• Home
  • Welcome!
  • Who's Who in What's Next
• Transitions
  • Thinking about life after AmeriCorps or VISTA
  • Recognizing Transitions
  • Stages of Transitions
  • Managing Transitions
• Your Service and You
  • AmeriCorps or VISTA and you
  • Building networks
• Relate your Service Experience to Others
  • Relating your experience to others
• Make Wise Decisions
  • Making wise decisions, part 1
  • Personality assessments and reflection
  • Making wise decisions, part 2
  • Making wise decisions, part 3
  • Postponing a decision
  • Education options
  • Job and career options
  • Continue to serve
  • Other options
• Take Action
  • Create an action plan
  • Writing your resume
  • Apply to college
  • Leaving right: Final administrative issues
• A Lifetime of Service
  • A lifetime of service
  • Conclusion
  • There's more?

Make Wise Decisions

Postponing a decision

Deciding not to decide (with caution and deliberation only!)

Some AmeriCorps or VISTA members postpone their decision altogether. It might be helpful to look at some of the reasons members find themselves not making a decision. Here are seven of the most common:

1. If they lack experience with transitions, members may be intimidated by the planning and work needed to change.
2. Members who lack support from family and friends for their next steps may have too little confidence to move on. People need a lot of support during change; without it, the process becomes much harder.
3. AmeriCorps or VISTA members who had a great service experience may be sad about leaving and unable to think about next steps.
4. Those who had a bad service experience may be avoiding the next step, fearing that another bad experience will follow.
5. Members may have worked so hard that they cannot raise the energy and spirit needed to gather information and make decisions about the next steps.
6. Some members, believing they have few skills, may feel hopeless about their prospects after service.
7. AmeriCorps or VISTA members may fear that what they want for the future and what they can actually achieve are very far apart. These members may be afraid of failing, have unrealistic expectations or lack confidence in their ability to succeed.

Whatever their reason, some members will find themselves doing nothing after their service ends. The important thing to remember is that doing nothing is a choice, just as seeking employment, starting a business, or going back to school are choices.