My son’s beginning college prep. As a father especially, it made me a little nostalgic. That sure was an exciting time for all of us. Where had the time gone? Here was my little boy, who just yesterday was running around with dirt on his hands and holes in the knees of his new pants, and now he was preparing to go off to college.

One morning as we sat down together for breakfast, he was obviously upset. He could hardly get the words out but after a little coaxing, he finally admitted he didn’t know what to major in.

No big deal, right? Ton’s of people start college not knowing what degree they’ll earn. Penn State did a study in 2013 that showed 20-50% of college freshmen start college as “undecided” while 75 % of students change their major during school at least once.

But as I talked to him, questions and uncertainty spilled out of him like emotional vomit and he broke down. All of these worries for his future, and here I was thinking I’d prepared him. My poor boy. If I could give you my most solid, most condensed bits of wisdom to take with you as you step into the unknown, this would be it…

Son, this is for you.

1. Go boldly. Of all the advice I can give you, this is the best one I have. If you’re going to do something, don’t half-ass it in fear of failure. If you’re going to fail, fail after having given it your all. Seize the day, don’t gently take it by the hand. If you fail, learn from it and try again. If you succeed, continue to take risks and grow.

2. Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is great! Life is all about learning from our experiences, and you learn more from failure than you do from success. Failure will happen, that is inevitable, the only thing that matters is that you take away some sort of lesson from it all and keep trying.

3. Chase your passion. All of your worry for your future and letting me down breaks my heart. The best thing I can tell you is to pick a direction and start walking. You’ll learn along the way what you’re interested in and equally important, you’ll figure out what you aren’t interested in. Don’t focus so hard on the rest of your life right now. Just pick a direction and be open to new opportunities as they present themselves.

4. The chase is a marathon, not a sprint. No one graduates high school and comes out an astronaut, or a scientist, or a doctor (even after years of medical school they still need hands-on experience). No matter what your life’s passion is, there are ways to do it, gain experience, and earn money as you climb to where you want to be. But be patient with the process. If you expect immediate success, or success that isn’t earned, you’ll be disappointed.

5. In all things, moderation. Pulling an all-nighter is useless when you’re too tired to take the test. Working to achieve your goals is worthless if you don’t stop to enjoy your success. Live a balanced life.

6. You are the average of the people you surround yourself with. If you keep unambitious people around you, they will do nothing to motivate you. Find people that are already doing what you want to be doing, who are already what you want to be, and spend time around them.

Life is a million choices, thousands of mistakes, and even more solutions. To fixate on a single thing is to lose sight of the big picture.

Go boldly, make mistakes, and live a life of passion.

Tyler Jacobson is a father, husband, and writer, with experience as a content writer and outreach coordinator for HelpYourTeenNow. Tyler has offered honest advice and humor to struggling parents and teens. Tyler has researched and written on education problems, disorders, the world of social media, addiction, and pressing issues with raising a teen today. Follow Tyler on: Twitter | Linkedin