The Advice That Changed My Life

Where do I want to go? What do I want to do? Who do I want to be?

These were the thoughts consuming my brain during the fall of my senior year of undergraduate school. Like many of my peers, I was overwhelmed with the thought of graduating and placed myself under an immense amount of pressure trying to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was so afraid of making the wrong decision that I became paralyzed when making any decisions at all. I finally met with my academic advisor after months of mental tug-of-war and asked him for his advice. Chris New, an academic advisor within FSU’s College of Communication and Information,?said three words that would change my life, “Maximize your options.”

Maximizing My Options

These three words prompted an important conversation regarding the decision-making process and what I wanted my future to look like. At the time I was torn between applying to graduate schools and entering the workforce.? Both had deadlines that were approaching rapidly. I was unsure what was the right decision for me and the clock was ticking. Chris told me that oftentimes people minimize their options due to overthinking. By overthinking, I was narrowing my window for application deadlines and limiting my options in the long run. Chris asked me “Why not apply for everything you’re interested in?” So I did.

After our meeting, I sent out graduate school applications and attended as many career fairs as I could. These processes made me realize that I wanted to go to graduate school. By applying for everything I had an interest in, I had ample opportunities at my fingertips for when I was ready to make a decision. This helped me reach my deadlines and put me on track to attend graduate school on my ideal timeline.

Battling Indecision

This process taught me that there are two ways to handle indecision. The first way is to shut down and avoid any decision-making. Taking too much time to figure out the right decision will run the clock and can result in missing important deadlines. In my experience, putting an infinite amount of pressure on a serious life choice will often lead to procrastination and a lack of options. The second way to battle indecision is to try everything of interest. It is human nature to evolve and grow, which means as we get older our interests and passions change. By trying new things and maximizing options, we set our future selves up for not just success, but happiness.

No Such Thing as a “Right” Decision

Ultimately, the conclusion that I have reached is that there are no “right” or “wrong” decisions. There is simply the before and after. I think about the outcomes of certain decisions and how they will impact my near and distant future. When I am unsure, I apply anyway.? It’s better to have too many options than none.

To this day I think about this advice. The concept of maximizing my options is still prevalent as I am currently contemplating what industry I want to specialize in. By maximizing my options, I am able to relieve the intense pressure I place myself under and have access to more exciting opportunities.?

And to the overthinking version of myself from senior year - It's one year later and I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I am in graduate school for strategic communications. And I am someone who embraces all the new and exciting opportunities that come my way.