What Next?: Your Five-Year Plan for Life after College

by Elana Lyn Gross

Create a five-year plan that covers all aspects of daily life—including work, finances, and health—with this all-inclusive guide to successfully reaching your goals after college graduation.

The celebrations have ended and you’ve finally graduated from college. But the one looming question remains over every recent grad’s head: what’s next?

In this book, you’ll find a detailed guide to putting together a five-year plan to set yourself up for success. No need to stress about having the rest of your life mapped out—instead, you’ll focus on how to make the most after graduation so you can thrive in the years to come. Whether you’re looking for advice on turning your first job out of college to a long-term career or need some tips on managing your money so you can pay down your student debt (and treat yourself), you’ll find all that and more in What Next?.

Filled with advice from journalist and lifestyle blogger Elana Lyn Gross, What Next? includes all the tools you need to achieve your goals one step at a time. Offering helpful guidance on every aspect of life, you’ll have no problem answering the question: what’s next?

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2020

About the author

My book, "What Next?: Your Five-Year Plan for Life After College," was published by Simon & Schuster and has been called “the book every twentysomething needs,” “the go-to guide for life after college,” and “basically the Google Maps for post-grad life.” I have a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and live in New York City with my dog Rosie.

Reviews

[Jordan Crabb]

I feel weird rating self help and wellness books … everyone takes away different things. This book was essentially the “what college didn’t teach you” book. I think it would be most beneficial to those who are about to start their last semester of college. By the time I read, I had already graduated, moved and gotten a job, so a lot of things weren’t necessarily applicable. But I can for sure see myself referencing the non-applicable things later in life!

[Kaitlin Oujo · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book is marketed towards people who have just graduated from college, I do think almost anyone could benefit from most of the advice in this book. It is always good to have a five year plan, and the exercises in this book are very valuable for anyone looking to make a change in their career, finances, mental or physical health, or relationships.

The first part of the book contains a series of exercises and some journaling work to help readers come up with a five-year plan in each of these different areas of their life. The questions in this section serve as helpful guides to think through your goals. The rest of the book is broken into sections containing advice in each of these areas. What struck me the most about this book was just how much advice and information is packed into it - the book really does provide advice for almost any situation. It is clear that the author spent a lot of time thinking through the different situations laid out and spent time researching expert advice and speaking with professionals.

I particularly enjoyed the section on wellness - the section on mental health was really illuminating. I've read a lot about personal finance, and I've job searched, so most of the advice in those sections served as helpful reminders of good advice. But the section on mental health really stood out to me because I haven't seen most of that advice before and it was truly eye-opening and uniquely valuable.

Like my Emily Post etiquette guide, this is a book that I expect will sit on my shelf to be picked up when I need advice about something specific - like right before a job interview, when I'm having trouble with a personal relationship, or when I need a reminder about the difference between a Roth and a 401K.

[cafeyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perfect book for college graduates who finished their studies and have no idea how to organize their future. This book shows detailed steps on how to plan your future. This read contains four parts: Career, Finances, Wellness, and Relationships. Each part provides several helpful pieces of advice that will help you to organize your finances, get a job, take care of your health but also develop relationships of every kind.

I don’t know how to rate this book fairly because most of the things I already learned at university or from personal experience. I’m also very organized so most of the tips I’m already using in my life for a long time. However, for a person who doesn’t have experience in this matter, this book might be a perfect choice.

One of the most impressive parts of this book was Career. It includes a lot of very interesting, helpful, and important information that will help you to successively get a good job. It teaches you how to write your CV, motivational letter and many more. That’s the thing that every student should learn about. Moreover, it also includes advice about how to behave during the interview. In addition, what you should avoid talking about during this time.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Adams Media, and Elana Lyn Gross for providing me this copy! If you are a fresh graduate and have a hard time to decide on your next step, this book is a perfect pick for you! It’s easy to read and full of advice.

[Judy Rosenblum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has useful information, not only for the recent college graduate, but for everyone at every stage of life. There is much to learn about navigating work life, finances, health-related topics, and even personal relationships. All of the advice is offered from a practical perspective and presented in an easy-to-read manner, sprinkled with humor and timely references. I originally purchased this book for my daughter who is several years out of college. While skimming the book before sending it to her, I found the tone quite engaging and ended up reading the entire book and purchasing another copy to send to her. The advice offered by Ms. Gross has sparked several discussions with my daughter about how to arrange her 20-something life going forward. I recommend this book to recent college graduates, as well as to their parents. It’s never too late to plan for your next five years!

[Danielle Doolen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I wish I had when I graduated college! It perfectly sums up how to get started with post grad life and will be a life saver for current graduates!

[MaKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good and informative read. I feel like I learned a lot from this and I honestly believe that I highlighted passages out of this book more than I shave any other in the past.

Minus one star because I wish there was more. I feel like this would be a great book to have essays put into it to explain the authors pov on the topic. I understand that this book is supposed to be a guide and is well researched and academic. I might be looking for this ideal book in the future.

[Andrea Itta · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I think I'm probably not the target audience for this book but I could see it helping newly graduated young professionals. It did a really well job of laying out topics and skimming a little deeper just enough to get you interested.

I really enjoyed the personal finance, negotiating, spiritual, physical and mental health sections.

[bkey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay, but not too much relevant or helpful information. I liked the beginning with the 5 year plan. That is a good activity for fresh grads to do.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

helpful in creating goals for the new year and for grad school

[Arielle Darr · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Next? makes sense of all the chaos of post-grad life through clear and concise advice broken down into sections on career, finances, and health. This young professional bible has all the tools to help anyone discover their path to success. A perfect gift for any new grad or twenty-something finding their way!

[Sarah Corry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading this book I got for graduation. Used it as one of my 30 hard books and honestly I wish I read it sooner. Would’ve helped a lot as I struggled to find my footing during my first year post-grad. Quick, easy, lots of great advice

[Elana Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What Next?: Your Five-Year Plan for Life After College," was published by Simon & Schuster. Reviewers have called it “the step-by-step guide to adulting,” “the go-to guide for life after college,” “a must-have resource for new college grads,” “the book every twentysomething needs,” and “basically the Google Maps of post-grad life.” It was named one of USA Today's best graduation gifts for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 and Amazon's best books for college graduates and post-graduates. I loved it — but I'm biased because I'm the author. I hope it helps you feel more confident as you navigate your twenties.