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How To Navigate Post-Grad Life

Amanda Maggiore

College was an excellent time of your life, I am sure. With post-grad life staring you in the face, it can be daunting and overwhelming. There is so much change in such a short period of time that no one truly prepares you for it.


There are some vital things that will help you navigate post-grad life easier. Take it from someone that went through so much in the beginning, she had to write a book about it.


Set Goals; Professional and Personal

With so much happening around you, it is easy to get lost in unimportant and insignificant parts of life. Without a vision or direction, our brains tend to go into fight or flight mode, causing the feeling of instability to creep in.


Setting goals for both your professional life and personal life keeps you on track. Goals are an excellent way to continue to grow as an individual and have something to constantly work towards.

Goals do not have to be large and elaborate. They are meant to be achievable and relevant to your life. Start with 3 goals for each professional and personal life and continue to grow from there. These goals should all have different timelines so that you are constantly working hard towards different milestones.


Professional goals can be generic like being promoted, getting a raise, or finding the dream job. But I challenge you to go further than that. How about goals to learn one new skill a month that would benefit you now and in the future? Or the goal of becoming the most knowledgeable on the team to show how much of an asset you truly are. Or make it a goal to have multiple streams of income. Your professional goals can be any kind of work that will benefit you now and later. Find ways to improve your skills in any way you can.


Personal goals can range from losing weight to traveling more. Find 3 different areas in your life that need improvement, and make a plan of action of the steps you will take to get to where you want to be. Some of these goals will require an adjustment of your routine. That is the hardest part of keeping the promise to yourself. Stay disciplined and remember why you are doing these actions. We can always become better people, inside and out. Take some time to reflect on what you really want to change about yourself. If you put in the hard work, you will be able to see the change once and for all!


Setting goals for yourself after college makes you work a little harder to become a better person. Write them on sticky notes, make them on your lock screen, and read them every day to motivate yourself to finish what you started.


Stay Organized

Let’s face it, the adulting world has a lot of “things.” Important paperwork, passwords, emails, calendars, bills, and important dates, just to name a few. When you are on your own, living your best post-grad life, there doesn’t seem to be enough reminders for all that we have going on. Keeping each important item organized somehow will save you so much trouble in the long run. If you are a digital person, there are many apps to keep all of your information safe and organized. Utilize the free resources out there to help keep yourself on top of your day-to-day. If you are a paper person, use a file folder or a large binder separated by tabs so you know where everything important lives. Keep all important items like past taxes, because you never know when you might need them.


Adulting is hard! Not having your mom around to hold your insurance card and right down the group number for you kind of sucks. Being a kid is so much easier! But we have to break out of the nest at some point. Keeping yourself organized can be very hard, but if you start early, and continue routines and patterns with every important piece, then you will thrive.


Manage Your Finances

College doesn’t teach you to manage your finances, at all. All the binge drinking and eating is fueled by reckless spending, but it is encouraged and supported in that environment. While we all thought it was ok during that time, in the adulting world, it is not. You learn very quickly how important it is to manage your money. Saving for a house, car, vacation, or even Christmas gifts for the family can be hard to do when you have so many bills to pay. Setting a budget for yourself can help you monitor your expenses and ensure you are not overspending.


I always encourage paying off debt faster so you can have more money for the things you want. Add an extra couple of dollars to each loan payment once in a while and you will save yourself a few months of loan payments. This strategy will not only help your credit score but will help put more money back in your pocket.


What College Didn’t Teach Me covers a whole method of how to save and keep track of your finances when you enter post-grad.


Take Care of YOU

Ahhhh yes. Self-care. Recently, there has been a big push for self-care. This is because, people have begun to realize that it is so easy to get caught up in the world around you that you forget about the most important element in it all, YOU.

We neglect ourselves in more ways than we even know. We do not always put ourselves first. While in the past this has been seen as selfish, now people are doing it to set healthy boundaries and not allow other influences to sway them to do or not do something. Take the necessary time to invest in yourself. Whether that is physically by eating better and exercising more, or spiritually by meditating or going to church. There are so many ways we can care for ourselves better than we are today. It is about routine, discipline, and knowing that you deserve time to yourself.


The biggest part of taking care of yourself is being able to say no. It sounds simple, yet the majority of us struggle with it. We do not want to let down another person, or we feel obligated to do something, or we simply are too afraid of not doing something. This is the time to begin saying NO to things you don’t want to do. This sets healthy boundaries and you get a sense of control back in your life. You can pick and choose what you want to do and how you want to structure your life. You do not have to go out with friends on a Friday night, you don’t need to do the optional work event. You are in charge of YOU, don’t let anyone tell you differently.


Keep an Open Mind

You will experience a lot of opportunities you didn’t know existed. There will be new adventures that come your way, so take the leap and try them out. You never know where one situation could lead you. There is always a lesson to be learned wherever you go and whatever you do. Embrace the fact that you can do what you want and always be open to learning something new.


Of course, there is so much more to navigating post-grad life, and What College Didn’t Teach Me has all the tips and tricks to help you make the life you always wanted. Order your copy today.




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Guest
May 03, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

This helped me navigate staying organized in my post grad life!

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Guest
Apr 30, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

In your twenties, it’s hard to stay organized with so much change going on. This helped to remind me how important it is!

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