Austin W

I'm 17 years old and I have thought a lot about what makes me happy and the type of career I would like to have. I have explored many of my interests and learned a lot about myself in the process, but seeing that my greatest joys are reading and writing I don't feel closer to realizing a practical occupation. I like books because they give me knew ways of looking at the world (ways of adding knowledge to my knowledge graph, as Leo might say). I don't really have a goal in mind to use this knowledge, except that I would like to one day write to make others feel the same way I feel when I read a great book, and to bring hope into people's lives who feel lost. I am going to college next year, and with such vague interests I have a three-pronged strategy: 1. Take Leo's life purpose course 2. Read books and take in knowledge from my courses. 3. Make a lot of money, so that I can realize my ultimate life purpose (once I make it clear). I feel like the first two parts of this plan are rock solid but I am not sure about the third. I could probably skip this step except for the fact that I have no idea what I want to do and that I am the type of person who has many interests and can't seem to stick to any for long. I feel like having a good amount of starting cash will allow me to self-actualize more by purchasing my ideal living conditions and allowing me to purchase seminars and the like more easily so that I can find my life purpose quicker than if I just tried to find it with little money. I am tending towards starting my own business but I could use some suggestions as to other possible occupations as well as any tips for my college life or anything else I have mentioned. Overall, I am young, and I'm looking for perspectives from like minded individuals who have more experience than me. P.S. I have talked to my parents about my future, and my mother is against anything that won't make me a lot of money. I could just ignore her wishes, but she may help me more if she sees that I am making money. My dad does not really care. Some things to consider..... Thanks Guys.

In order to put my efforts toward developing myself I need to be well-rested, but when I hang out with my friends they stay up very late and of course I do and then my sleep schedule becomes messed up. What is worse is that they seem so complacent with this fact and don't see the bigger picture. That if this becomes a habit for them they aren't operating at full capacity. For me this is such a big deal but to them they don't seem to care about wasted time/sleep. I feel like nobody cares about what is important and I just want to be alone.