should be identifying how your combination of assets (skills, strengths, contacts) and aspirations (dreams, values, interests) can create a unique offering in the career marketplace.

Set a Plan A that’s your current implementation of building a competitive advantage (your current job, hopefully), but also have a Plan B—something you could pivot to that’s different from but related to your current work. Finally, have a steady Plan Z—a worst-case scenario plan in which you might move back in with your parents

So when you feel you have accomplished something, write it down soon, before a client or critic has the opportunity to say something that diminishes that sense of progress.

Look beyond the job title, and focus on your mission.

“What way of working and living will nurture my passion?”

exposure to risk. MISTAKES ARE INFORMATION Mine your “failures” for valuable data about what works and what doesn’t. As long as you learn from the process, it’s not a mistake. DIVE INTO UNCERTAINTY Don’t be afraid to live in the shade of big questions. Uncertainty and ambiguity are a necessary part of risk-taking and the creative process. ACCEPT

require all my students to write a failure résumé. That is, to craft a résumé that summarizes all their biggest screw-ups—personal, professional, and academic. For every failure, each student must describe what he or she learned from that experience.

APPRECIATE YOUR ADAPTABILITY Be aware that when you fail, you will adapt to the new situation much more quickly than you expect. Setbacks often have a silver lining. TAKE ACTION TO AVOID REGRET Fear a failure to act more than you fear failure itself. Most people’s biggest regrets are the opportunities they did not act on, not those they did. DON’T

Simon Sinek articulated in a rousing talk at our 99U Conference, “We’re not good at everything; we’re not good by ourselves.”