What options do I have, in terms of what I can do?

The game gives you multiple career paths that you can follow. Exploration is usually taken by the people that want to see the universe. Mining is a common profession, and can be very rewarding at times, it just requires skill, and a very good eye to see the pirates sneaking up on you. Bounty Hunting is not for the faint-hearted, and requires lots of combat experience. Hauling is not hard, just don't get captured by pirates. Smuggling is similar so hauling, just don't get caught by the authorities. Anything is possible in Elite: Dangerous.

Which career path is best?

Career paths differ in many ways, like how much time and effort do you ned to put in to make a profit, ships and equipment needed, etc. There is no right or wrong career path, it's just that some make more money than others. Bounty Hunting can be a very good way to start out, but you will need better stuff, as the enemies get harder. Mining requires very specialised weapons and gear, and it takes a long time to find a good rock, but the payout is much better than the searching. Trade is another option, this requires not a lot of stuff, though it takes a lot of looking at charts and the map to see good trade routes.

This is what a trade map looks like. It takes a while to find the thing you are looking for, even with filters.