I believe there are some universal truths and that they are able to be understood by man. I try to identify these very very basic truths, confirm them, then apply them to my life.
I am still young (24) and recently have focused on learning about what other people think those truths are, to give myself a basis of understanding. Part of this is freeing myself from my own beliefs, so I purposefully don't totally follow any religion/political allegiance/ideology. So for example, I have studied some of the major religions (Hinduism & Buddhism so far) and have delved into philosophy. I think understanding what other people think is truth will help me understand.
We'll see how this all goes in the long term, but it has inspired and motivated me to keep learning.
On the career side, I am setting myself to start a PhD in Accounting so I can hopefully become a tenured professor. Helping people is a big part of what I want out of my career, and this falls in line with that.