going on in your head that you need to get out. After this, they will get shorter. Start with 30-45 minutes for your first session, and see how you get on.
Treat yourself to a nice new notebook specifically for journaling about what you want to do after university. Find one that you love! My personal favourite is the Paperchase Agenzio. Decide what you’re going to write with, pen or pencil? Choose somewhere quiet to sit, where you’re not going to be disturbed or distracted by other things. Where’s that going to be? At home, inside or outside, somewhere else? Do you want to have something to drink whilst you’re journaling? Water, tea, coffee? What kind of water, tea or coffee? These little details matter. You need to be excited about journaling to get the momentum going. Get familiar with this little routine you’re setting up for yourself and come to love it and look forward to it.
Before you start journaling, put your phone on silent and put it away. You don’t need it when you’re journaling.
Now you’re ready to begin, start with the specific questions I’ve outlined below. They form part of a wider story outline, which I go into more detail about in the YouTube video below - so check that out if you want me to talk you through that step-by-step.
Visualise a day in your dream working life
Imagine you are getting into a time machine that’s going to take you three years into the future, to a place where you are living the life you want to live, doing the work you want to do.
You are waking up on a Thursday morning, it’s a regular workday. Take the time to go through the day, from getting up to going to bed, and ask yourself these questions:.
When you get dressed, what clothes are you putting on? Why? What kind of work are you going to do in them?
Where is your workplace? Is it at home or away from home? How are you going to get there?
What does your workspace look like, what’s there, what can you see around you?
If there are other people there, what do they look like? Describe them.
Is it noisy, quiet or somewhere in between?
What are you actually doing at work?
Are you using a computer, or not?
Are you inside or outside? Are you working on your own or with others? Are you creating something, processing something, making something, selling something?
Who are you serving in the job you’re doing? Who are you helping? Will you be doing the same thing all day or different things?
How long does your workday last? For example, is it 8 hours or 4? Does that very from day to day?
Now, grab your pen and journal notebook and write down everything you can recall about that day you just imagined. What stands out to you? What surprises you about it? Have any of the things you imagined not occurred to you before?
Identify your core values
The next thing you need to do is identify the values in that aspirational working day. Your values are the things that drive you, they are your principles, your non-negotiables, your beliefs, your morals. Below are some examples of values.
Examples of core values.
If you look closely at your aspirational working day, you will find them. So for example, if you envisaged being around other people a lot throughout your day, perhaps you value connection and community, perhaps you also value equality, diversity and inclusion. If you want to keep your working day short so you can spend time with family, you value freedom and flexibility. If you envisaged working in different places and doing widely varying activities maybe you’re adventurous and adaptable. If you envisaged being based 100% working at home then perhaps your values are more about consistency, security and a family focus.
Write down the core values you can see in your aspirational working day.
If you get clear on your aspirations and values, it’s much easier to start thinking about specific sectors, professions and job roles to explore that embody those things. It’s important to move towards employment that is a good fit with your values and principles, rather than trying to squeeze yourself into a profession that doesn’t feel right for you just because it’s got ‘status’ or your parents want you to do it.
Journaling is going to help you become aware of who you are and how you want to live your life and THEN find employment that fits with that. This way, you are going to thrive in whatever you go into.
Take action and keep journaling!
Make sure you act on what you’re discovering. As you discover more about yourself through this kind of journaling, make sure you do things with that information. Don’t just leave it sitting there on the page, make it work for you.
For example, if you’re discovering that your highest value is freedom and you’re really passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, start Googling things like “Most flexible jobs in equality, diversity and inclusion”, “self employment in equality, diversity and inclusion”. Note down those jobs, do some research on them. What you’re doing here is unpicking some of your own value threads, pulling on them and seeing where they lead. You will be surprised not only at what you find, but at how much less anxious you feel about choosing something to do.
The goal of journaling isn’t to find the definitive thing that you’re 100% certain you want to do for the rest of your life, but to become aware of who you are right now, what you value right now and the kind of life you want to live given those things. Choose a job that fits your values, don’t try and shoehorn yourself into a job or profession that isn’t going to align with your values.
As you go through your working life, those values might change and the kind of life you want to live might change – so your job will likely need to change then too. Journaling regularly will alert you to these shifts and changes when they’re happening, and you’ll become more comfortable in exploring different options. You won’t end up having a huge existential meltdown crisis in the middle of your workplace one Wednesday afternoon when you’re 45 screaming, “Who am I?”. That’s where lack of self-awareness will lead you. I don’t want that for any of you, it’s really not fun. So journal, journal, journal!
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