Help with decision making

On this webpage, Mapping your Future, you will find a lot of advice on making smart choices to prepare yourselves for your future. The information is meant for you to be able to make informed choices within, next to and even after your studies.

Follow your heart, follow your dreams

You may get the impression that each and every choice you make should be understood as a step towards a predefined life goal. However, the goal often changes with the choices you make. Moreover, you can only truly decide on the direction you want to take, if you also have knowledge of the directions you do not want to move in. So you should see your studies, and the activities you do next to your studies, as a kind of trial and error as well.

But if there is no predefined goal, and you are free to hit-and-miss, what should be your guiding principle? Even though it sound cheesy, you should follow your heart. You are unique in your preferences and by allowing for that uniqueness to determine your path, you will also arrive at your unique destination.

Of course, if following your heart means following a certain career path, make sure you make choices that allow you to get exactly there where you would like to be. However, most careers do not follow such a straight line. There are many coincidences, courses you took that in hindsight will turn out to be decisive moments, side jobs will end up landing you your first real job, etc. This is a good thing, since such coincidences also result in all of us having distinct profiles. And that is, in the end, what you need on the labour market: a profile that sets you apart from all others.

In conclusion: do not fear your future. You will get there anyway. Use this webpage to make informed choices, but remember that your heart is an important source of information too!

Concrete tool

Are you looking for a concrete tool to make a choice? Then the T-model might help you out. By rationally pointing out the pro's en con's of a certain decision this model can give some structure in a sometimes messy process of decision making. 

Study adviser

Do you need more help with making a decision about your study path? You can always discuss your question(s) with your study advisor.