i think its good to look at it as a not everything at once kinda of thing. that process can be complicated, espcialy juggling your life ontop of it. but you can take it piece by piece and figure it out eventually.

navigating what u already did, is much more difficult than figuring out everything u mentioned in the last paragraph there, so youre more than capable. no question.

it could be anything. like I know u mentioned u would skip class a lot in high school and it had an impact on your grades (if i remember correctly) in canada, all univeristies after a certain age (usually like 10 years) accept mature students, which is a clean slate. they dont look at your grades. im not saying like a univeristy to put you in debt, but a community college to explore something that can make you more money with less work than u enjoy more.

just something to see exists in florida, off the top of my head.

trades make a lot of money and would take u in a heartbeat. theres a huge demand for women in trades.

nothing wrong when youre bored, just idly researching stuff like that, even if u dont think you would do it, just in case something sticks out or you learn what to do/not to do

it doesnt have to be your calling or anything, just a way to make yourself happier and more comfortable.

Only reason this time is bc ppl keep asking me to watch it with them

Have A-List too so that helps

need more car enjoyers in here i wanna talk about how i want an fl5 type r but i enjoy rwd too much.

I mean I don't think I'm "running out of time" as in I'll literally die before being able to do something like this

But ideally I'd also like to be in a more meaningful position in life before 40, and I'm already almost 30, so the clock is ticking.

I don't want to look back on my youth and feel like the entire chapter was wasted. I also just have no idea what I'd want to do so it's like choice paralysis kinda. I can't even begin to decide what I should or shouldn't work towards

imo just try different things, as long as you dont overinvest your money or time theres no harm in trying if it something you can start as a hobby or practice a specific skill

I have no idea what to try

This is connected to the problem I expressed earlier. My upbringing was basically being lead to believe life is working a mediocre job and making enough money to pay bills until you die. Choosing different paths to pursue is bizarre to me so to start doing it is weird and unnatural

what were you interested in as a teenager and/or now, were there any interests that kind of stuck around?

Like you're right about what I should do ideally

But it's also very strange to start doing it because of that

i gotcha.

i dont think no matter what, your time in your youth is wasted. you gained a perspective on life most people wont, that is valuable in many ways. just maybe not so much, in the job you work right now.

youre beyond capable of putting yourself in a more meaningful position in life before 40.

if you chip away at looking up stuff about random careers, degrees, trades, other options etc. you will sculpt yourself out of choice paralysis in a reasonable amount of time

I was never interested in anything I could see myself turning into a career

I was an artsy kid. I liked music/instruments and drawing and never got especially good at any of it.

its also exciting and uncomfortable and new. in a way its part of the fun

only reason im in my career is because a friend brought me to a college open house and forced me to pick 1 room to check out so i picked programming.

genuinely wasnt even considering it despite being interested in computers forever.

i guess im trying to reinforce what tuneout is saying, you might just want to explore a bit like online, or maybe even see if theres college open houses for the upcoming semester just to see what different options exist

yes!

like in univeristy, i didnt know i would love theology, i only disocvered that from being there and fell in love with it. same with english. those are two areas i never expected to enjoy or ever thought about.

you just gotta try random stuff and see what clicks. I think that aspect of higher education is the most important part of it

Side note. My other brother, not the one I am close to, is very annoying when I try to discuss these things with him. He becomes very preachy and uses himself as an example in the way of "well we were raised by the same person and I did it". What he leaves out is that his entire time in college was spent living with our mother essentially risk free

ah i see. thats totally fair too.

regardless i think its a positive sign that youre thinking about it critically and wanting to put effort in. i think if you can turn that motivation into some actions that you decide work for you, it'll all work out mint.

i could be wrong but i think more often the people that fail are the ones that arent motivated / thinking about how to grow.

i think this is an egotistical way for him to look at it, his situation doesnt apply to yours and those comments aren’t helpful in the slightest

i failed half a semester and dropped out but the loan money and time still worth it to me 10x over because of the people i got to learn from and spend time around and the different opportunities just being in a large community provided.

and being exposed to so many different things in one place. forgot that part. v important and fun!

100%

im so glad i went back after dropping out and getting a degree even tho i was older. i learned so much and it changed me as a person for the better

yes yes

plus learning is so fun anyway, its just fun.

poeple take it too serious
like u got to take it a bit serious. its a balance.

but y know what i mean

1/10

Watching 12 angry men

Pee break rn

I think he's genuinely trying to be helpful, but he just blocks out that portion of it in his mind. When you bring it up he gets very defensive as though you're trying to take his accomplishments away from him instead of just acknowledging that it's just the same thing

yeah we had some older people too, but i was honestly thankful they were there. we had a good group of all the people in the program that'd hangout and it was all different backgrounds and ages and was great for me to have that exposure. especially with the more "community" style colleges i think its a lot more age diverse.

You have plenty of time dude. Lots of people go through career changes at this age and later.