A Bit Long Post: Leave My Career Or Finish It?

[Kvath]

Heya people,

I think things are as big as one makes them but this situation is my life is literally busting my balls and while i have some idea of what to do i'd really like to have someone to talk about it as.. I don’t know, I think it’s just because I’m afraid and would like some validation?. I have friends and family but to be sincere i don't want them to get judgemental over me and i know they are not the best people for that nor to get advice from in this particular topic, also I actually trust the community here in actualized

I'd really appreciate any comment that can cross your mind in this..

Basically i'm finishing my career on the university but i have no intention on keeping that professional track for more than researching and writing by myself (which i'm pretty sure everyone in here knows that you don't need a diploma for that), anyway, i'm grateful with all the experience on my university for opening my mind to curiosity and helping society get better which I plan to keep doing the rest of my life even without it.

My degree is on anthropology and while i somewhat liked the discipline a while ago (although it has never made me enter into passion mode, as I like to call it) today i just don't feel love nor interest for it and i'm actually beggining to hate it since i'm forcing myself to finish this.

The reason for not keeping that track is mainly because it doesn’t fit on my life goals, nevertheless I have some specifics that I’d like to mention:

1. I made the decision to take that career when i got out of high school because of lack of options and a lack of knowledge over myself.

2. I know the utility (nevertheless it bores me and I feel I’m not made for it) of the scientific method/positivism but I prefer the dialectic method (eg: humanities and arts; excuse me if im not being specific but you get the idea), that is an old realization that I know from more than 3 years ago by my experience on the uni.

3. I feel that to be a good anthropologist (and any profession) you need to want it and I’m sure I don’t want to be an anthropologist.

4. Anthropology has not given me any practical skills to get my livelihood more than to learn to read a lot (and everything that comes with it) and to wait to a land a good paying job (which sucks and anyway is not very likely to happen in this career choice anyway, not without transforming into a modern slave)

5. I’m currently working on other skills such as digital marketing (which I’m actually using now while working for 2 hostels so I can start making a portfolio and I’m gonna set up my personal blog when I have more free time) and music when i can which I’m pretty certain I love : ). I’m certain of cultivating this skills and that they’re aligned to what I want in my future.

And this are the reasons to finish the career:

1.  I’m a semester away of finishing the career.

2. My family wants me to finish it.

So… you get the picture. Maybe a month ago I was more commited to finish this but it was because I had so much free time and anyway I wasn’t really getting better at things but definitely progressing (an expected result of devoting time to something).

Lately I got this part-time job that has made me confirm that one can’t just do everything, I was the type of person that thought that you can do everything at the same time but most of this year I’ve learned to prioritize, make plans, and reflect and a bunch load of other things for my personal development which has made me change my life.

I’m grateful with this job because I actually like it and enjoy it as no other work I’ve had before (and also plan to stay there for at least another year while my other projects take flight) and it’s giving me the opportunity to grow in other aspects of my life such as digital marketing, music (since I have free time in the reception and there’s a guitar there :v), time to read, practice my English and socialize (I’ve been very shy most of my life and i’ve been working to get rid of it for some time, almost 2 years now).

I’ve been actually thinking of leaving my career for quite a while, some months actually, but I’ve always convinced myself to keep going for the 2 reasons that you read up and since I had so much free time I just stayed on course just because. Today those 2 reasons hasn’t changed but now, with the new job and the whole lot of reflection I’ve been doing, it just feels so irrelevant to keep going with it, I don’t have enough energy nor time to do everything and adding one thing that needs so much effort and that I actually don’t care about, well… I just don’t see the point on it.

The reason for doing this post it’s because I’ve had to learn to select which are the most important things that will get the most results on my life instead of trying to do everything at the same time (I see this post as the result of this other one about productivity that I wrote here almost a month ago) and with the new things on my life I need to decide on this.

So yeah, I’d like to hear from you people what you think and if you could give me a perspective on things : ) I’ll be here for your responses. Cheers and sorry for the long post,

Cheers.

[Kvath]

Bump. Can be bad things 

[Kvath]

Actually, anyone who reads this just ignore it. This is just me deceiving myself to not be true to myself and wait for validation of others, pleasing people that don't know what you know about yourself is just incoherent, if you know what you want to do and you've meditated on what's good for you just do it. Be true to yourself, that's what i got from this. Now onto more meaningful things! Swoosh!

[Vercingetorix]

Have you decided yet?

I would say suck it up and do it. It seems to me that you should finish your degree just so who knows it might be useful one day and it's always looks good in a resume, and for the sake of finishing things.

One semester is really not a long time, think of all the time you invested in your studies, at least you will get recognition for it and you won't feel you wasted all that time.

It's just 14 weeks!

[Schulzy]

Don't waste anymore of your time on that. I know this is contradicting the previous guy ^ but that is my take on it.
I wouldnt do it anymore if it doesnt fit my life goal.

[Kvath]

@Vercingetorix @Schulzy jeje  thanks guys, actually i just decided to keep doing it but with way less time allocated to it on the week so i won't be signing on the university next semester, that way i can give myself more space to work on the things are relevant and coherent with myself now but keep working towards finishing this thing and as @Vercingetorix said "for the sake of finishing things" which actually is important to me and something that i've learnt from my life experience.

I know the diploma will be useful to me in the future (but more like future future, like 5+ years maybe) because i do am interested on keep working on philosophy (although my degree is on anthropology but so you know my main areas of work while i studied where philosopic anthropology and technology) and preparing lectures on various topics so a certified degree can give me weight and legimacy towards my audience, but while that works out i'll keep reading and writing on my personal blog which i hope i'll be launching before this year ends . So i'm not on a rush to graduate but definitely am in a rush to learning the skills that are relevant know to me and my goals for the next 5 years.

[Kvath]

Thanks a lot for replying (even though i already decided) it means a lot to me

[Vercingetorix]

@Kvath sounds like it's the right decision, good luck!

What's your blog going to be about?

 

[Kvath]

@Vercingetorix i think its a decision, im satisfied with it

About the blog mostly free writing about whatever i want to write. Its not like a serious project, more like a canvas where i can create.

I want to use it as a journal of some kind or to write about ideas i just have. This weekend i ended giving some friends a quick lecture (like 20min) on asian philosophy so why not have that written? Somebody could find some use for it and id like to sharpen my writing skills

[Zane]

I love your middle ground strategy of reducing your time and still getting your degree so you can focus on your authentic desires!