Bit of a ramble, here goes:
What did you gravitate toward as a kid? The reason I ask is we usually have the freedom to do what we want when we're not paying the bills. If it was smoking pot and playing video games, well not sure what to tell ya, heh, but most likely there's something in your youth that you gravitated towards and provides a clue onto what career might "fit" you. Anything you were unusually good at or praised for that might parlay into a career?
As a young child, I was bookish, indoors, and was constantly building things or drawing things. When school began to eat up my time, I slid by doing the minimal amount of work to get to the next grade. I never applied myself, didn't get a chance to "grow" much or figure out what I wanted to do because I simply hated school and pretty much read books or played video games whenever I could as an escape, which also served cover (yes Mom this book is for school, yes Mom I have to use the computer for a project lol).Then I got out and became an "adult." First job was at 7-11 and still I went to community college to aimlessly figure my shit out. Didn't work, got bored, failed all my second semester classes. Went work at a sofa company my dad managed. Fricken hell that was an eye opener. All the "important" things I was taught the preceding 20 years were lies. Cursive-lie, math-lie, spelling-lie, English-a big fecking lie. What I learned there was attitude, desire, and simply doing what YOU want was the key, I kinda wised up. I was good with my hands, learned a lot there. Learned that learning things was easy if you pick a direction you fit in. Then I went to another company to make more money, with that knowledge. It was a bit of a time waster, but I did figure out my eventual path while there-refrigeration mechanic. Another hands on career. Went to school, got fired, found a new job, now I'm at where I want to be.
I was raised thinking I had to be good at whatever I was exposed to, education wise or anything really. Recognizing what you're "good" at or "comfortable" without attaching a value judgment to whatever it is saves so much time. My bro dropped out of school, manages the place I used to work at with my Dad and is a natural fit. He's a people person, a big picture person and to bog him down with tiny unimportant details is a total waste of time. I'm glad he dropped out. A diploma from high school would have meant nothing in terms of who he is and would have wasted an extra 2 years of his life. If my parents weren't so busy burying the person I was trying to be as a kid, I might've figured life out a lot sooner. First 20 years of my life was simply avoiding criticism or trying to please someone. I can't blame em, getting Ds and Fs in school isn't something to strive for, but damn life is so much more than grades in school. Passion gets a bad rap now a days, but that's what we should be stoking in kids. I'd like it if my daughter was a scientist, but if she's a cheerleader and loves it, I'm stoking that passion. Hell, she might have the people skills to be a captain if her squad, or the CEO of some multinational corporation. Never know.
Anyway, apologies for the ramble. If you don't know what ya wanna do, what were you interested in growing up? What'd you hate? Tons of clues in your youth. Unbury things teachers and parents might have thought were weaknesses or wastes of time. We live in the United States, if you screw up and fall ass backwards, hell you might end up succeeding in something else.
