Finding out who you are

No. It's what being on a low-dose of perscription meth feels like.

But it is likely the solution to OPs problem, and many peoples problem. Jobs suck, adderall can help you get through a shit job and be a productive member of society. It's easy to get just tell a psych that you cant focus or get anything done which is probably true for everyone anyway.
>Yeah bro just pretend to have a disorder so you can get prescription stimulants to get you through your miserable life

I have a better idea
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No, pigeonholing yourself into a select few careers with paid online aptitude tests is not an effective way to do things. Defining yourself by a set of rules made up by some psychologist in order to find out who you are is laughably stupid. Touch grass.
Jesus Christ dude.

You're not gonna try every profession in the world. Getting a few dozens suggestions for what might be a good fit isn't going to define your life.

Figuring out things about yourself using basic research isn't a chain around your neck.

Going 'Ummm.... I'm just gonna like, totally stumble into whatever, and it'll fit me like magic' is a good way to end up in a dead end job you hate though.
 
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Jesus Christ dude.

You're not gonna try every profession in the world. Getting a few dozens suggestions for what might be a good fit isn't going to define your life.

Figuring out things about yourself using basic research isn't a chain around your neck.

Going 'Ummm.... I'm just gonna like, totally stumble into whatever, and it'll fit me like magic' is a good way to end up in a dead end job you hate though.
Sorry, didn't realize aptitude tests equated to gaining experience in any one field.

Taking a paid test and saying "durhur I guess I'll just do what the test says" is far dumber than falling head first into something you think you might like. By the way, why is it that you can't choose what you want to do on your own? Are you so disinterested in everything life has to offer that you need someone else to make your decision for you to have any sort of confidence that you might like it or succeed?

I fully disagree with you on principle. The internet is not your teacher, personality/career tests are by and large completely inaccurate and useless (Google "list of careers" and tell me what the difference is between paying for a curated list and just choosing a handful you might be interested in, other than it has been "personalized"), and you're far more likely to figure out what you really want to do by going out and trying things. Stop sitting around asking the magic rectangle for answers and go out and do something for once.
 
Sorry, didn't realize aptitude tests equated to gaining experience in any one field.

Taking a paid test and saying "durhur I guess I'll just do what the test says" is far dumber than falling head first into something you think you might like. By the way, why is it that you can't choose what you want to do on your own? Are you so disinterested in everything life has to offer that you need someone else to make your decision for you to have any sort of confidence that you might like it or succeed?

I fully disagree with you on principle. The internet is not your teacher, personality/career tests are by and large completely inaccurate and useless (Google "list of careers" and tell me what the difference is between paying for a curated list and just choosing a handful you might be interested in, other than it has been "personalized"), and you're far more likely to figure out what you really want to do by going out and trying things. Stop sitting around asking the magic rectangle for answers and go out and do something for once.
No ones said that aptitude tests equated to gaining experience in a field.

Also, you're the person that's going 'we must mindlessly follow the test'. I've never suggested anything of the sort. But hey if people like that are dumb, well it certainly fits you.

Right. We should just 'go out and do something'.

Oh shit, it requires commitment, time, effort, and an education.

So, according to you, if you think you might like something, you should go to university, spend years studying it, get your degree, rack up debt, get an internship, spend further years working your way up into it, and surprise you hate it.

You don't disagree with me on principle, you just have a dumb caricature in your head about what basic career guidance entails and it's making you say dumb shit. Example, I've never suggested that 'the internet is your teacher'.

A proper personality/aptitude test is a very useful tool for figuring out shit that might fit you. Note that I said tool, not whatever the fuck you're imagining.

If more people, especially young people, spent a modicum of time doing proper career research, instead of talking to people like you who's advice boils down to 'uh, just like, you'll automatically stumble into whatever fits you, it's like uh, destiny, uh, also don't ever take medication, it's better if you die' you'd have a lot more people finding their place in life.
 
No ones said that aptitude tests equated to gaining experience in a field.

Also, you're the person that's going 'we must mindlessly follow the test'. I've never suggested anything of the sort. But hey if people like that are dumb, well it certainly fits you.

Right. We should just 'go out and do something'.

Oh shit, it requires commitment, time, effort, and an education.

So, according to you, if you think you might like something, you should go to university, spend years studying it, get your degree, rack up debt, get an internship, spend further years working your way up into it, and surprise you hate it.

You don't disagree with me on principle, you just have a dumb caricature in your head about what basic career guidance entails and it's making you say dumb shit. Example, I've never suggested that 'the internet is your teacher'.

A proper personality/aptitude test is a very useful tool for figuring out shit that might fit you. Note that I said tool, not whatever the fuck you're imagining.

