This entry falls under a "Career" and "Self Development" category.

The subject of this entry comes from the most unlikely places: Womansday magazine.  My wife cut out the article and thought I would find it interesting ... and well I did - so interesting that I wanted to share it with my readers.

The aticle was "what I want next: A new way to figure out what you want - and how to get it" by Cathy Bonner.  It is in the 2/1/07 edition of Womens Day.

I am going to quote the most interesting part of the article - the 7 steps of the process.  I found it useful in helping me decide what I really want to do next.

what I want next process

There are no limits, no boundaries.  Write down whatever comes to your mind, personal or professional, as large or small as you magine.

1. Spend three minutes listing items to answer this question: "By the end of my life, what do I want to hae done?"
2. Spend three minutes listing items to answer this question: "By one year from today, what do I want to have done?"
3. Spend three minutes listing items to answer this question: "I just found out I have 30 days to live.  What do I want to have experienced in this last month of my life?"
4. Circle the three most important items to you from each of the first three steps.  Combine repeated item answers into a single goal.
5. List our top three goals for Steps 1, 2, and 3.  You may have fewer than nine goals after combining duplicates into one goal.
   
   Now, look at your schedule for the coming week.  For each goal you listed, make time on next week's calendar to take a specific action toward accomplishing thtat goal.  Write down the action you will take, and the spcific day and time when you will spend at least an hour working on it.
   Goal:                              
   Action:                          
   Day/Time:                    
6. Be realistic.  If you can't easily think of an action to take or don't want to spend an hour to move forward on it, then cross that goal off your list.
7. Now you have your final list of your most important goas, an action to propl you toward each goal and a specific time to take that action.  If you crossed a goal off the final list, don't be concerned.  It probably wasn't hat important o you. 
   
   Take a look at the list of all the goals still left.  Study it.  Search for broader themes about what you want to do next.  What do these goals ay about who you really are and what you want? 
   
   Take a wide view of yourgoals so you can complete the following sentence:
   What I want next is ...