Today is January 27 and the navigate the chaos question to consider is "Are you focused on your entire journey or just the next step?
Navigating the chaos requires one to focus on both the journey and the next step.
There are times, however, when focusing on both is too overwhelming.
Following the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or upon graduation from high school or college are just three examples.
During these difficult periods it is best to focus on determining the next step only.
While navigating stressful events, thinking about the entire journey can simply be too daunting of a task.
Perhaps no where is this more true than with high school or college students.
Asking “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” contributes to the rise in mental health issues among college students and recent graduates.
The question is a fool's errand as it is virtually impossible to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you are 20 years of age. In today's volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous global marketplace, the jobs of tomorrow will continue to change and therefore, someone in their 20s now cannot possibly know what jobs will even exist in a decade or two.
Asking the 'what do you want to do with the rest of your life' question to twenty-somethings adds unnecessary stress to an already stressful life situation.
For the past 20 years there has been an alarming increase in the number of students seeking help for serious mental health problems at campus counseling centers.
The 2010 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors (NSCCD) found that 44 percent of counseling center clients had severe psychological problems, a sharp increase from 16 percent in 2000. The most common of these disorders were depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, alcohol abuse, eating disorders and self-injury.
Another survey by the American College Health Association found that 45.6 percent of students surveyed reported feeling hopeless and overwhelmed at some point during the past 12 months.
To help alleviate some of the stress among college students, they should refrain from asking the question “what do you want to do with the rest of your life,” and simply answer “what is your next step?”
As so many of the other navigate the chaos entries demonstrate, life is a journey and those who succeed learn how to adapt to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.
As the old adage goes "The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
As you go about your day, consider asking yourself if you are focused on the entire journey or just the next step?