If more people, especially young people, spent a modicum of time doing proper career research, instead of talking to people like you who's advice boils down to 'uh, just like, you'll automatically stumble into whatever fits you, it's like uh, destiny, uh, also don't ever take medication, it's better if you die' you'd have a lot more people finding their place in life.
>Going to college
lol
 
Yeah, education, I know horrible. People on the internet says so.
If you can afford that sort of education and not worry about it or live somewhere that provides it socially, then good for you, but going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt for the BS that is college/uni is the dumbest thing most people can do, especially now.

This bizarre idea in your head that paying for things = better is pretty silly, honestly. Can you tell me how taking a paid career aptitude test (may as well be a paid Facebook personality quiz) is equivalent to doing career research? I've done plenty of career research in my lifetime and never once have I paid someone else or some service to tell me what's right and wrong. In fact, I was able to determine by myself which jobs I liked and didn't like by researching them on my own. Whodathunkit? I appreciate the things you're saying about finding a place and doing real career research but please stop trying to say a paid online aptitude test somehow has any sort of merit. It's money in the toilet.
 
If you can afford that sort of education and not worry about it or live somewhere that provides it socially, then good for you, but going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt for the BS that is college/uni is the dumbest thing most people can do, especially now.

This bizarre idea in your head that paying for things = better is pretty silly, honestly. Can you tell me how taking a paid career aptitude test (may as well be a paid Facebook personality quiz) is equivalent to doing career research? I've done plenty of career research in my lifetime and never once have I paid someone else or some service to tell me what's right and wrong. In fact, I was able to determine by myself which jobs I liked and didn't like by researching them on my own. Whodathunkit? I appreciate the things you're saying about finding a place and doing real career research but please stop trying to say a paid online aptitude test somehow has any sort of merit. It's money in the toilet.
In the case of personality and aptitude tests it's because free tests are crap. Absolute garbage.

And yeah, I gathered you've only ever taken free online tests from your assumptions about them.

There are plenty of things in the world were you get what you pay for. A proper aptitude tests based on actual research, provided by an educated professional, whether that's online or offline is both going to be better than the free 'personality quiz' you picked up on facebook and it's also likely going to cost you like 10-50 bucks or so.

And it's great that you lucked into being able to figure out things on your own.

But for a lot of people if they try to figure everything out on their own all that's going to happen is they're going to run in circles and not know what to do.

And if they ask people around them, the most likely answer they get is shit like 'oh you'll figure it out on your own' which they won't.
 
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In the case of personality and aptitude tests it's because free tests are crap. Absolute garbage.

And yeah, I gathered you've only ever taken free online tests from your assumptions about them.

There are plenty of things in the world were you get what you pay for. A proper aptitude tests based on actual research, provided by an educated professional, whether that's online or offline is both going to be better than the free 'personality quiz' you picked up on facebook and it's also likely going to cost you like 10-50 bucks or so.

And it's great that you lucked into being able to figure out things on your own.

But for a lot of people if they try to figure everything out on their own all that's going to happen is they're going to run in circles and not know what to do.

And if they ask people around them, the most likely answer they get is shit like 'oh you'll figure it out on your own' which they won't.
My experience is completely the opposite. I know so many people my age that are wheelspinning and in hilarious debt because they chose the route you're describing. IMO, spending any amount of money on trying to figure out what to do next is wasteful. Action and reaction are the only ways to develop yourself and build character and find out who you truly are/what you're good at/what you want to do. It's also in my opinion and experience that any job that requires years of listening to a prof instead of practising a new skill is highly wasteful for the majority of people who follow that route. I understand your issue with "you'll just figure it out" but for many people that's a very valid way to proceed. I didn't believe it either, and through my actions and initiative alone, I did indeed just "figure it out". Sometimes being thrown to the wolves is what one needs to grow. To conclude, I believe it's far more useful and powerful to go out and try jobs because only by doing the shit you don't like can you find out what you truly want to do. And no, I don't recommend going through post-secondary education over and over again to achieve that. There are many, many jobs that don't require education or experience initially (and if it does, companies sometimes provide that further into your career) that can lead to a very fulfilling career path.

The couple of aptitude tests I took were paid, but provided by a third party. If I had taken ANY of the top picks it gave me, I'd be absolutely miserable now. I can agree that an aptitude test paired with proper career research (pay, future opportunities, potential growth, potential further education, market saturation, the direction of the industry in question) can be  useful but my gripe lies in paying for one online. I don't see why one can't just pick 5 jobs (for instance) and research which of the 5 will be the best fit. You know more about yourself than an aptitude test.

Anyway, I'll drop my sperging here. Not much else to say, anyway. Cheers.
 
