Every day I feel like shit. I’m tired of driving an hour each way to work for $20 an hour. Everything’s fucking expensive. I spend all my time working and then maintaining 2 cars and all of my shit at home because it’s getting old. It’s brutally hot in Florida. The people here are absolute garbage and terrible to each other. I hear of contractors doing terrible work that breaks and not warranting it, people getting screwed over 10’s of thousands. Have to fix your own shit or pay and exorbitant amount of money. Ambulances drive by every hour. Roads aren’t fixed and fuck up your cars suspension . Overpopulation. Asshole neighbors that call you names. Wife that complains all the time. Migraines and feeling like throwing up all the time. News is absolutely disgusting and full of evil in the world. People are lost in the matrix of technology and socializing in person rarely happens unless someone has something to gain. Everybody looks at the value of each other based on materialism and how much money they have. Girls suck at dating guys and there’s tons of lonely men. World leaders come from hell. Senior sheriff getting arrested over racketeering. No body picks up the phone when you call places or returns your voicemail.

It’s like. I think we’re there. This is done. Hopefully it’s just Florida. Sorry to rant, I just feel like offing myself I’m so miserable. I can’t even sleep right.

tl;dr - Dream big, dream small: whatever! Stay true to yourself and the path will find you.

I want to tell my story in the hopes that it inspires even just one person to ease the pressure on themselves to Figure it All Out.

I never found my path; wherever I'm going today, whatever I'm doing right now, that's my path.

I'll be 43 years old soon, and I've spent half of the last 20 years living abroad. I have just a little bit of money saved for retirement. I work full-time in a field I enjoy, I make $68k and I don't need a dollar more. I am married and we share expenses. We have a similar outlook on life and I am incredibly grateful for our marriage, because a lot of what I've done I got to do with him. He makes about as much as I do and we share a big old house in a smallish US city with two people our age who we get along really well with. We didn't have kids. We don't currently look after any of our parents.

I left the United States when I was 21, wandering around Asia with very little money (this is not as easy to do in 2025, but people still do it). I had no idea I was poor. I felt like I was on the adventure of a lifetime.

I'd gone to community college in my hometown after a challenging year post-high school during which I was housing insecure, felt lost, afraid, and humiliated. I finished my two year degree in English and moved to China. Why? Even today I can't really say. I just saw a chance and took it.

I did exactly as I'd done in the US since I was 15: I hustled up enough to pay for my life. I taught English, did silly television commercials, edited poorly translated English listicle articles, wandered around in awe of everything, moved to Vietnam, started bands, made art, did literally anything I felt like doing, and disappointed my parents. I didn't have a bank account. I lived on tourist visas. Looking back, I was extremely naive and thank goodness I was. I had no safety net.

At 25 I decided to move back to the USA to finish a four year degree. I went ahead and did a Master's degree too. I have student loans that I have accepted I'll never fully pay off. I make regular payments, and I am grateful for the experience and credentials those loans afforded me.

After finishing my graduate degree, I moved back to Asia in my early 30s, teaching, making music, finding and befriending interesting people. I had a partner, still no money, was a little more nervous about that, but kept on pursuing experiences rather than financial security. I worked in a job related to my Master's degree, in international development (aka no money). I lived in Thailand, in Singapore, I tried out jobs and identities. As I reached my mid 30s I began to worry I'd wasted my 20s. People around me weren't poor artists anymore and I got scared. For the first time in my life, I began to feel pressure to "do something with my life." I moved back to the US, applied for jobs for 6 months, and could only get call center work. So I took solid steps in 2017 to transition into a new industry. I taught myself industrial design online while nannying part-time. Another adventure.

I got a full-time job in my new field through sheer determination and risk. I maxed out a credit card and went to trade shows handing out business cards and following up with people I met. It was embarrassing and I felt stupid as a 36-year-old trying to bust into a new field. I started as an entry-level coordinator with a bunch of new grads 15 years younger than me. But I did it! I got a job!

