There’s a humongous psychological wall between the states of mind before and after going through your first professional experience.

Before, you don’t know what to expect. You know there is some career thing on the other side of the wall. You think about “working” and take guesses at what that looks like.

Then you cross the threshold.

You look around and say: Wow. The world of work is so much less mystical than I imagined. I don’t have to be stressed or anxious because I can go out there and create value now. 

This is it. This is the thing I’ve spent years and years wondering and worrying about. And I’m here now, so I can stop fretting and get to work.

It’s easy to worry about what you will do with your life, but it’s best to jump into any industry you can as soon as you can because only then are you equipped to make more specific decisions.

I was terrified of “picking the wrong thing” when looking at my first non-restaurant job. I feared the first step in my career would lock me in that industry and that my passions wouldn’t be fulfilled.

I now know it’s precisely the opposite. Only after I passed the threshold of my first job (thanks to Praxis) was I able to evaluate the work landscape accurately enough to hone in on my mission.

I couldn’t have made the right decisions if I was still standing on the blind side of the wall.

It isn’t productive to worry about career decisions before you’re equipped to make them.

Like any skill, the best way to find your mission is to learn by doing. By jumping headfirst into the opportunities in front of you, and asking questions after.