carol's brain, tuesday edition

today i'm grappling with how to map who i am, what i want, and the skills i have onto the career world:

• breadth versus depth.  do i want to stay at an overview, consulting level? do i want to be part of an issue-specific organization?
• impact.  at what level do i find meaning in helping people or changing things? one on one?  operating within a particular agency?  on a policy / advocacy level?
• function.  on a functional level, what kinds of things do i enjoy doing (regardless of what the organization does)?  reading/writing, data analysis, coordinating the efforts of multiple teams?  what am i actually good at?  what areas can i make reasonable improvements in and what areas am i hopeless to even try?
• not-for-profit.  making an impact != not-for-profit. i don't hold the view that corporations are inherently evil in some way.  i don't think i have to go non-profit to make an impact or to find meaning in my career.  i worry, actually, that after my experiences of being able to demand something and have it done quickly, i wouldn't enjoy it in non-profit land.

these are really hard questions, and i don't know how to answer them.  but i'm trying not to let the inability to have all the answers and the perfect plan stop me from moving in some way.