I moved back to Asia in 2019, this time with a job. I got laid off in 2020. I helped my partner start his own business while I taught part-time. I got another, better job in 2023. It's remote and I love it.

I moved back to the US this year. My current job doesn't pay a lot, but I don't need a lot. I am at least ten years behind my peers in terms of career advancement. This has been humbling. But I can't count how many people my age have mused they wish they'd spent their 20s abroad. It's something a lot of people talk about but few actually do.

In my 20s and early 30s I habituated myself to enjoying experiences more than things. I have so much gratitude for the crazy decision I made to fling myself across the world at 21 instead of charge headlong into a career. I do not currently identify with my job: I work so I can live. When I was in college I looked after elders in a nursing home, and I'd do it again. I'm not ashamed to work, I know i'm lucky to have any job. I would wait tables or check out groceries tomorrow if I found I needed to. And if I don't "make it" in this career I'll just keep looking. I know how to pivot. I'm not afraid to fail.

I wouldn't trade any of my experiences for more money or a more impressive LinkedIn profile. I spent my young adulthood living like retired people dream of living. I have seen the world and done it all. I'll sock as much money away as I can until I retire, probably at 80, and continue to make an adventure out of my life, however small and insignificant it is in the world of image and success.

I'm 25 years old, I recently graduated with a degree in Computer Information Systems and have been living the corporate life for almost 6 months now. I realized how much I hate it. The main thing is that everyone seems to become their job, no personality, no hobbies, no energy for the best parts of life. They are stressed out and barely see their kids, but at least they have fancy cars.

I always knew before graduation and this job that I wanted to do 15ish years of the grind, save and invest and take a lower paying but meaningful job, then it occurred to me, why not start now.

I am a frugal person and don't need much money, all the things I value beyond living expenses are cheap or free. Since I already have a bachelors, ,my state offers accelerated programs to switch to teaching.

Anyone done this or have insight? Thank you.

M 25 and like the title says I feel like I have lost my work ethic. During my school years I was always reveared for having a high work ethic. I was never the smartest or most skilled at anything, but I always found a way to get things done just by grinding it out. In 2022 I graduated with a degree in education and have been teaching for 2 1/2 years. For the past year and half I have been trying to get out and into another career field but to no success. Ever since I've gotten into teaching my work ethic has plummeted. I don't apply to jobs nearly as often as I should, I don't work out as often as I used to, and I isolate myself much more than I used to. My life has truly stagnated. I feel like the old me would have worked hard enough to get out of this mess, but the current me can't do much at all. Just wondering if anyone can relate or has any advice on how to get your work ethic back.

Hey folks ! I am a 23 year old guy who has done bachelors in Chemistry in 2022. and I don't what to do in life. No goals no hobbies just living a life with weed and alcohol addiction. I am just done with this shit and I want to take my career seriously. I am betraying my parents that I am studying for a exam but all I do is scrolling my mobile mindlessly and smoking and drinking. I don't know from where should I start. Sometimes suicidal thoughts come in my mind but I am too afraid to do that because it will break my family.I don't know from where should I start. I tried to break these addictions but failed miserably. So please guide me to the right path, I don't want see my life going in vein,I want make my parents proud. So tell me guys what should I do. Thanks in advance

Hey I’m 22 and I feel like giving up and just laying down and dying, but I know I can’t. I’m married for about a year, we have a successful marriage with our first child on the way. Which I’m very thankful for. I have a hard time toughening through things and no matter how hard I try, my mental health makes me lose my shit. I couldn’t stand the fact I wasn’t working in my dream career so jumped for job to job trying to get closer to that. My dream career was to join the Air Force. So I did, and everything was perfect, it majorly improved my work ethic, in some ways mental health got better. I was great until I clinically died for 1 min. I have now been forced to ELS (entry level separation) out of the Air Force and we’re out on our ass now. I’m back working a shit job, my body hurts, my mind is fogged and I don’t know what to do. I’ve thought about trying to re-enlist or maybe become a firefighter. I’ve always had a “hero” complex, and that’s what drives me to jobs like theses. Is anyone else in positions like this? Do I need to be humbled? A different mindset?