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My experience is completely the opposite. I know so many people my age that are wheelspinning and in hilarious debt because they chose the route you're describing. IMO, spending any amount of money on trying to figure out what to do next is wasteful. Action and reaction are the only ways to develop yourself and build character and find out who you truly are/what you're good at/what you want to do. It's also in my opinion and experience that any job that requires years of listening to a prof instead of practising a new skill is highly wasteful for the majority of people who follow that route. I understand your issue with "you'll just figure it out" but for many people that's a very valid way to proceed. I didn't believe it either, and through my actions and initiative alone, I did indeed just "figure it out". Sometimes being thrown to the wolves is what one needs to grow. To conclude, I believe it's far more useful and powerful to go out and try jobs because only by doing the shit you don't like can you find out what you truly want to do. And no, I don't recommend going through post-secondary education over and over again to achieve that. There are many, many jobs that don't require education or experience initially (and if it does, companies sometimes provide that further into your career) that can lead to a very fulfilling career path.

The couple of aptitude tests I took were paid, but provided by a third party. If I had taken ANY of the top picks it gave me, I'd be absolutely miserable now. I can agree that an aptitude test paired with proper career research (pay, future opportunities, potential growth, potential further education, market saturation, the direction of the industry in question) can be  useful but my gripe lies in paying for one online. I don't see why one can't just pick 5 jobs (for instance) and research which of the 5 will be the best fit. You know more about yourself than an aptitude test.

Anyway, I'll drop my sperging here. Not much else to say, anyway. Cheers.
I don't think 10-50 usd on a decent personality test will put you in 'hilarious debt'.

'Action and reaction' doesn't mean anything. At least my advice is a simple concrete thing that you can do, not just some vague ambiguous platitude that doesn't help.

A personality test takes an afternoon. Not years. Education takes years and yes, not every field needs an education, but some do. And I never suggested 'go to college to figure out what you want to do'. In fact I brought that up as something dumb.
 
"Don't be who you are not". "Don't pretend to be someone your not"

I'd avoid these axioms. Phrasing things negatively tends to have the opposite effect. If you're driving a car, and you keep staring at the median, chances are you're going to start turning the wheel in that direction. You point yourself at what you fixate on, so it's best to fix your gaze on what you want, not on avoiding what you don't.
 
How do you discover your aptitudes? You have to experience life to discover this, but what if your in an area that doesn't have opportunities to "Expand your horizon". Or cost too money or requires you to have "2+ years of experience"?

How was getting into trades easy for you?
I always had pretty high mechanical aptitudes from having a traditionally manly dad who made me help him with house projects and bought me legos and tinker toys as a kid. Ultimately, I grew to enjoy working with my hands as an adult. I started as a non-union delivery driver for my trade and worked my way into doing demos and then installs by demonstrating competence over the years. When I finally caved and joined the union, I was able to get hours credited toward my apprenticeship while using school to further hone my craft and fill in the blanks.

It wasn't easy, and took years, but it was worth it.

When I say aptitudes, I don't mean a test. You don't need to pay money to be told what you prefer to do on your off time. Self awareness will let you know. Failing that, imagine things you like to do as a leisure activity, and find something adjacent to that where you can earn currency without wanting to put a gun in your mouth.

Environmental setbacks can be remedied by working a shitty job until you can move to somewhere with more opportunity. Ultimately, I don't have the answers for your personal situation. If the risk is worth the reward, go hard as fuck and get that bread, homie.

What about reading or learning a new language?

It is self improvement, with the result being literacy and expanded communication. I'd give it a pass, because reading is gonna get those neurons firing harder than Netflix or vidja.
 
Just take it one day at a time my friend. You're not gonna plan your whole life out in one afternoon. I started a new job this year, I'm not very outgoing or an overachiever, but I just do whatever they ask of me and do it with a smile. Few months in and I already got promoted.
 
Life on easy mode for a guy is elementary school/early childhood educator.

Pay is getting better every year. Women will flock to you if you're straight.

I shit you not it's 10x easier than being a woman in engineering or computer science.

Do it long enough and you'll figure out what you want to do, and then you can do that. You'll probably get your student loans forgiven (if you don't get a scholarship/grants!!!!). Then you can do whatever you want.
 
Problem is when what you want doesn't pay shit.
maybe i'm too optimistic, but i believe that every passion is capable of making someone a living wage if they're smart with how they pursue it.

for example, i know artists who sell their work and make bank and music teachers who charge a lot for private lessons.
 
maybe i'm too optimistic, but i believe that every passion is capable of making someone a living wage if they're smart with how they pursue it.

for example, i know artists who sell their work and make bank and music teachers who charge a lot for private lessons.
You are too optimistic. If you have a talent in something nobody cares about, it ain't gonna make shit.

This is also assuming you HAVE a talent aren't ya know, someone like me.
 
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