When you go for a degree in commercial art (advertising art, visual communications, graphic design, etc.), they give you a little taste of everything. You get to try illustration, design, and nowadays, multimedia and web design.
You leave school not only thinking that you want to do it all, but that you CAN do it all.
Some people can. I can't.
I tried. I've done everything from newsletters for the Dixie Chicks to slide shows for AT&T. From billboards of giant shoes to animations of small-bladdered puppies.
Because I was following so many paths, I wasn't really getting anywhere. Once I focused in on ONE thing (in my case, children's publishing), I started getting somewhere.
I started getting somewhere because I finally knew where SOMEWHERE was.
Now I can see where I am and where I'm going.
It may not be a straight path. There is always more than one way to get to a destination, but at least I always know which direction to move. Every side path still moves me forward.
When you don't have a destination, you can wind up going in circles or worse, back tracking.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.
The best way to choose a destination is to follow your heart. Do what you're passionate about. I love children's books, my choice was easy.
Do you know where you're going?