在20世纪，当我的父亲、祖父和母亲还在工作的时候，上学的课程很少，也很简单。起床，去工作，完成你的工作，然后回家，第二天再重复一遍。时代变了。随着我们接近2025年，也就是21世纪的四分之一，我们面临着更多的压力、更多的机遇和挑战，我们认识到生活中还有比工作更重要的事情。在准备本学期最后一节职业探索与规划课的过程中，我想了很多关于我想让我的学生们学到什么——我总结了六个重要的教训，我也想和你们分享。

一路上会有人帮助你。没有哪位CEO是单枪匹马走到公司最高层的。在他们的旅程中，他们寻求帮助，与各个层次的人建立联系，并寻求他人的建议和建议。

你今天所做的决定并不是永久的。除了极少数例外，你今天或明天所做的任何决定都不是你必须永远承受的。如果你选择了一个职位，但对它、你的老板、你的同事、你的通勤等等都不满意——记住，你可以换工作，一个糟糕或平庸的老板不会永远呆下去，而且租约是有期限的。改变可能会带来经济、时间等方面的后果，但如果你足够想要改变，那么这些后果都是值得的。

尽你所能去探索。虽然这似乎最适用于大学生，但它对任何人都是有价值的建议。当然，对于那些年轻的，没有深厚的家庭责任的人来说，这更容易，但是花时间去上你感兴趣的课，去诗歌朗诵，去听一个关于全球可持续发展或全球化对发展中国家影响的讲座，不管它是什么，只要做一些扩大你的知识基础的事情。作为奖励，你永远不知道你会遇到谁，你会建立什么样的网络联系，或者它会点燃什么样的火花。

Make decisions based on multiple criteria. As I noted in the beginning of this post, earlier generations focused on getting up, getting to work, completing the job, going home, and then repeating the cycle the following day, the following week, and the following year. Concepts such as work/life balance didn’t exist, being happy with the work they did day in and day out, was not necessarily an option, certainly not a priority. Today, things are different. We are a more mobile society. We change jobs and careers. Thus, when making decisions about your career, consider all of the following: interest, happiness, making ends meet, location, work/life balance, and anything else that is important to you. Only you can decide the order of these criteria, but they should all be considered as part of the decision process.

Accept that life will throw you curve balls. These interruptions can be good and bad: an unexpected job offer, a death in the family, an illness, an opportunity for travel (for work or pleasure), a job loss, a car accident, a promotion, someone new walks into your life or someone opts to walk out, or an unexpected or unplanned expense, and the list goes on and on. The point is, you can’t plan for these events – they just happen and usually at the most inopportune moments. Your reaction, however, is key. For those who live in a world of denial or lack adaptability skills – it will be much harder to process and handle the curve ball – good or bad. For those who have accepted that these interruptions do happen, are likely to happen, they are often better able to cope, manage, or make decisions around the situation with more ease, efficiency, and with less drama.

Finally, take time to give back. We live in a world of selfies, Instagram posts, and me over we – you can combat that by taking time to give back. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, help build a habitat house, participate in a community garden, mentor inner-city youth, or whatever interest you – there are so many different ways to give back, to help those less fortunate. The opportunity is a win-win situation – not only are you contributing to the greater good, but you will also meet people you might otherwise never have the opportunity to meet.

Regardless of your age or career status, these six lessons or pieces of advice will help you navigate through all the ups and downs life throws at you.

Best,