Do you think it's okay to have no life purpose or goals?

[IanSaysHi]

Different people will tell you different things but I believe everyone can find their goal/ambition at their own pace. I think one of the biggest causes of mental stress in modern life is this whole perfectly templated life we are supposed to aspire to that other people impose on us. In my region this generally falls into the path of go to university / get degree / get impressive job on high salary / have a family / buy house etc etc. These goals are then set in to certain ages we are ”˜meant’ to have done these things by. However I think deciding your career path at a young age isn’t right for some and instead you might need some life experience to truly find what interests and motivates you. Avoid listening to people who impose their own ideals on you; I have a friend who is constantly being asked by her colleagues “when are you having a baby?” “when are you getting married?”. We have one life to live and it is OURS. The university route will work for some, not for others, and everyone will encounter bumps in the road of life that can throw it all off course anyway.

I was going to go to university but had no idea what I wanted to do. When I was younger I’d wanted to be a teacher but this had got lost by this point. I even had a friend say how they hated ”˜drifters’ like me with no goals in life. I just wanted to work (I still probably care too much about work), after a few years I did some night courses whilst working my way up the career ladder following my interests. I began on catering (I love cooking) before moving into marketing (then cooking became my at-home interest). All the time I was aware I enjoyed training courses and in the last two years I pursued this and this year became training lead at my company. This all has happened in my thirties but I’m so happy I followed this route as I have no student debt, I met so many amazing people during my career journey and have overcome some personal challenges too. I also have to point out the ”˜friend’ who said all those years ago they hated ”˜drifters’ like me has actually become a bit of a drifter themselves and their life went a bit downhill - there is no perfect template to life!

Focus on your interest (like guitar) as something you enjoy for your free time and then look at how you can support your free-time, bills etc with a career that can fund this and allow you to live comfortably until you determine a career that can fund you further for any more interests you develop and increased bills over time, as well as being something that really interests you.