Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Quarter Life Crisis

The Quarter life crisis seems to be a very relevant thing at the moment. My working definition of it being: that moment of panic once you leave the cushy safety of academics, when you realise you have no idea how to navigate the career world. It's been almost a year since I finished my degree now, and I didn't really leave any more enlightened as to how to forge a future for myself based on my skills, or make my dreams a feasible reality. I've also decided to plonk myself down into a city that I am unfamiliar with, which doesn't exactly bring a sense of comfort to my days in the cold wilderness that is titled 'being a graduate'. 

The main dilemma with the QLC is finding both the drive and the focus to create a new way of life for ourselves. (This especially applies to people who took a degree nonspecific to a career.) Up until this point, every deadline, every goal, every extra curricular has been governed for us by academic laws and teachers. We've had co-captains to pilot our planes, and now this metaphor for life has left us without a co-person to help us navigate and steer us onto the right path.

So I thought what better thing to do than to use this unguided and confusing time to share the wisdom that I have gathered over my few months of being a lost soul. I may even inspire those of you who are fellow QLC-ers into action. 

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SILLY SELF > 

  1. Try and do one productive thing everyday! Whether it's applying for 1 job, or taking an hour to practise that new skill you want to learn. (Even if that skill is learning to eat cake more efficiently- yummmy)
  2. Get out of the house... it's super easy to sit inside or in bed all day if you don't have a job yet; but this won't make you feel better about yourself (trust me). Go and sit in a coffee shop and job search whilst you caffein-ate, or  go watch something at the movies. Perhaps you could even go to the gym and get an endorphin kick (shocked face).
  3. Find some filler work. Any jobs that can help your bank balance and get you out in the world is a good thing even if its not your long term goal (even part time jobs or volunteer positions will get you meeting people and out into the world). 
  4. Find a class that you can go to, and take all this free time to learn those things you never got round to before. I've found starting with 30 minutes of new thing every other day is a good aim to start off with. (30 mins everyday is a little too much pressure for some *cough... me*, and it often ends in the attempt to learn something new being abandoned altogether.)
  5. Don't sit in silence... if you have no idea what you're doing or how to go about it, get advice from your family and friends who have done it before. It's good to have people as a sounding board to help you, however their advice can only go so far, they can't do the work for you. 
  6. Make a playlist of songs to pump you up and get you going through the day. For example, a 'wake me up' playlist, or an 'I'm so bored but need a song to get me out of my PJ's' playlist, or a 'Let's go for a walk and see where we end up' playlist. 

SOME MOTIVATIONAL/INSPIRING QUOTES FOR YO' FINE SELF >

  • "Your previous intentions, thoughts, and actions are who you are currently. Your present intentions, thoughts, and actions will determine who you will be." - Timothy Ferris
  • "People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo Da Vinci
  • "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone" - Pablo Picasso (A tad dramatic perhaps, but hey Picasso isn't exactly know for his subtlety)

SO folks, here's a little song for you glorious readers (thanks for reading this far through my ramblings)  It's called 'Overdrawn' by and band called 'White Sea' - for me its one of those songs you can put on repeat and not realise you've listened to it 5-10 times because it allows your mind to wander. 
Peace and Love xxx also I've joined bloglovin' so if any of you are on that give me a follow. Follow my blog with Bloglovin



Share to Pinterest

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Blog Archive

Powered by Blogger.