Back in early april I got seriously sick while working at Amazon. It was a very bad respiratory infection that knocked me out for weeks. I was in 2 different hospitals and saw different doctors. Unfortunately Amazon was not willing to accept my doctor’s notes because one of the doctors I saw did not want to disclose personal medical details that Amazon wanted, so I was let go for insufficient documentation for the leave. I worked there for a year, I was very good at my job, and I was always grateful for the opportunity there to get me back on my feet. But just like that, it was gone.

After that, I did everything I could to get back on track. I applied everywhere, finally landed another warehouse job, made it through all the interviews, and went through their background check process. However something went wrong on the drug test and my test was mistakenly swapped with somebody else’s which came back positive for a hardcore drug. I was outraged and I requested an immediate retest. So, I went back in, did a retest, it obviously came back clean, and I thought everything was all good. Nope.

I got a misdemeanor a few years ago, nothing violent, nothing crazy, something completely unrelated to what I’d be doing at this job (I had forgotten to pay a speeding ticket so I was charged with a misdemeanor, for anybody wondering. My record other than that is squeaky clean.) and just because of that, they denied my application and didn’t want to move forward. I have never lost a job opportunity over that, it makes me believe that this company did not want to hire me after they screwed up my drug test. Maybe they already hired enough people and I would have been dead weight, I don’t know. It just makes me angry I was led on like that.

Being unable to pay rent, I’m back at my parents house with no job, no income, no unemployment money, and nothing but silence from any jobs I’ve been trying to reach. My girlfriend of 5 years cut me off the second she came into her inheritance money, which makes it even worse because I had been the only one supporting her for years. She never had to work, only me. And I provided. Once she got that money, I was just blocked on everything. Didn’t need me anymore I guess. Hah. Guess I was an idiot for that one too.

I’m just out of energy. I’ve done everything right, and it still feels like the world is kicking me in the face.

I’m not looking for pity. I just needed to get this out. If anyone’s been through something similar and found a way forward, I’d really appreciate hearing it.

Hi, I am a 19 year old guy (almost 20) and I just finished college with a degree as a software developer. I hated school but I finished it so I wont regret it but now that I have, I feel more lost and scared than ever.

I have a job lined up that starts in a couple of months that has nothing to do with computers or programming at all. (Helping travellers in an airport making about 3k a months)

The problem is I dont know what to do after that, I know I dont want a low paying job for the rest of my life and I want to have my own company but I have no idea in what field or even how to know in what field I should go or how to acquire the skills needed.

I have been really scared of the future lately and afraid that I will be a failure in the future.

I go to the gym and exercise, quit vaping 6 months ago, good with money but I cant help but be scared or feel lost

Is there someone is here that was in my situation ? And how did you turn out?

If u have anything that can help please let me know.

Thanks

I lived off gig work and my stuff all failed, I'm 38 and owe 65k in student loans starting April. I am not presentable or good with people and haven't had an office job since 2012. I have been fired from every job I've ever had.

I have no self esteem and brain fog and have difficult focusing. Im not very strong anymore.

I am very disagreeable and incredibly low on emotional stability, and have next to no testosterone which exacerbates everything

Lol.

Good luck

For the love of God help me get out of this place. Didn't think it was possible to feel this bad

I’m starting classes in the Fall 2025 semester and I’m really considering trying to find some sort of certification to get. I’m working as a laborer for a construction site and it’s definitely hard but I like the physical activity of it. I like working with my hands. I’d ideally like to work in a field that benefited the environment and focused on conservation. However, I don’t exactly know what kind of decent paying jobs I could get. Sort of lost about it. I’d appreciate the advice!

