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

[soulfulriver]

It's a matter of necessity. To many people, they have to find a job as soon as possible. For example, here in the US, many people take on a huge amount of student loans to go to a university, and they a limited "grace period" to find a job and start paying them off.

The world can be a scary place, and the less money, class, and power you have, the scarier it is. So to many parents, even if they can afford to have their kids take a month long rest, they'd rather see their kids land a job and become self-efficient as soon as possible.  How supporting (and friendly) one is with there parents is also a major factor. As long as your parents are financially supporting you, you are essentially at their mercy. So, for me for example, while my mom is supportive of me being gay, I still find her . . . how should I put this . . . ANNOYING . . . so I'd rather get a job and move out ASAP.

Oh yes, you are right. I have never thought about it.

Student loans can be stressful. I'm working for almost 4 years and still have yet to settle my student loan.

My parents kept nagging at me to quickly find a job after my graduation too.

[Bookworm]

Student loans can be such a bind, and there's no hiding from them once they know you have a job. They will track you down if you try and avoid paying it off.  I graduated in 1996, and it took me years to pay it off. I think it was around 2008 that I finally cleared it.

Even if you do set some goals/achievements they don't always work out as planned. I had plans but they never came to fruition. I ended up on a particular career path in a certain industry that I didn't expect, just to get through and earn a wage. It gets harder as time goes on to try and switch paths again as it would usually involve some retraining, and you fall behind in experience. It's a vicious circle. If I really worked at it and motivated myself it could have been possible, so I have nobody to blame but myself.

So, having no careers plans doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing as you never know how things will turn out. Sometimes better opportunities will present themselves, other times you have to work hard for specific results you want. It's different for everyone.

[Bhp91126]

I never had a career plan or goal, didn’t go to university but did an apprenticeship in the company I then worked for another 10 years, always had a decent salary and didn’t see the need to strive for promotions (I also enjoyed my jobs there a lot).
Then I came to the US, had to find a company that would sponsor my work-visa, then make that company happy with my performance because ‘they owned my ass’. No real goals for me except maintain the status quo or improve on it (green card) and earn enough money to retire ASAP.

Since I’ve reached those goals I’m a bit adrift, not knowing what to do

[jimcrackcorn]

Hello Everyone...

There is an old saying: ( One can be young and poor,, but one cannot be old and poor)... So,, play while your young, but prepare for old age...

Sin-cerely,
Jimeroooo