When you’re fresh out of high school and accepted to a major university, it’s tempting to think you’ve got things planned out and that they are generally going to go really well. A year or two into your schooling, you have your major picked out, and you’re taking classes that will slowly turn you into a highly sought-after professional in your chosen field. Life is good, right? In most cases, yes, but sometimes, life is bound to throw a curve ball at you.

Maybe someone got sick or hurt, and maybe it turned out that you have no talent whatsoever in what you majored in. This can cause some substantial financial setbacks. Heck, maybe your major ended up leading into a career field you despise so much that it makes your stomach hurt to get out of bed in the morning. That’s when your career field isn’t spontaneously beginning to dry up due to outsourcing, downsizing, automation, or a host of other factors that are entirely out of your control. The good news is there are still some things that are under your control.

Taking Charge of Your Life

When the worse becomes the worst, it’s tempting to simply want to throw in the towel and hit the nearest bar. But then, this isn’t what’s really going to help you out in life, even if it might be the more enjoyable option in the short run. What’s really going to help you is to take charge of your life, and start making choices that will take you in a direction you want to go in.

The mindset of taking control over your own decisions is perhaps the most crucial part of your early years. Everything you do in your 20s and early 30s will make a significant impact on your life as a whole. Even if it doesn’t feel like you’re making any particular progress early on, you do still have a lot of options that are available to you. For starters, how is your overall health?

Your Health as a Whole

Health starts with your body and mind. When you have the desire to succeed and are making plans that will get you where you want to go, you’re working on your mind. Another great thing you can do is to never stop learning, even when school is a set of distant memories. Learning something new every day will keep you sharp, as well as keep you humble. No matter how many days you learn, there will still be a ton you don’t know.

Another part of your overall health that doesn’t involve the gym is making sure your money is right. By using ELFI’s Student Loan Hero program, you can take charge of the one debt you can never get rid of without paying it off – student loans. Once you have these in order, you can make more conscious decisions about everything else.