What to do after college if you don't know what to do?
I've been there and you can take my advice here with a grain of salt, but just DO SOMETHING. It doesn't really matter what you do because the good news is you can change it if you don't like it.
I've lived in 7 US states and 4 Asian countries. I've also traveled a fair amount around North American, Europe and Asia. I don't have it all figured out, but that's the thing you don't have to have it all figured out now and maybe you never will.
Life is a process.
I've read some interesting things by artists saying "you'll never finish". There's always going to be something more you want to create. Some people work by trial and error and others need to plan and organize.
I am not much of a planner and work more by trial and error.
So what do you do?
Do something.
Anything.
Try something new.
Is it okay to take a year off after college?
Yes. For some people this is a good time to do whatever you want. Some of you are going to grow up and have families and kids and if you are going to do that then you have some years to mess around.
Actually...
I think it's always a good time to do whatever you want (within reason). If you are not harming or hurting anyone then why not?
I remember Gary Vee saying you can mess up while you're young and it's no problem. It's good if you are making mistakes.
What do you want to do?
What NOT to do after college?
Don't do what everyone else does.
Don't do what they think you should do because they probably don't have it all figured out either. You don't want to take advice from morons and we are all morons about somethings. They might be your mother, brother, friend, ex-boyfriend, co-worker, some guy writing a blog post^^, etc.
Don't just do it for the money. Do it for the love. Get closer to that if you can. Try to do less of the things you don't like.
What do you like to do?
Do more of that.
I don't know where to live after college???
Pick a place and go there. Write down a list of places that you want to go to and then pick one. Then when you get bored with it go to the next. I've lived in 7 US states and 4 countries.
In the US I grew up in NH, then went to Brevard college for a year in North Carolina which I didn't like much, then I transferred to NAU in Flagstaff because that looked like a more interesting place and while I was in North Carolina I learned how to snowboard.
I wanted to go out west so I did. Then after college circa 1999 I wanted to snowboard more and explore other places so my girlfriend at the time and I moved to Missoula, MT. I probably would have preferred Bozeman the other place I was thinking about, but she wanted Missoula more.
So probably don't do what your girlfriend wants.
After a year in MT I wanted to explore more and things were getting a little rocky and we moved to a small town called Welches near Mt. Hood, OR where there is lots of snow.
Then after another year there we I didn't want to continue living with her and decided to go back to Flagstaff, AZ where I went to college. I think I missed the friends I had made while there so I stayed there for a year and then moved to Sante Fe, NM where my sister lived for a year.
All these places are beautiful.
I like nature and the mountains. Around this time I also started to travel in Europe some. I went all over Europe to many countries with one of those Eurail passes.
By the time I was 28 I had been to Europe 3 times for a total of about 6 months. Then I went home to live with my parents for a while (never fun) so you probably don't want to do that unless you have a good relationship with them.
And ohh, that last time I was in Europe in the Czech Republic to be exact I was introduced to the idea of teaching English.
Teaching English?
What?!
No way.
I never thought I'd do that. It sounded kind of boring. I was an artist (what I studied) and never thought I could do that. I had a friend in Korea from college who wanted me to go there and teach.
Yeah so all these places why?
It's what I wanted to do I guess. I get bored in the same place and wanted some adventure. I wanted to explore the world. So I flew to Taiwan to get a job.
I spent 2 years in Tainan and Taichung. Went back to the States for 6 months or so and then went to Busan, Korea and I stayed in Korea for 3.5 years. After that I headed to China for 6 months and then back home to NH for another few years before moving to San Francisco for 6 years and then Japan for almost 2 years and now I am currently back home in NH.
So what's next?
Should I move across the country after college?
Sounds like a good idea. Switch some things up and go to those places you always wanted to go before it's too late.
What about this feeling of uncertainty?
Don't worry. I remember reading a book once by Po Bronson called What should I do with my life??? or something like that.
Some people get snap insights into what they should do, but a lot of people don't. And basically the enter their decisions with uncertainty, hesitation and doubts.
As I mentioned above there is learning by trial and error and we all do it. Every place I ever moved to or done started with some uncertainty and doubts.
And then when you take that action and start they will go away. But not until you do.
Conclusion - What to do after college???
So you are thinking about how to decide where to move after college or how to find a job after college, traveling the world after college, or where to move after college?
So my short answer advice is to choose something. Try to do something you are interested in and not something you are not interested in or at least less of that. Don't look at it as a one time decision that's going to make or break the rest of your life. Just act on something and then you are going to have to act again.
What I am not good at?
Is making goals and a lot of planning so maybe it would help you to do that. I thought Jordan Peterson had some interesting resources for goals and his self-authoring program.