A life starter book · for anyone finishing Year 10, 11 or 12
“At the end of school, everyone asks what you want to be, so I’d ask a different question: who do you want to be?”
You don't have to have the whole plan sorted, and a direction with a few small things to try this week is plenty to be going on with. I'd start with one question, and it works whether you're finishing school yourself or you've got a teenager at home who is.
Start here
You don’t need more than a direction for now, because most people finishing school are still working out who they are.
At the end of school, everyone asks what you want to be. It’s meant as a caring question, but it puts a lot on you, and most people end up guessing, based on what other people think. So I’d ask who you want to be.
People much older than you still don’t know what they want to be, and the answer keeps moving all through life. And for most of us, a lot of it stays open our whole lives.
For your grandparents, and often your parents, work sat in the middle. Who they were, where they lived, their friends, even their weekends rippled out from their job. For you, it’s likely to run the other way. It starts with who you are, and work becomes one of the ripples, alongside the people you love, what you learn and what you give back.
So I’d try a few small things this week and see how they go, and then have another go at a few more.
Every road, side by side
There’s more than one way through. There’s uni, TAFE, an apprenticeship or traineeship, a job, a gap year, or something of your own, and you can try more than one.
The place itself will know the entry requirements and the cost and when applications close, so it’s worth asking them.
Before you commit to any of them
You could go to TAFE, or do an apprenticeship or traineeship, or get a job, or take a gap year with a plan, or start something of your own. You can try a small version of any of them first, because it’s much easier to change your mind early.
I once wrote about a young man who’d done everything asked of him and still wasn’t competent at the job. What he’d missed was somewhere to practise and make mistakes.
You could try a few small things first, like some work experience or a short course or a day with someone who does the work, and see what it feels like. If you don’t know anyone who does it, your school’s careers adviser can often find you a visit or some work experience. Forage runs free online job simulations from real companies, a few hours each, with a certificate when you finish. Forage
For the wider picture, myfuture is the national careers website, built for all the governments by Education Services Australia, and it’s free. myfuture
One set of questions for every option
In the book Mia, who’s made up, asks the same four questions about uni and about a gap year.
On uni, Mia wrote that she likes the idea of studying design, though four years feels like a long time. It would mean a student loan and part-time work, and her cousin, who’s in second year, could tell her more.
On a gap year, Mia wrote that she likes the idea of working and saving for a trip, though she’d miss her friends. She’d earn money, pay her weekly costs and save the rest for travel, and her old netball coach, who did one, could tell her more.
In the end Mia decided to work for a year and see what came next.
For parents, carers and careers teachers
Let your teenager fill in the sheets themselves and keep the answers as theirs, and then ask whether they’d like you to listen, to find out more, or to leave it with them.
What your teenager writes is theirs, so it’s up to them whether you get to read it.
Your teenager will get plenty of advice from plenty of people, so I'd listen to all of it and then let them decide.
A life starter book
There are eight short sheets and one life map, and near the end you put the pieces together. It’s a way to start thinking about who you want to be. Each sheet gives you one piece of your life map, and near the end you put the pieces together.
A made-up student called Mia has filled in each sheet first, so you can see how it goes. Your answers are yours, and nobody has to read them. Write in pencil if you like, and change your answers whenever you want.
There’s a page on your first pay too, and one for results day and for starting something that turns out wrong.
If I could give just about anyone one bit of advice, it would be to become a solopreneur.
Morris Misel, in the book
To me, being a solopreneur is running your life a bit like a small business of your own.
If you run a school or a careers program, my keynotes for educators are on the education page.
I think it depends on the course and what it costs and whether it suits you, so look at how long it takes and what you’d be able to do at the end. You won’t really know if uni isn’t for you until you’ve tried a little of it, so go to an open day, sit in on a class if you can, and talk to someone in second year.
If you withdraw after the census date you still have the debt, and compulsory repayments only start once you earn above a threshold, which is $69,528 in 2026-27. If you had to withdraw because of something outside your control, you can ask for the debt to be cancelled under special circumstances, usually within 12 months of withdrawing. Check your own dates and case on Study Assist.
In most Australian states you have to stay in school, training or work until you’re 17. Tasmania and Western Australia have their own rules, so check yours with your school first. The Victorian and New South Wales pages set it out.
A gap year can be a good move if you’ve got a plan for it, and it’s your call, so I wouldn’t let anyone push you into it, or out of it.
If your results aren’t what you hoped, there’s usually another way in, like a TAFE pathway or a bridging course, or you can start in something close and switch across, or just apply again later. Your careers adviser or the course’s admissions team can tell you which apply to you.
If it turns out to be wrong, you’ve still learned a bit about what you want, and you take that with you. Before you leave, talk to someone there, like a course adviser or your boss, and for a uni or TAFE course check the date you can drop a subject without paying for it. Then ask what else you could switch to.
It’s for anyone finishing Year 10, 11 or 12. Nobody has to read your answers, so write in pencil if you like and change them whenever you want. When you’ve done your first three steps, come back and pick the next three.
I’d use it to talk things through, and it gets more useful once you’ve filled in a few sheets, because it works from your own answers. It can get course details, costs and dates wrong, so ring the place itself before you rely on any of that. Every AI assistant has its own age rule, so check it first, and if you’re under 18, check with a parent or carer too.
Two ways in
A$19.95, instant download
A life starter book for anyone finishing Year 10, 11 or 12. Eight short sheets and one life map, built on a better question than what you want to be: who do you want to be?
Free
Every Tuesday, one thing that's changing and what it could mean for you, in a few minutes' reading. Free, and you can leave whenever you like.
Ask me anything about the book, or about what's in it, and I'll write back as soon as I can.
Email morris@morrisfuturist.com or ring 0427 445 550.
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Morris Misel
Foresight Strategist · Business Futurist · Keynote Speaker
Chair & Industry Fellow, Griffith University Inclusive Futures · Member, G100 Einstein Global Future Think Tank · Top Global and APAC Voices 2026