Another Life Direction Thread
I normally just dick around on here, but I'm gonna spread the cheeks to my soul and ask for some life advice today:
The gist of it is that I have no idea what I want out of life or what to do next. I'm 21 and have one year of undergrad left in Chicago. I used to think that I wanted to become very wealthy with the goal of somehow contributing to the advancement of humanity. I wanted to invest in the sciences, where there's no shortage of talent, but where they're starving for capital.
I don't know when or why it happened, but I just stopped caring. We live during really exciting times and I'm content just watching how the world goes and not contributing to it. I just want to be happy, travel the world, and be free. I'm convinced that my generation will live far longer than most people think and that the world will change immensely. I've decided that I will not do things that people say I should do unless I see a reason for it myself. And I won't do things for others unless I want to. I'm a free man and this is my life. And I'm privileged as fuck to be in the U.S. and of sound body and relatively sound mind. I'm not going to waste my life doing what I don't want to do.
I've received far too much stupid advice from my family. I'm realizing that it's all too conservative. I'm a first generation U.S. citizen, so it makes sense that my mom will give me conservative advice. My sister told me to go into finance when I was 18 selling drugs and getting arrested and such because it makes money and she assumed that was my motivation. But I just have a massive risk tolerance. I actually rather like the excitement. I like making money a lot more than I care about losing it. I've decided that the only area of finance I'd like to work in is trading. I've researched all other areas of finance and trading is the only one that really excites me. I've been making consistent profits for a while, but even if I lose money, I'll keep doing it because it's so much fun.
I'm doing an internship right now and it's making me realize that the corporate world is not for me. Call me an angsty bitch, but I can not take orders from people. I'm in a constant state of anxiety just sitting here. Like, I am physically uncomfortable. Being in a cubicle is depressing. Seeing people with gray hair who still sit in cubicles and spend half the day figuring out how to log expenses is fucking off-putting. I don't want to be like this in 20 years. I can't stand the feeling of being tied-down or of being obligated to do anything. I'm willing to work very hard, but it has to be a product of my own free will. I realize that nobody is forcing me to be here, but that's what it feels like and I hate it. I can't stop thinking of how much value I'm generating for myself versus for the firm and I don't like the ratio.
Right now, I have a new car, $30K, and the rest of school paid for. When I graduate, I'm considering a few options.
Ideally, my trading will go well and I'll be able to live off of that. But my sample size is small and it's very uncertain.
I'm considering selling everything and moving to South America. I want to live in apartments with no lease and do something that I'm passionate about. My dream is to make a living trading, travel all over the world, take photos, and document my adventures on a blog. I also like to make electronic music. There are other options like to teach English, but I don't want to do that because I'd have to answer to somebody. I speak Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian; and I'm learning French.
I've also been looking into starting a porn site. It seems like a pretty solid online business.
I've also been thinking about joining the Navy. If I enlist now, they'll pay for the rest of my school and I could go in as an officer. I'd probably land a pretty cushy job. I could do that for 4 years, hopefully see some cool places and gain some good experience, and get out with a good bit of savings and health benefits. It would give me time to think about what I want to do. And I could even work on my trading. Also, working on an oil rig sounds like a good idea for someone who wants to spend half the year traveling.
I know that I said that I don't like taking orders. And you're probably thinking that the military is the worst place for someone like that. But I feel like if I sign on for it, it's different. Like, it's an unspoken little agreement that this is how shit's done here. We yell at you and tell you what to do, but it's just how it is. You signed on for this. That sounds retarded, but it makes sense in my head.
I've always had this feeling of manifest destiny: that everything was going to work out for me one way or another. That I'd succeed at anything I put my mind to. I just don't know what to put my mind to.
Okay, that's enough out of me. I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but whatever. I want to hear what people have to say.
Initial thought; if you don't want to take orders from people, you should definitely reconsider joining the Navy. You try to rationalize it, but you could also do the same in regards to a corporate job. One thing you could consider would be writing? You could live off of your trading, travel, and write about your experiences. Become the Anthony Bourdain of finance.
