I try to find a balance between doing things for the sake of experience (broading my scope of the world and trying new things) and doing things to propel myself forward in a certain direction (career development).

At certain times of my life and times of the year I act purposefully toward one or the other. For example, I spent two months of summer traveling in Europe and South America respectively. This was to achieve the former goal. I learned a ton about different cultures, countries and people and I was lucky to be able to spend time with friends in their home countries.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find things that’ll be both novel experience they’ll teach you a lot and also contribute toward you developing your career and more “traditional” measures of success.

To be more specific, I think a good university degree is often very important. The degree will show people that you can work toward a goal, apply yourself and stick out the good and bad times for a number of years. The harder your degree, the better your university and the better your grades and extra curriculars will give people a better idea of how good you are at getting stuff done.

To answer your question directly: When I think about planning for the future, I I think about what I want to achieve long term (personally and professionally, in both character development and outward success). I think about what I am capable of, how I can get there and the next step I need to take in the grand plan.