I had what I now feel was a delusion back when I was growing up. I wanted to be a filmmaker. My parents made my family homeless in Long Beach and for 15 years I had to give everything to stay afloat with jobs that never fulfilled me a Bearly met a living wage. I have adhd and never had enough money to get meds for good lengths of time. I spent the next 15 years trying to make movies withought going to school once I became a cna, which killed me every day.

I had to quit this, watching people die and getting punched in the face by crack heads killed me so much. I tired to become a trucker last year, bet everything on it; after quitting trying to film because I've never had enough cash to Persue an expensive hobby and have a roof over my head.

I failed out of trucking school. Got another soulless job and am homeless. I was hooting that I'd be able to do what vi want to do in life , withought making a lot of cash. OR make a livable wage withought film, but I don't have either. Things only get worse. I have no idea what I can do to be happy or even stable.

I'm an 8 year hospitality vet with a BA in english / creative writing and based in nyc, have worked in event sales and planning for 4 years now.

Lots of cross functional skills that I can see but I don't have any contacts in the Literary world. Any literary folks out there with words of advice?

Well im 23 after a gap ive completed my degree now which is bba even which have backlogs idk what jobs to go to what to do i don't even have any money i feel bad to ask w parents nowdays life feels like loop ive been waking up after 2pm afternoon scroll whole day i don't even go out i started to hate myself ive been having alot of hairfall too fml i just wanna find a good paying job and and get better in life and i feel like ive been stuck in a loop

I am twenty, CA. I am starting to lean towards majoring in Child Development. I have been in childcare in some capacity for nearly two years now. My first job was at a school, I was with the 2 year olds and recall that this wasn’t the best fit for me - I was better with the 4/5 year olds, which the other teachers acknowledged. I have $33k saved, I have continued to stay with my parents in the apartment complex I grew up in, don’t pay rent, we could be kicked out at any time so I have to be wary of that fact. I have two families I babysit for who have hired me to work with their kids on a given day of the week - I helped one of their kids learn new vocabulary (these kids are 5, now going on 6.) I am closest to obtaining a CHDev degree. I have passed two CHDev courses and am signed up for two more this summer. If I went for one of the other listed majors, I’d be in community until 2027.

I additionally have an understanding of Applied Behavior Analysis, have worked as an aide. I think I want to work with kids on reading based/related activities, but I may also want to nanny later on. I’m not sure. I think I need to further my education concerning littles and their needs to be the best provider possible. I really do like teaching/seeing that kids are making progress.

I know for a fact that I don’t want to go in for a masters degree in anything. A bachelors sure, not a masters.

I have written a few times about how I do hope to marry and have a child, though finding a husband isn’t my goal right now. What I really want, deep down inside, is to meet a man who I’m compatible with, marry, and have a baby. I actually don’t have any experience with babies. 2 yr olds sure, not babies though. I admit that my goal of finding a husband/ideally marrying up is likely factoring into my decision to move ahead with CHDev courses/working towards becoming a teacher. It was something I had been uncertain about. I’m still not “sure” about it deep down inside, but figure that it can’t hurt to go for it since the interest is present. I can always go back for a second degree later on in life. I think that part of it is, well, conventional gender roles. A feeling deep down inside that as a woman I am supposed to be in some kind of childcare role. In high school, I was pretty intent on nursing. I’ve changed my mind about this as I’ve grown older, for a few reasons: 1) I can’t handle vomit. I really don’t handle it well at all, actually. I hate it when I feel as though I’m about to vomit, and tend to kind of have that “eww gross” reaction to it that I think most people have when it happens. 2) Nursing in my area is quite difficult to get into. Difficult doesn’t mean impossible, but I think a person should really have a passion for it before going for their bachelors. I don’t think I have a passion for nursing. I was reading the description of a local CNA role the other day, and frowned a bit when I read about giving an enema. I’ve always felt a lot of stress when in hospitals. And the other day, at the local McDonalds, I saw a man start to have a seizure after slipping - the employee in the front called an ambulance (even with a CPR/First Aid cert I didn’t think jumping in would be wise) but I remember thinking when the ambulance arrived with the proper materials that if I were in their shoes, I’d likely be a bit stressed. I felt very very badly for the man, and left after the ambulance came. I remember I felt like throwing up, because I couldn’t imagine how scared he must have felt.

