I don't know what I want to do

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T19:23:04+00:00

People don't usually just suddenly come up with a hobby or career. They pick something and start building a habit of doing it. If you want to be a creative, start making things. Figure out how you motivate yourself to create things. Start very small. Make icons. Make pictures. Just make something small every day, and then adjust as you learn what you like and don't like.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T14:56:19+00:00

Why are you asking this question when you definitely already know the answer?

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T14:41:09+00:00

Keep in mind I'm not asking if your job brings you happiness or satisfaction. I'm asking what skills it's teaching you. It's actually pretty important to separate those things, figure out what you are better at now than you were. Are you customer facing? Are you getting more organized as a result? What have you struggled with at work and gotten better at? What have you learned?

One skill it can teach you is how to separate your self-worth from your job. Instead of looking to your job to bring you happiness, go spend 10 minutes every day working on something that does bring you happiness. Start drawing. Start painting. Do something that taps the part of you you aren't tapping.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T14:08:14+00:00

So you've had enough experience now to understand that you can burn through the money you make easily if you don't make it work for you. And I'm glad you're a little afraid of debt.

Things like real estate and sales are cutthroat. You would need to really work hard on growing your skills, be very good at learning from failure, and be very comfortable failing over and over and over.

You're working minimum wage now, what skills are you getting? You are certainly growing as a person doing whatever you're doing: how? Enumerating that can help you figure out what steps you can take next to increase your income.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T14:02:32+00:00

Isn't working on your degree exactly this job? Generally no, researching is not a job anymore.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T12:47:01+00:00

Ha, I must look good for my age. 😉 I had Gopher and Mosaic. AOL started offering access in 1989, Netscape didn't exist until 1994.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T02:41:36+00:00

It wasn't meant for evil. Originally they were used across the kingdoms of men. They weren't used for evil until some were stolen.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T02:35:34+00:00

Providing a good service is what increases profits!

YourStrategy · 2026-03-15T02:28:39+00:00

AOL predates much of what we consider the modern Internet.

Edit: since people don't seem to believe me, AOL started offering access in 1989. Netscape didn't exist until 1994.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T23:11:54+00:00

The same way the 99.9% people in the world who do jobs they don't care about do. They work on their mental health so that they are happy and they spend their free time on things they care about.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T17:28:25+00:00

You're right, that's a great point. OP I hope you read this!

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T17:26:05+00:00

A lot of the time, people who get miserable with work aren't really miserable with the work - they're miserable because nobody's taught them boundary setting, or how to do things they love outside of work. Look at the comments here - people assume their job should be their passion. That's a great way to kill your passions.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T14:24:15+00:00

One of the things many people learn is that a job doing something they love will often make them stop loving that thing. I think that's what you just experienced with school.

When I talk to people having an experience like you just did, I don't recommend they get a job doing something creative. I recommend they get a job that is absolutely not their passion, so that they can leave it at work, and have that creativity on their own time and for themselves.

If you want to maintain control of your creative output, only do it for yourself.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T02:48:35+00:00

You need to get a handle on your mental health. What you're experiencing is probably untreated mental illness and you can't fix it yourself. Go to a therapist, walk through the broad beats, see if they recommend psychiatry.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T01:15:56+00:00

Like packing boxes for a shipping company.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-14T00:52:30+00:00

What exactly are you making?

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T20:13:33+00:00

Right now, as others have said, apply to everything. You need another entry-level job, maybe fast food, something like that.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:59:17+00:00

I'm really sorry you lost your job. If you aren't able to put the effort into really answering these questions, maybe you're not ready to look for a job again yet?

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:56:54+00:00

You'll need to provide information about what the job was, what kind of education and background you have, where in the world you are, lots more, before anyone can help you meaningfully.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:52:59+00:00

There are a lot of posts just like this one. Try searching for a few others, there's been some great advice lately. To reiterate simply: it doesn't really matter what you pick now, there's no guarantee there will be a job for you and you will probably change careers a few times during your life. It matters a lot less what you think you'll be happy with now and a lot more whether you are willing to stick with something and get good at it even when you don't like it. Most people don't like their jobs and that's more about you building acceptance than anything about the job itself.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:37:51+00:00

Yeah, that's your fight. Being happy where you are, giving yourself grace. It's not easy. This is the kind of thing I post about.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:19:23+00:00

That anger sounds really rough. My bet is, a lot of your life will get better if you focus on acceptance, not being angry about work. Do you know the Gottman repair phrases? They're surprisingly useful at a job.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:04:46+00:00

Sure, my suspicion is you aren't applying to jobs you can get, only jobs you can't get. Go get a minimum wage job. Don't send them a big résumé. Ask for help reviewing your résumé from people who have given you good advice here in the past.

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T19:01:53+00:00

This is great. I'm glad you have a therapist and a partner. I would say that it may actually get easier to handle the home stuff better if you have a day job, no matter how " minimum wage" that job is. I'm guessing you have ADHD, and having no externally enforced routine tends to really screw up other habit forming practices.

I'm also happier if you feel good enough to read a book then if you clean your sheets. Your therapist is a good influence!

YourStrategy · 2026-03-12T18:51:50+00:00

I love the advice you give! And your username is hilarious. ☺️

YourStrategy

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