The 2 Questions You Must Always Ask Yourself

I often think about two basic questions which have shown up multiple times in my life and will continue to keep me thinking.  Since I struggle with these questions, I am especially empathetic to young people as I ask them and they ask themselves these important questions.

Questions You Must Always Ask Yourself: #1 – What do you want?

This first question is usually the harder of the two and the more important of the two.  We have so many options and resources and advice hitting us that it can overwhelming to figure out what you want for yourself.  In the college application process, it is vital to understand if/why you want to go on for more degrees.  You should know what types of schools and programs are out there and what might be the best fit for you.  You must have some way of figuring out what you might major in and/or have a career in later in life. Most of all, you must understand something about decision making and your own way of doing that.  We all know that teenagers cannot and should not plan for the rest of their life because they often don’t know what they don’t know.  However, it’s good to have some self-knowledge and a plan for how you might deal with decisions today and later in life. Author Mark Manson has some ideas about how people usually answer this question.

Questions You Must Always Ask Yourself: #2 – How will you get what you want?

Once you feel confident that you have found a few answers to the first question, the other options, choices and distractions go away.  It is much, much easier to answer the second question. The question of “how will you get what you want?” is all about the plans of attaining your goals.  In the college process, this is where the nuts and bolts of the application pieces like the essay, recommendations, answering application essays etc. happens. Even Wikihow has steps to help anyone think about how to get what they want in life.

The staff at My College Planning Team helps young people answer these fundamental questions every day in an individualized plan.  Please contact us for a complimentary consultation to find out more about how we can help your family address these important questions.