Graduation season is here again. It’s exciting to think about all the young people with a lifetime ahead to shape as they choose. There are so many possibilities available, so many paths they can take.

Yet, another word for “many possibilities” is uncertainty. Sometimes, for young people (and for all people!), uncertainty can be quite scary. They may worry that the decisions they make right now will set their course for life. What if they’re making a mistake? What if they cannot find a job?

Career paths are often a zigzag, not a straight path. And this is especially the case now: Experts predict that multiple careers will become the norm, and younger generations in particular are expressing the desire to change jobs.

My own path has certainly zigged and zagged. I started out as a teacher for children with special needs. I was interested in this path mostly because my soccer coach, Coach King, let me serve as a teacher assistant with his students who had special needs. I loved this job and am grateful to say I learned a lot I could use in later parts of my career.

Later I had the opportunity to work in a small behavioral health hospital in Wisconsin. During the next 12 years, I made stops in Mercy Hospital in Janesville, Wisconsin; Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago, Illinois; and Baptist Hospital Inc. in Pensacola, Florida. In 2000, I started a consulting company, which was ultimately sold, and I left in 2016. From 2004 till today, I have been involved in community-building in Pensacola, Florida. I also am working in healthcare via Healthcare Plus Solutions Group^®.

As you can see, my journey may have more zigs and zags than most people’s journeys. My main point is that most careers have hills, valleys, and curves. I urge graduates who might be feeling anxiety about the future to think about things this way: No career decision has to be final. You can always change your mind. If you are coachable, you will learn something from every job.

A few more tips:

• Success means different things to different people. Think hard about what really makes you happy, not what others may say about what kind of job you “should” want and what path you “should” take to get there. A person who had a business that was doing well called me. He told me some investors were interested in investing and helping the company significantly grow. I asked the owner what his passion was. He said it was to be with his wife and soon-to-be first child and to spend time surfing, hunting, and fishing. My feedback was, “Once you get investors with the goal of growing your company significantly, what you are passionate about may take a back seat.” Today he has a beautiful daughter; spends time with his family; and still hunts, fishes, and surfs. We each need to define our own success, not accept what others think success is.
• Don’t chase the money. I have been fortunate to have some financial success, but I didn’t go into education for the monetary payoff, but rather because I was passionate about it.
• Find something you are really interested in. Otherwise, you may not stick with it when things get really hard…which they will. Check out the video “Handle Hard Better” by Kara Lawson, the women’s basketball coach at Duke. Her point is that things will never get easier in life; instead, you become a person who can handle the hard stuff better. Personally, I have a low capacity to do things that don’t interest me. I’m not a grinder, unlessit’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve written numerous books, all in very short order, because I cared so much about the subject matter. It held my attention.
• Get good at something you care about. Mastering any skill or craft takes hard work but it will pay off now and in the future.
• Try to work with smart, cool people who inspire you. The synergy that comes from your work together will be amazing. (And, it will be fun!)
• Build relationships. Be easy to work with. Look for ways to be helpful. When you invest in relationships, there is always a payoff.
• Let the process take a natural course. Have patience. Stay in a job long enough to learn and grow and make a difference. You will feel when it’s time to move on…things will open up for you almost organically.

Often, the money will come if you focus on these strategies. Sure, it is good to be financially comfortable (it makes life a lot easier), but you will look back and find the greatest joys you experienced in your career journey were not the paychecks. They were those times you made a positive impact, all the things you learned, all the ways you grew personally and professionally, and all the wonderful people you met along the way.