There’s a funny fact of life that you should keep in mind as you think about your “career,” the university course you will be choosing and so on. That fact of life is this: Almost every successful adult that you see today went through a crazy and totally unplanned path to get to his or her current position in life.

Ask just about any adult whom you admire and who has a great job: “How did you get where you are today?” You will see how crazy these paths can be. For example, you might know someone who has a great job as a newscaster on TV. When you ask him how he came to be a newscaster he might relate the following story to you:

“Well, when I started university I really wanted to be a geologist, but I ended up having to take a required class in computer programming. I really liked programming, so I ended up changing my mind and graduated as a computer scientist. I started out working for a computer company and didn’t like it, and then began working for a small company. They got this project with a TV station writing software for the news room. One day I had a chance to meet the news anchor for the station and we really hit it off. He liked my voice and suggested I train as a broadcaster, which I did part-time. Then one thing led to another and now I am a news anchor myself.”

If you talk to ten successful adults, nine of them will have totally unbelievable stories like this. It is absolutely normal, and it is common.

So, in choosing your own career and your university course, what should you do? One approach would be to simply relax, find something you like doing now, read for a degree in that subject at university and get a job. Then be on the lookout for new opportunities. Take them when they arise, and enjoy life. That would be a completely valid approach. Another approach would be to do some research on different career possibilities so that you can see what’s out there.

There are thousands of jobs that you have never even heard of before, and one of them might be perfect for you. One way to learn about them is to start asking every adult you know: “What do you do for a living?” and then: “Do you like it, and why?” Another is to start ploughing through books and material on the web.