#CareerChangeStruggles: Anyone else like me who can’t seem to settle on a career path? 🤷♂️ Last week I wanted to be a psychologist, then an ultrasound tech, and now a tattoo artist. What’s next? 🙈
I’m 21, feeling lost without a college education, and trying to manage my ADHD. It’s tough figuring out what’s the right career that’s actually worth it. 💭
If you’ve found a career you love, how did you decide? I need some inspiration before I lose my mind! 😅 I can’t keep living paycheck to paycheck.
Some say I’ll be broke forever chasing a fulfilling path, but I think they’re just bitter about their own choices. 🤔
Let’s chat and swap stories! Share your journey in the comments below. Let’s navigate this crazy career maze together! 💼✨ #CareerDecisions #LifePathJourney #FindingFulfillment 🌟🔍
What helped me was just settling on something I was willing to try out for like 5 years, instead of having the mindset of “I’m picking the career for the rest of my life.” And also thinking hard about what type of lifestyle I want to live for that period of time. Wanting to travel and grow and change through wild experiences suits certain careers better than say, wanting to earn as much as possible to buy a home and start a family.
But maybe figure that out earlier than me. I was in college off and on for years, changing my majors every semester or year, and didn’t finally graduate until I was 35 —and with a ton of student loan debt that I’ll never pay off.
Sounds like you’re spending too much time thinking and not enough time doing things. You gotta do things to keep your mind busy, otherwise it’ll wander and get its dopamine hits from fantasizing.
yes: my wife. she has jumped around quite a bit in the past couple of years. realtor, wedding planner, daycare manager, and now mortician.
You don’t need a fulfilling career to have a fulfilling life.
If your goal is to find a fulfilling job, then that can be your priority. But you can’t just imagine something being fulfilling. you need to do it and experience it yourself.
For other folks, the job is just a means to have income to do fulfilling things with their life. So the goal is to maximize income and minimize hours worked.
>But I think those people are probably just shitty their path hasn’t been fulfilling for them.
Pretty childish take. Do you think people work to be fulfilled? No. they work to survive.
No. I do a pivot every 3-5 years. In between, I try to make the most of my current position and think about what I might do in my next move. Occasionally I need to grind through a bad move, but I’ve only had one really bad gig.
I’m 30 and still have no clue what I want to do. lol
Ive been doing this forever. im 32. Still lost.
Normal. My advice is start with an industry or product you care most about. Let’s just say it’s television. You do something in television. That way, even if your specific interest within that industry changes a bit, you’re still contributing towards something you care about. Also need to think about desired salary. You might not get the level of pay you want, but at least you can have something to aim for.
Speak with a career counselor. They can point you the right path.
I’m 24 and have changed my major like 3 times lmfao. Just find a career that’s going to fund the lifestyle you want. That’s what I’ve learned since all this confusion lol. I’m going back to school to do x-ray bc I was actually good at it & it makes good money 🤷♀️
Book recommendation: Designing Your Life By Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Just figure out how to make money without being on a clock, then you can spend time doing stuff that you’re interested in to see if you like it. Sales is a good way to make money without having to clock in and out, you can do it whenever. There’s industry’s that allow that freedom
Eh, I changed careers a lot over my life. And I don’t mean jobs, I mean careers. Pick something now, you can change later.
I was pretty similar to you. Got good grades at school despite ADHD but nothing jobwise really INTERESTED me. I got a bar job and ended up falling into a chefs position and realised I liked doing things with my hands and went from there.
Eventually I got sick of it and have now left to join an energy company after retraining and actually really enjoy office work even though I thought I’d never be built for it.
My advice is to not think too long term right now, with ADHD especially this can become overwhelming. Instead focus on finding something you can take pride in for the short term where you have some short term goals to hit, cooking was brilliant for me as it was always something different without becoming too monotonous and as you grow in whatever it is you’ll learn what things really motivate you and you can work from there.
That’s normal dude! Nothing wrong with that, and you’re only 21 so you’ve got tonnes of time. They key thing I found worked for me, is at why not what. Why were you interested in being a tattoo artist? Why an ultrasound tech? Go through all the jobs you’re interested in and figure out why. Chances are, you’ll find there’ll be 1 or 2 (maybe 3) common “why’s”. The figure out the jobs that give you the most of that.
I hope you find it. I am nearly 50 and never did. I researched and read a pathfinder books and tried a few things but I never found it. It’s my own fault and being a deep introvert doesn’t help matters.
80% of the 60+ firefighters I know have adhd.
Work in a bigger city so you can do all kinds of different things. Get your paramedic certification, you’ll never be unemployed or bored.
I followed the whole passion thing for years. Really liked my job (carpenter) but the pay is shit if you’re an employee. It made me question my job every day strictly because of pay.
I decided to “go where the money was”,, in my country, we have oil.. I followed that and instantly doubled my salary.
Life has never been better. I don’t “love” what I do, but getting up in the morning to do it is easy because I make good money.
So yeah, as much of a hippie I am deep down. Money matters, especially when you have kids and you want the best for them.
That being said. Lifestyle is important too. Curb your spending, buy from thrift stores, live closer to your work, grow your own lettuce and potatoes, meal prep, don’t eat out.
The less you consume, the less money you’ll need and less you’ll need to work. Our society wants us to spend spend. They hate hippies that live in vans
Me too I’ve done graphic design art therapy marketing makeup childcare law and psychology. I made myself sit with notebooks and planners for 4 hours and decide with pro and con lists.
I did some tests online and realised I need to work with people not computers or art and am happy. ! I spoke with a career advisor too from a university. I didn’t take her advice.
So now doing a ba in childcare and on the side some makeup I do love colours and arts.
Am very happy moving forward with my decision.
I have a calender and a planner and I organise my life as if I am the manager !
Then I joined.gym saw friends
Things r sooo good.
I hope u take some hours to write draw think and decide!
Alisa
Don’t rush the decision. Spend time doing the things you enjoy and eventually you’ll find a career that fits your interests/lifestyle/personality. You’re young enough to try different career paths if one doesn’t work out.
Get medicated. Take it from me.
Not the only way, but the least expensive way –
– prioritize 8 hours of good sleep. No phone by bed. No booze before bed.
– drink 2 liters of water a day.
– spend at least 45 minutes outside. Not sitting. You can sit when you’re done.
– have at least 1, solidly nutritious meal a day. All of them ideally, but get at least 1 and make it count.
Do it for a few months. Don’t fall off. When you do, forgive yourself and start again. Repeat.
Making decisions and potential life transitions can be scary, overwhelming, it takes real mental energy, take care of your body so that it can help take care of your mind.
This is definitely a common symptom of ADHD your therapist can work through with you!
Not being able to decide comes from not following a passion
Not being able to stop fantasizing about careers comes from you likely living paycheck to paycheck
Don’t confuse hobbies with passion – find what you are passionate about by examining what kind of work would refill your energy bar instead of depleting it so much