Ask Lemmy

A foreword: there is no picture. The future has guidelines, tendencies, but no actual shape. There's nothing you're supposed to do. Life isn't planned out all at once. Those days are dead. In fact, they nay never have existed. You will become a new person, and have a new career or focus or stage of life, about once every 11 years. That's normal. That's life's uncertainty.

The piece of advice is the one I've given on many platforms for years: if you're —

• North American and

• from any "settler-colonial" culture and

• you're able,

then leave North America for at least one year. Live elsewhere, see how others live, and break out of the bubble built by the preschool to prison pipeline, the corporate cradle to coffin collective consciousness. This advice isn't exclusively for Gringos and Canucks, but it's based on the particular starting square I had and most of the people I've encountered. Also, I don't mean to exclude my Indigenous, Mexican, Mexica, and other Latino brothers and sisters, but my understanding is that you've already got reality pushing the movement narrative.

If you're a a first-generation North American (like me), also build connections within your community. There is much work to be done to diversify these places and so many other new, and first-gens could use some support. Detachment from one another is what harms us most. The communities I've had outside of El Norte continue to feed me. Admittedly, the job I have and the hours I keep prevent community-building. I need to get back to it.

Finally, get smart about money. Find teachers, take meetings at banks, go to teachings at libraries. Study the jargon in your credit card agreements. Make investments in yourself and your future. I failed pretty spectacularly at this one.

As far how to choose WHAT to do with all your time, well, the only thing I'd advise is to be a crafty, insightful, decisive disruptor. Nothing else that I've seen works. Be the best there is at a small thing you do. Identify a critical mass for your work and work hard to get to the place where 15% of the people you talk to will say 'yes' to you. Gain your repeat customers, followers, students, and acolytes. You can do what want. The trick is to have people support you or believe in your doing it.

Just a digest of what Ive seen here so far:

don't get bogged down planning too far ahead. Set yourself some achievable goals for the near future.

This is good advice.

there is a good chance that your future could look very different than what you imagine it might be.

This is not advice, but true and warrants remembering because you can bend the future.

find a good strategy for managing upkeep on whatever needs it.

Many people forget that anything and everything you obtain and want to keep working will require maintenance. Machines, subject knowledge, relationships, tools, whatever — all need upkeep. Know your shit so you can keep your shit together.

Focus on improving a single thing you can do in the short term.

I'd add to this. Short term goals should not be ends in themselves unless they are for entertainment. If you're focusing on a short term goal, connect it to a long term goal.

get[ ] a union job if you don’t have employment figured out yet.

Unions can protect you. But, if you're looking for satisfaction, the job has to be what you want it to be. Or, take pleasure in the union connections. If neither of these feeds you, a union can't save you from yourself.

Anyway, you asked and I'm stuck in a waiting room.