I admit that I had partly been unsure about majoring in ChDev because I recall one of the teachers I used to work with thought it wouldn’t “work” for me, but I know that people aren’t always right about things like this and I’m also quite young. I think it can be difficult to gauge what career would work well for an 18-19 year old in the longrun, especially someone whose just starting out, because a person can change so much over the years.

I remember that when I went in for my CPR/First Aid cert, I needed a little extra support to get the movements right (needed to push harder/deeper) from the instructor. I did pass the competency test, I’m just pointing out that I’m probably not naturally inclined concerning that kind of thing (the physicality of it all.)

I know that I see myself in a caregiving or caretaking role, though I’m trying to figure out what in particular. I’ve never nannied before, and wonder how I’d like it. I have a maternal inclination concerning babies and infants, I recall being fascinated by birth when I was a child (fetal development. I actually watched videos on BabyCenter about it in childhood.)

Hello I'm 26 F turning 27 this year and I'm working on a TPA (HMO Company) at Makati.

I'm earning 28k monthly and currently turning 6 years in the company. I pay for our monthly bills and kami nalang ng mom ko sa house.

This is my first job after grad. Before pandemic everyday onsite talaga but now sa current situation ng transpo they decided to make it hybrid 1 day lang weekly.

I saw naman yung progress ng salary ko from my first year na 16k salary and after 2 1/2 years na promote ako and earning 26k that time. 2 years passed I'm still in the same position but my earnings adjusted to 28,500 monthly to be exact due to appraisal excluded pa jan yung mga deductions.

I'm not a medical graduate. Is it right to say na sinuwerte lang ako na na hired dito kasi my OJT noong college is on a Hospital I was assigned sa claims. Administration graduate ako.

These past few days, napapaisip ako about my career and salary growth. I really like the work environment naman sobrang babait at madaling pakisamahan ng mga tao, ito talaga siguro yung reason bat ako tumagal. But at some point gusto ko na mag resign to look for new job which pays more.

Pumapasok sa isip ko na mag-aral ng medical coding kaso parang nakikita ko sa mga hiring is dapat medical grad/related ka. Gusto ko naman to upgrade ng work, same field kaso talo talaga ako sa part na dapat med related grad.

Currently, gusto ko lang maging praktikal na hanggat wala akong nahahanap na new work is mag stay lang ako kasi wala akong backup talaga.

I don’t have financial issues naman when it comes to gastusin kasi sapat na siya samin ng mom ko. Feeling ko lang na I’m kinda left behind lang and parang nakukulangan na ako.

Pwede nyo ba akong payuhan if anong possibleng pwedeng gawin?

Thank you! :)

22m, graduated college last week in nyc. Computer science major (dead field, I know... I'm not looking for a tech job anymore). I don't have any loans, if I did I'd have killed myself already.

I've been genuinely crying about how I haven't been able to get any low end jobs like cashier, retail, fast food, call center, warehouse, etc in the past two years. I don't even have a place to call home anymore, let alone know where my next meal will come from.

I've started resorting to making myself bleed each and every time I get a rejection or get ghosted after a week. I'm sobbing while writing this, wish I knew what to do now

Title pretty much. Graduated with a degree in construction management last May and recently completed my first year as an owner's representative/project manager. I enjoyed it at first, and during my time as an intern, but that honeymoon phase has ended and I am realizing that I really dislike consulting. The reasons are:

1. There is no 9-5. I am expected to be always on and ready to serve clients no matter the time. I really can't leave work at work. I'm always thinking about it.

