I have a fear of screwing up my future that makes me crave more constructive feedback from my adviser than he tends to give.

As Dwight Eisenhower once said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." The same may be said for careers.

To choose a career path without first examining all the options--in detail--would be to sell myself short. I intend to be as mindful as possible about the steps I take once I leave graduate school.

Often, an interesting thing happens just before the presentation: knowing you're well prepared, the anxiety melts away and you start to look forward to it.