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  2. Career Services
  3. Self-Exploration
  4. Self-Exploration
  5. Future Fantasy Exercises

Future Fantasy Exercises

The following two fantasy exercises will help you further explore career options.

Exercise #1

Let your imagination run wild. No holds barred. Imagine that you can be anything you want to be. There are no limitations. Don't consider practicality, required education or what your father would say. Then write a paragraph indicating what you would do. Create a scenario of your ideal job.

For example, former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, when asked to share a career fantasy, said he liked to be the chief executive of Ben & Jerry's and develop new flavors like Congressional Fudge. General John Shalikashvili provided this fantasy, "To own a country hardware store and sit outside in the sun with my blue apron waiting for a customer to come by. To rummage through little bins looking for a particular bolt a customer might want and once found, go back out to my bench in the sun".

This exercise is intended to give you an opportunity to discover motivations hidden within your fantasy. Identifying personal qualities (goals, interests, values) that drive your fantasies can provide valuable information that may not have been tapped from other self-assessment inventories you may have taken.

Even though you may choose not to pursue an outside-the-ordinary profession, this exercise allows you to stretch the boundaries of what might interest or excite you and provides added information that can be factored into whatever career decision you make, whether it is an non-traditional career or a familiar profession.

Exercise #2

PICTURE YOURSELF IN THIS IDEAL SITUATION

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING?
DO YOU ENJOY YOUR WORK?

  • What's involved in a typical workday?
  • What kind of work tasks are you doing?
  • What are your hours?
  • What clothes do you wear?
  • What kind of people do you work with?
  • How much money do you earn?

DESCRIBE YOUR LIFESTYLE:

  • Where do you live?
  • What kind of home do you live in?
  • What kind of car do you drive?
  • What do you do for recreation?
  • What are your friends like?

WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY SITUATION?

  • Are you married?
  • Do you have children?
  • Who will care for the children if you work?
  • What goals do you have for your family?
  • What do you do on vacations?

The decisions you make regarding a future career will in fact determine the extent to which your fantasy will become a reality for you. Rehearse your ideal career in your mind. Remember, people move in the direction of their dominant thoughts and images.

You can adjust your decisions or rearrange your career direction by changing your thoughts and the associated pictures in your mind. As you continue to determine your best career path, remember to keep dreaming, keep thinking, keep fantasizing.