This feels very surreal. But, yes, I’m going to grad school! This is a decision that seemed to come quickly out of nowhere, but it was also always right there. It feels fast, but right on time. I feel unprepared yet 100% ready. I’m so excited but also nervous. At the end of the day, it feels RIGHT. And, that feels GOOD.  A big part of this decision came as I was considering that I have another 20 years (at least) to invest in my career path. I have no desire to change what I’m doing today, but I also feel like I want some grounding and intentionality as I make decisions around what I’m delightedly calling My Next 20.   As I started thinking about My Next 20, I asked myself: Where do you want to be at the end of your career? How do you want to use all the work you’ve done for the last 25 years to inform your work for the next 20 years? What decisions can you make now that will give you options and flexibility over time? How can you continue to create work opportunities for yourself that bring you purpose, meaning, and joy? In what directions are you most excited to learn and grow? Navigating these questions gave me a fairly quick and clear sense of the direction I wanted to head and helped me see that a master's degree would support this direction.  In this episode, I talk more about why I’m going back to school, why I chose the program I chose, what I want to do with the degree, and how I’m combatting my inner critic as I return to studying, writing papers, and being in new and uncomfortable territory.   I hope this episode will help you also consider what you want to create for yourself over your Next 20! We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessmom.com/sponsor Interested in becoming a sponsor of the Shameless Mom Academy? Email our sales team at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices