We all have choices. Some people have more choices than others. Past decisions impact future choices. There is probably no one reading this who can become an Olympic weightlifter: that option or choice closed for most of us several years ago.

There is also probably no one reading this who can become coach of the New England Patriots in the future, although that may be a rush to judgement based on this season's coaching.

When I was in my early twenties, just married, and, like today, wondering what I would be when I grew up, I found a book that helped me immensely. That book title is the title of this weblog, and it is still available on Amazon.

The concepts in the book helped me make many of the decisions and choices I've made in the decades since I read it, and the philosophy continues to impact the path I am on, or at least plan to be on.

The book's author, David Campbell, PhD, creates the metaphor of life as a long, never-ending pathway with many other pathways leading off to either side. The pathway you are on at any given moment represents the lifestyle you are now living. The side pathways represent new directions you might take new jobs, hobbies, places to live, friends, cars, and more.

Campbell uses the following example to illustrate his point:

"One side pathway might be labeled ‘be a cartoonist’ and if you have the proper talents and energy, you might choose to start down that pathway.

Soon you would reach a fork where one branch would be labelled ‘freelance cartoonist’ and the other would be ‘regularly employed.’

You will have to choose, and your choice will have considerable influence on your future options because the pathways leading to the two branches will not always be the same."

In his metaphor, each side pathway has a gate, and he suggests that the gate will be open to you only if you have the right "credentials" or assets.

When you come to a side pathway, there are two major factors that determine whether you will leave the pathway you are now on or change direction.

• The first factor is whether or not the gate is open to you, which will be determined by your credentials. Credentials unlock gates. ("Past Decisions" impact this choice)

• The second factor is whether or not you want to go through the gate even if it is open. Hopes, dreams, and goals are steps on the path. ("Now" decisions impact this choice)

The first factor, your credentials, is the most important because if the gate isn’t open to you, you have no choice no matter how much you want to follow the new pathway. 

Consequently, your main strategy in planning a life with maximum opportunities is to accumulate the best credentials possible, so that the maximum number of pathways will be open to you. 

You want the choice to be in your hands, not the gatekeepers' hands.

For example, a college degree might open more pathways than a high school diploma, and a degree in accounting might open more pathways than a degree in music history. 

Ten years of experience in a director-level role might open more pathways than 2 years in a Coordinator role.

Applying this "credentials" concept to real life, as an example, when you were about four years old, you passed the ‘concert pianist’ pathway and it was locked because you weren’t a child prodigy, and you had to move on.

Likewise, if you graduated college with a degree in Agriculture, becoming a nuclear physicist was likely off the table, at least until you obtained new credentials.

In my case, there was a very brief time when a gate might have been unlocked for me to be a professional athlete, either in soccer or football. By the time I was 30, that gate had slammed shut. 

With many years of restaurant experience, several pathways were open to me, including a pathway to restaurant company president, that might not have been open to others or to me, with less experience.

You get the idea. "Collecting" credentials or assets gives you more options and unlocks more gates on the pathway of your life.

The reason this is so important is that the concept of "credentials" is related to choices. The more credentials you have, and I’m not just talking degrees or certificates, the more options are available to you.

For example, if you are a whiz at Excel software, that would likely benefit you more than if you were a whiz at X-box, although nothing is guaranteed.

There is also the option to "create credentials" for gates that are down the road. For example, for me to run a marathon at the age of 70 was fairly unusual, but I had the "credentials" to do it, obtained through training and nutrition and persistence over a period of years.

There are also surprises along the way that impact the path. For example, when people, like me, were furloughed during the pandemic, the pathway we were on was blocked or washed out or developed into a sinkhole. 

Us fulough-ees were left standing there, not sure what to do next. Not sure about what "credentials" we should use to unlock which gates. 

Some people waded through the water or the mud. Others turned around and backtracked to find a gate that could be opened by their credentials.

For me that meant going back 15+ years to when the gate labeled "consultant" was probably unlocked. 

At that time, the gate was open to becoming a "Restaurant Consultant". But with my 15 years of experience as a non-profit leader, now the additional gate of "non-profit consultant" was opened to me as well.

Since restaurants are businesses, I also had some generic "business" credentials as well, and with 15 years in the advocacy space for maternal and child health, I had some credentials there as well.

The curveball of being furloughed during the pandemic, required those affected to rely on their "credentials" to move forward. Fortunately for me, I had several contacts who thought enough of me to encourage me to proceed down the path of consultant, and I had enough credentials to unlock the gate.

In looking back, my credentials were a combination of the gray hair, experience and track record, but the most important credential of all was the relationships that I had developed with contacts. Without those relationships, I might be in a very different place.

What’s your plan? If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else.

• What credentials do you have or need?
• What contacts do you have that you might reach out to for advice or direction?
• What paths are open to you?
• What paths are closed to you but could be opened?
• What routes would you like to travel?
• What options or choices do you want to have?
• What are you doing about it?

The first, and most important factor is whether or not the gate is open to you, which will be determined by your credentials. Credentials unlock gates. This is the most important factor because if the gate isn't open to you, you have no choice no matter how much you want to follow the pathway.

The second factor is whether or not you want to go through the gate even if it is open. Hopes, dreams, and goals are steps on the path.

Consequently, your main strategy in planning a life (or a year) with maximum opportunities is to accumulate the best credentials possible, so that the maximum number of pathways will be open to you. 

You want the choice to be in your hands, not the gatekeepers' hands.

I guess the ultimate question is "What do you want to be when you grow up?"