It’s So Good You Hate Your Job

Another great Q for me to A! Let’s get into it.

“I’m 24 and I just got my first job out of college 6 months ago and I already hate it. I already know I don’t like doing what I got my degree in. But now I don’t know what to do. I have no idea what I would even sort of want to do as a career after this. How do I figure it out?”

This is such a good problem to have so early! Truly!

Getting stuck in this position while you’re young and freshly into the job market is so much better than having it happen later in life.

So while I know it feels like shit right now, try to first feel kind of grateful that you’re hitting a wall while there’s still so much time left to correct course and try out new things.

And because you are so young and agile, this is just a little speed bump or blip — an OPPORTUNITY to steer yourself more in alignment with the future life you want.

So if this was me (and it WAS me, like 4 different times between 20 and 30 years old), I’d just keep sniffing around for what feels good and exciting.

• What are the accounts you follow most on social media? What industry are they in?
• What people in your life seem to have “cool jobs” in your head?
• What is an area or skillset that you’ve been wanting to learn about but didn’t have the time?

Those are the kinds of questions you can start asking yourself now while you have a steady income and can start preparing your resume without too much financial worry.

Once you get comfortable leaving jobs, you’ll realize how common and easy it is to do repeatedly throughout your lifetime.

And I’ve found that trying to find “your one thing” or “your ultimate career” is sort of a moot point.

If you’re a growth-driven person (which it sounds like you are based on the speed at which you knew something was wrong for you and wanted to create a change for yourself), you’ll be a different person with different desires every few years anyway.

There’s no way to know what you’ll want do for the ENTIRE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

So maybe just take it easier on yourself and ask “what can I see myself enjoying for the next year or two” and just kind of pivot in that direction.

As you’ve just seen, sometimes things seem great on paper but suck once you start getting into the thick of it — but you won’t know until you try it.

And the job industry is completely set up for this nowadays.

There is no more option to work at the same company for 40 years and retire comfortably. There is no more job security in the way our parents and grandparents had 50-80 years ago.

And technology is moving at a pace where the jobs that are most needed in the next 10 or 20 years haven’t even been invented yet.

So try to think of this first career pivot as practice for the next 5 to 10 more times it could happen in your lifetime.

You’re just starting to get in the reps!

Which is an exciting thing to collect :)

To give you some extra help in deciding the next move, I’ll leave you with this list of 7 questions from a great fucking book called “The Mountain Is You” by Brianna Wiest:

1. What is worth suffering for?
2. Imagine the best possible version of yourself; what would bring you closest to being that person?
3. If social media didn’t exist, and nobody would know what you were doing, how would you live differently?
4. What comes most naturally to you?
5. What would your ideal daily routine look like?
6. What do you want your legacy to be?
7. What do you need to do in order to arrive at your deathbed proud of yourself?

**For further context on each question, check out this Instagram post.

Thanks so much for asking.

Trust me, you’re gonna have so much fun from here.

xoxo,

AV