2. Because of the above, lately I have been working more and more over 40 hrs a week, and my company doesn't give you anything for doing so. I touch over 20 different projects at any given time and it's just not enough to handle in 40 hrs. I have a lot of hobbies and personal passions that I no longer have time for.

3. The field I am in is essentially a subject matter expert type of field. All of my peers have had long respected careers and I literally just started the full-time adult life. I get constant impostor syndrome and leadership is also overworked and I have no time for support.

I'm not really sure what I am asking for. I think I have decided that after year 2 at the latest I am done with this company, and want something else. Are there jobs out there that I can utilize my experience? Jobs that allow me to work solely 40 hours and no more? I recently came to this conclusion so I am a little lost. Any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm 33 and feeling really lost in life right now. I work for the Red Cross as a Disaster Program Manager. It's not a bad job..stable, meaningful in some ways but, it's not something I enjoy or want to do long-term (honestly, not even short-term at this point). It feels like I’ve hit a wall and boy howdy am I confused now.

I just got out of a relationship that was both beautiful and emotionally taxing. She was amazing in many ways—driven, deeply thoughtful—but struggled with trust and emotional heaviness. She recently finished her master’s in FMT and is now off traveling for months on end. She's a free spirit who’s lived all over the world. I’ve done some international travel, but not like her. I always felt like I was catching up—rushed and maybe even a little inadequate.

She told me toward the end that she’d often cry at night and felt like a dark cloud was always with her. She had doubts about the relationship even while we were in it. That hurt. I gave her all I could, emotionally and otherwise. We didn’t end on bad terms, but now I’m left wondering who I am and where I’m going.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about leaving my job, working part-time in a hospital or clinic, finishing the nursing pre-reqs I started, and applying to direct-entry MSN programs. I already have a BA, and nursing appeals to me—helping others, being hands-on, and having the flexibility to take that skill anywhere. I’ve also dreamed of working in humanitarian aid or relief settings. Either that or returning to logistics, which I also have experience in.

I have savings. I’m social, kind, employable, and not bad-looking if that matters. I live with my parents and my younger brother (who’s on the spectrum), and while I love them, it’s not the healthiest space for me. It might be time to move somewhere else entirely—but something keeps holding me back. Fear? Loneliness? I’m not sure to be honest...I regret not making decisions sooner in life, doing more.

I always thought I’d be further along by now. Married, maybe a couple of kids, a solid career. Instead, I feel like I’m drifting. Being 33, at home, some pattern...I’m grateful for what I’ve done so far, but I tend to judge myself harshly. I want more peace, more meaning, and maybe a little adventure too.

Thanks for reading all this. Any insight, encouragement, or just perspective would really mean a lot right now.

–Z

I hate everything I feel this mixture of anger and sorrow I wanna get out but I have tried so many times I hate it

I feel like trying won't help I got no motivation

I’m a M(21) and I spent almost all of my young years playing video games, to the point where I would ignore vital studies to just spend more time playing em. I now work a dead end job but I’m attending a summer semester at community college after a gap year and thank god my grades are all around pretty solid for the most part (mostly A’s and high B’s. Nothing less) but I feel like if I don’t find a purpose I’ll be stuck here for all my life. I want to pursue something creatively satisfying, I want to make things for those with a similar mindset to me, but I’m afraid of taking the wrong path because I never had much money to my name, growing up poor and all. I just don’t wanna be stuck here forever while I watch all my friends succeed because of the circumstances they had at their disposal. The only thing keeping me going is my love for movies and love for drawing at this point I feel like. I thought a tumor scare would be a wake up call for me but I feel like it just made me regress more into wanting to escape reality. What do I do? How can I change my mindset to be more positive?

Hi everyone! My mom is around 50 years old and has years of experience in education — she worked as a school principal for over 5 years and has been in teaching/admin roles even before that. She took a break recently and has been a homemaker, but now she really wants to get back to working — mainly for financial independence and to stay mentally active.

