Quote:
Originally Posted by Russic
It's all such an interesting conundrum. Everybody tries to plan for a future that probably won't unfold as expected... the future is obnoxious that way.
I have a buddy who did precisely what Sliver is suggesting, decided he wanted to be a paramedic, found the most logical (and simplest) path, and crushed it. Was making $100,000 within a decade, and will retire at 50 with a full pension. He's also 100% traumatized and spends most of his time imagining a life where he did literally anything else.
Important to note: I am not saying Sliver's suggestion is at all wrong, just that we can only plan to a certain degree before life steps in and plays its role.
Another vote for Sliver's method, another guy I know did weak math through high school, realized at 24 what he wanted to do and had to upgrade everything. His experience was that difficult math at 24 is very different from difficult math at 17. The brain (well, his at least) is a much different computer at 24 and he found it almost simple. My wife is a teacher and one of her biggest struggles is convincing parents and students that high school grades aren't the end of the road.
Taking things back to financial chatter, the teacher example is interesting. I partially blame social media, but a lot of the new teachers coming up don't see it as the gift Sliver does. The idea of going from $65,000 --> $100,000 in a decade is seen by many as not good enough. I've spoken to a lot of managers hiring for junior roles across various industries that report many young people arrive in the workforce looking for $100,000 off the hop (I fully admit this is anecdotal).
To give an example, at my wife's school they just hired a new teacher. The reason she got the job? Of the 8 candidates, she's the only one that showed up to the interview. Not one of the 7 sent an email or made a phone call to cancel. They just didn't show up.
Not trying to turn this into a "kids these days" post... perhaps things have gotten to the point where $65,000 entry jobs aren't enough for many people.
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Yeah, my daughter was losing sleep and stressing so much for the first half of high school about grades and ruining her future when she was just 16. That's when I clued in that
there has to be a better way. We changed our whole approach and it relieved so much of her stress and anxiety. She went from thinking she'd be digging ditches as a career to being accepted to three universities.
Just get accepted into university and then make your way once you're there. It's all you need to do. The last thing you want to be as a teen is a study-a-holic missing out on all the fun just to get an arbitrary number that absolutely does.not.matter. Do well with your grades such that you get accepted into university, but don't push harder for that extra five or eight percent that takes way too much time and effort to achieve. Dedicate that time to relationships, friendships, relaxing, exercising and just generally being a well-rounded human that is enjoying their fleeting youth.
I went out for beers last night with two other people - both teachers. They couldn't agree more with what I'm saying and I'm heartened to hear your teacher wife feels the same way. My wife is in the corporate world and she helped inform my shift from "get good grades" to "get adequate grades in the easiest courses possible". Reason being is the 99% students absolutely top out in the workforce while people like my wife who are fun, personable and were cool as young people end up being the good leaders who other good leaders want to elevate and be with on trips, in meeting, etc. The studious types end up plateauing and continue to be worker bees while being surpassed by the normies.