If you just graduated from college, chances are good that the biggest financial issue on your mind is your student loan debt. How are you going to repay it? Can you repay it? Whatever your answer to this question, do yourself a favor and check out the resources at the American Education Services website, You Can Deal With It.

The truth is, you really can deal with it, even in this tough economy, even if you feel totally overwhelmed by the cost of your education and can’t see a single professional job opening on your personal horizon. Maybe you can’t even get into your local MacDonald’s. That’s OK.

You can deal with it.

Most Americans are dealing with massive debt right now. In fact, America the country is dealing with massive debt right now. So if you too are now dealing with massive debt, welcome to adulthood. Pat yourself on the back for at least finishing with debt and a degree. That is no small accomplishment, especially now, and even if nothing looks too promising at the moment that degree will serve you well in the long run.

You may be tempted to reward your persistence and accomplishment with some kind of insanely self-indulgent purchase, like a new car, or a new wardrobe, or a boat, or any number of other things you don’t have money to buy. Don’t do it.

Instead, boring as this may sound, set aside half an hour or so and write out, in detail, where you picture yourself in five years. Write out everything about yourself in the year 2013: where you live, who you live with (if anyone), what kind of work you do, what your daily routine is like, what you look like, how much money you make and how much money you have; every single detail that you can think up, include that detail in your description.

Once you’ve finished this opus, sit quietly for a few minutes and really try to imagine yourself in the situation you just wrote about, as the person you want to be. Imagine it all as vividly as you can. Form a very clear image in your mind. If you want to go cut out some photos and make collage about it, do that too. The more vivid and real you make it the better. Fold up your description and put it in a box or a dresser drawer, then pin up the collage in a place where you can see it every day. Don’t worry about how you are going to achieve any of this, just get it as vividly in your mind as possible.

Why am I suggesting you do this Mickey Mouse exercise when you are staring at a six figure student loan mess that would crush even Bill Gates? Because knowing what you want is 99% of having it. Ask 20 random people who they really are and what they really want, and maybe two of them will be able to answer you. It is more than possible to stumble into an acceptable life without doing all of this dreaming, but why settle for an acceptable life? Why not dream of the best life, the ideal life, your life.

Listen, you will pay your student loan debts. You will learn to balance a check book. If you go to the AES website and learn about credit you will learn how to handle credit. So as far as finances at graduation go, yes, you have some finances, I know this, and I also know you can take care of them. You’re not ten anymore. You probably won’t have to take a paper route or babysit. Just do it, it will be all right.

What you may not think of doing though is creating your future. College graduation feels like and ending. You’ve been with the same people at the same insulated place for at least four or five years and now it’s all over. It’s the end. That’s how it feels. Now what? ‘Now what?’ is the best financial question your can ask yourself right now. This is my life starting, my adult life. What do I want from it?

You are the only one who can answer this question, and your answer will impact your longterm financial health more than any financial planning website or any bit of banking advice you could possibly be given. Don’t look around and think, what jobs are available? Ask yourself, what work do I want to do?
Once you know the answer to the second question, you are closer to doing that work than you realize.

In my opinion, (and I know I will get push back on this) it is better to take a half-time job to pay your loan debt and do volunteer work that moves you toward your goal than it is to take a full-time job you don’t even want and try to learn to love it. The world is changing very fast, and what is needed more than anything else are people with new ideas, drive and imagination. if working a in a cubicle with a headset permanently attached to your temples isn’t your idea of a dream life, don’t live that life. Don’t even go there. You are still young. You will have plenty of time to compromise your hopes and dreams later on if you decide you must.

Today, you have the whole world in front of you, student loan debt or not. Before you sweat the small stuff, keep that fact in the front of your mind and steer towards the life you want, not the life you think you are limited to living, calculator in hand.

And oh yeah, one more thing:

Congratulations!

This post is a part of the MoneyBlogNetwork Group Writing Project focusing on financial advice for new graduates.