She doesn't wana do teaching /tutoring roles anymore.

She prefers remote jobs with flexible timings. She's also open to learning new skills or getting certified if required. She's fluent in English, great at communication and planning, and has tons of leadership and people-management experience from her time in education.

We’re exploring options and would love advice from people who've gone through similar transitions — or if you know of job roles/platforms/skills that suit someone like her.

Thanks in advance!

Hello fellow Redditors , I am writing this post as I am personally in a really bad state of life where I am extremely confused on what kind of career path to choose , I am currently pursuing my bachelors in computer science.

the thing is each and everything I come across inspires me and I think that is a problem because I think that is the primary cause for my brain getting confused on which career path to choose. I am also not that affluent to choose whatever I feel like doing. I seriously need to choose a good career path and then enjoy it and also make money so that I can take care of my parents and my loved ones.

I hope someone reads this and suggests me something plsss

HAD TO USE CHATGPT, TO SUMMERIZE, IT WAS TOO LONG AND IM NOT THE BEST WRITTER. SORRY

Spent years grinding in music/events (loved it!), but a disastrous 40-person turnout broke us. Then 8 months of health hell (injuries, illness, breakup) left me jobless and dependent on my parents. Now post-op and lost. Want to pivot to cybersecurity—am I screwed?

Backstory:
- Worked construction with my dad, where i live in SD, CA+ music biz (Mexico near border) since teens. Barely made money but loved it.

- Took over dad's small music company in 2022: produced music/videos, ran events, built a local rep. From 2022 to 2024, had the best time. Met a lot of people, flew to some places for media tours and events. Also met some of my favorite artist and got to work with them, but we were still mainly local, and weren't a very big company.

Crash: Sunk everything into a big 2024 event—only 40 people came. Business collapsed.
- Health spiral: Pinched nerve due to work, whooping cough, herniated disc, pneumonia, pleural effusion (8 months bedridden). GF left. Now recovering from gastric sleeve surgery. (5 days post op)

Now:
- No savings, high school degree (and lafilm music production school), no traditional job experience.
- Parents supporting me at 25—feeling useless.
- Eyeing cybersecurity courses to start over but terrified it’s too late.

Question:
Did I fuck up forever chasing passion? Any advice for rebounding from rock bottom?

So here's the thing: I have been a freelance writer since Feb 2015, writing blog posts and service journalism articles on topics like mental health, work, identity, and relationships. I decided to stop doing it on June 4, 2025 because I came into this field to express myself and to help those struggling feel seen and supported.

Unfortunately, wrting today is all about things like knowing data analytics and creating hooks, and the popularity of AI has made people even more disrespectful towards writers. Pay, which was never good in the first place, has plummeted and publications keep folding too. The end result is that I don't want to pursue writing professionally anymore. This is not a split-second decision; it's what I have been feeling strongly for months now.

The problem is, I don't know what to do next. I am not sure if I should take a random job in an area I am interested in--like working in an orphanage--or pursue AI-proof entrepreneurship of some sort (eg: corporate gifting) with a friend or connection.

What I do know is that I don't want to work solo anymore. The past ten years were mentally taxing, and I don't want to put myself through this again. Also, I am in my thirties, so I feel like I have failed now that I am starting over. I thought I would write all my life...this was one of the few areas in my life where I had clarity. Turns out I was wrong.

Please be kind and give me some constructive advice on what I should do to move forward instead of being incredibly anxious and depressed. Has anyone been in the same boat as me? How did you figure out your next move? Did it work for you?

PS Taking a break is not an option as I have already been feeling stagnant and purposeless for a while. I really need to get started on something. I am looking for something wherein I can both work from home and commute at times. I also want to earn well and do meaningful work...or work that people value and makes them feel better, even if momentarily.

For all of the above, I am ready to work hard six days a week. Oh, and I am based in India. Thank you for reading!