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I'm Massively overwhelmed with my future plans.

Is there anyone I can talk to? #college-advice #career-advice #general-advice

Thank you comment icon Hey Jordan! I felt this way before (and still do sometimes), but one thing that really helped me was talking to my parents about it. I know that parents can sometimes be the reason for your stress, but they also want you to succeed, so you can usually talk to your parents about your worries and they will do their best to support and help you. You can also talk to your academic counselor, they are usually rather helpful as well. Hope this helps! Albert

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Subject: Career question for you

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Arneel’s Answer

Overwhelmed is not a good feeling, however, thinking and planning for your future are admirable things that you have chosen to do. Good for you! The effects of anticipating the life changing things you're thinking about can feel scary at times. My advice to you is to focus on what specific things you are interested in and what activities you enjoy doing. Research your personality type and which jobs align well with that. It is also fun to learn about yourself. You can do a personality test for free at https://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-research-edition That could help inspire you in a certain direction or career path. Remember, the more education you get, the more money you are apt to make. https://www.census.gov/prod/1/statbrief/sb94_17.pdf
If it was so easy to get out there and get more education or training, then everyone would do it, right? I remember when I resisted returning to college at the age of 30, stating that I was too old. Someone told me, "Well, you can be 34 with a college degree or 34 without one." That spurred me on. I'm so glad now that I did go through the rigor of getting my degree. One thing is sure. Any journey begins with the first step. Try to write down the steps to your desired goal. Decide how and when you will take just that one, first step. Take that step and reward and celebrate yourself for doing that. Then, take the next step and so on. Before you know it, you will be in the career you desire. My first step was to take one college course, psychology. It helped me see that I did enjoy school and that I was capable of all of the requirements. I received my first degree at 35. My annual salary more than doubled. I went back to school and got a second degree at the age of 45. I advanced in my career and pay grade a few years later as a result. More education, did enable me the ability to make more money. It was somewhat challenging to put myself through, however, it has paid off. Since going through that experience, I don't get overwhelmed, because I took on and conquered the challenges of getting a higher education to get where I wanted to go. You can certainly do that too! Take that first, one step! You will be there before you know it!

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Mark’s Answer

I agree with the first answer: Overwhelmed is NEVER a good feeling. :) And DO reach out to people around you to talk. Parents/ friends/ teachers/ councilors/ pastors /priests are all good to discuss options with and get some feedback. Often times it takes several conversations to get some perspective, and allow for reflection and decisions.


I would also be sure to get "back to the basics". What do you like? What do you hate? What can you see yourself doing? Can you make a living at doing this? It is wonderful to have dreams... but also consider what happens if you DON'T get to play for the NFL... or sell your song... or win the lottery! What paths are open that may not be easy.... but lead you where you want to go?


Sometimes looking at what you don't want to do helps also. If you want to stay around where you grew up and don't want to move, what does that mean? What jobs are around? What education does that take? Or if you want to move... what can you do in the place you want to go?


Work on making progress.. but also make sure to give yourself some time off from the task. Enjoy taking a break, and consider the progress you have made when you come back to it. A little time away and then back often helps me on a lot of different problems.


Look for help... in person and online... and realize that while it can be scary to contemplate the future, it can be thrilling as well! Enjoy the ride!

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Simeon’s Answer

Have you tried talking to your school counselor? They can do a lot to help you plot out potential futures. This phase of life can be really scary since people make it sound like you make or break your future there, but as long as you do your best to pass your classes and graduate, you have a lot of positive options to work with. If you're looking for career ideas, check out the department of labor's website and see what some of the fast growing careers are. If any of those interest you, do some research online for what those fields are really like.
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Gloria’s Answer

Hi Jordan,

It is natural to be overwhelmed by your future, especially if it involves going to college and potentially leaving the life that you have now. There are a variety of counselors either as your high school or at local colleges where you can get advice on how to handle a large amount of change. Sometimes it is simply about getting yourself organized. There is a weird saying that goes like this "You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time." To me, that means that you can only take on one task at a time. If you can review all that you want to accomplish and then break them down into tasks, you may feel a greater sense of control. Only worry about the next task and the hundreds behind it can wait until you are there. Even if you do this, you should work with someone to help you understand what steps should be taken in what order. When I was getting ready to go to college, I had questions like "Do I need to apply for student aid before or after I have been accepted to a college?" "How soon before I apply to school do I need to take important tests like SAT?" "If I go away to school, when do i need to have a place to live?" There are a lot of things that probably have a proper timeline to be done.

I hope that you take advantage of the resources in your local area to get support with these tasks.
Gloria
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