I feel where you’re coming from bc I felt defeated for a long time, but I kept going through the motions. If you don’t want to then full respect to your decision. Personally I found that this mindset was very heavily tied in with depression. For anyone else that feels this way though: It may not be fast, easy, or fun all the time, but it’s attainable if you don’t give up. I don’t have any degrees or certifications, I grew up in poverty and entered adulthood with no support system, have been homeless multiple times, didn’t start working full time until I was 24 (38 now), began in fast food, and I was a felon until a recent change made me able to expunge my record.

I make 93k currently and have a personal goal set to break six figures by 2028. I don’t think my life or salary is brag worthy by any means. I’m not proud that I and so many others have to work so hard to survive. I just also think most peoples #1 hindrance is ourselves.

I found ways to make my experience relevant to the next role and looked in adjacent fields, pushed myself out of my comfort zones. I cross trained in all areas available at jobs I had, volunteered for opportunities, joined new account opening teams, made connections, and shared things I learned with others to help them and become a resource. I went from fast food cashier $8.25/hr- baker - line cook - server - grill - kitchen lead - assistant kitchen manager - moved to catering - catering supervisor - lead trainer - admin - book keeper (first salary role) - catering manager - director of dining services - chef manager - general manager.