Haha, well I think the thing what got him off the ground was his book "Kitchen Confidential". If you have the means to survive while traveling and trying to write, you'd be in a better position than most other aspiring writers.
I'm reading his Las Halles Cookbook right now. Trying to elevate my diet above boiled hotdogs and canned green beans.
I'll have to check that one out. I wonder whether he self-published. I'll go look it up.
Boiled hotdogs ?
microwave that shit
I actualyl read thru the entire thing - best part was pr0n idea
count me in ! where do i sign
Glad that the penny stock debacle hasn't cost you your 30k car sir.
I definitely had the same feeling as you two years ago. Coming from a middle-class family I never really desired wealth, but always wanted to contribute to society in some sorts (and still do). At the same time, we're privileged to be in a position to see so much of the world and not having to feed our own family yet. I wanted to just pick up a skill and travel and make my own earnings. My family thought I was crazy and put me back in my box. They threatened me and that was that.
We'll see what happens when I start working FT though. A guy at my summer job just left to travel for an entire year with his wife. I guess you could save up a bit and have the luxury explore more places. On the flip-side of course youth only lasts for so long. My angst against the "establishment" has died down considerably over the past two years. I've learned to like my box. I think one day you will, too.
Several things to think about (and glad to see a serious post from you):
1) You're an entrepreneur, that's what drug dealers are. You're willing to take risks. Why do you have to trade all $30k? Why not trade $20k and put $10k into starting a business? There are plenty of business you can start up online with $10k that will allow you to travel around the world and still run it and trade at the same time. Check out the 4 hour work week, Tim Ferriss.
1a) Porn, eh? I mean that's cool and all, but why not try and start something more substantial where there aren't as many major players? Chances are you're going to have to find a niche, and it likely won't be a niche that makes you want to blow your load.
2) The military is a great experience. Officers usually aren't the ones getting yelled at. But if you join the Navy, I'm pretty sure you're expect to do 2 years off-shore, which means 2 years on a boat. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I'd look into it if you can't handle it.
3) Good adventure/travel blogs are cool, but most don't make much money (dunno if that was what you were interested in doing). They also take years to earn people's interest/respect/trust. It could be an awesome side project with long-term potential, depending on how you did it.
4) Get out of drugs. Now. That shit is NOT worth it. At all. You WILL get caught at some point, and if you are like most college students, you aren't taking the precautions you need to. I won't say that comes from experience on a public forum. I will say I've seen how it effects a lot of people. It's bad and if you ever do want to get a mainstream job (there are a lot of cool ones out there), you will have no chance. You will not be able to get a military job, work on an oil rig, or any of that shit.
If you do want to start something online, besides porn, shoot me a message and I can give you some direction on the technical side of it. Hope the thoughts helped.
Thanks for the reply.
I don't currently sell drugs. It's just something I did for a while. Never got caught for that luckily. Blew most of the earnings on a month-long Xanax & hallucinogen binge that I have little memory of. I've saved the $30K and paid for undergrad and my car working like 8 different jobs and with an Ebay hustle I used to have. Wish I'd been more frugal in my teens.
As for the Navy, I would love to be on a ship. Don't know how long it would take to get boring though. I can get lost for a long time alone in a pursuit, so I think I'd be fine if I could have books and a laptop with internet. It's actually a mini-dream of mine to get on a mid-sized boat one day - alone or with a girl - and sail the ocean for a while. Just trading, reading, and eating seafood I catch. That would be so fresh and so clean.
And regarding the porn site, it seems feasible because some silly percentage of online content is porn. I figure most of that content isn't original and that the people running the sites aren't doing it for free. I could put together an easy-to-navigate site, regularly upload videos, and generate revenue through ads or sponsors or whatever. And I'd leave the U.S., so chances of being successfully sued would be slim.
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