So 25, no college degree, skipped military what now?

[cola]

Yeah so im 25, and was too busy using drugs, partying to bother with college. Now I make like 40 a year. Thats not terrible for 25 I guess but in the job im in, ive probably reached the ceiling.
Im seeing guys who were in my peer group who did do college buying houses and things like that and i kind of regret wasting the last 7 yrs .. well not wasting but you know what i mean..
im working on my personal trainers cert but that may or may not end up being lucrative.. any suggestions?

 

[Cloudtopsun2100]

Suggestion is GO TO COLLEGE get a degree, fix yourself up and get into exercising (which shouldnt be hard as you are going for that cert.)

Also, find some healthy hobbies that won't make you feel like you are aging (trust me when you are in your 30s if you still only play basketball you will begin to feel old as you lose your hops) like astronomy, tennis, cooking, martial arts, dancing. Note, that last line is also advice to myself. I need to get back in to martial arts and try my hand at dancing/tennis.

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

Okay, well we all know that you should have gone to college, but what's done is done so there's no need to beat a dead horse about that. Let's talk about options instead:

a) If you can do it definitely go to college

b) Perhaps certification programs like Human Resources, Personal Trainer (like you mentioned), Trade school like electrician or plumbing

c) Truck driver CDL (commercial drivers license), I was gonna get my CDL for a brief period but decided to stick with finance instead. If you get hooked up with companies like CR England, Snyder, or some of the other big name companies they'll waive your tuition fee with the stipulation that you work for them for 2 years. After that, you can work your way to having a dedicated account with chains like Wal-Mart or Target or Vons. If you do go this route, make sure you get license to drive refrigerated trucks since that's bigger money.

 

[prison/con.net]

you can still join the miitary at age 35, so it's not out as an option. If you do a tour in "Stan" you can get hired as a merc for 150k per year. If you know how to invest it, especially as a vet, that 150k can retire you, right there. I mean on a clear 50k per year, after just a couple of years of learning what to do.

 

[Mike32ct]

If you decide to do a trade, refrigeration or HVAC is pretty good. But that's for guys who love mechanical and electrical hands on stuff.

 

[Infern0]

Yeah so im 25, and was too busy using drugs, partying to bother with college. Now I make like 40 a year. Thats not terrible for 25 I guess but in the job im in, ive probably reached the ceiling.
Im seeing guys who were in my peer group who did do college buying houses and things like that and i kind of regret wasting the last 7 yrs .. well not wasting but you know what i mean..
im working on my personal trainers cert but that may or may not end up being lucrative.. any suggestions?

What do you want to do?

You are getting PT cert, do you enjoy that? Is it fulfilling to you?

If so put 100% energy into that and make yourself successful.

In 5 years you could be training Hugh Jackman or something making fat bank doing something you love.

Then your friends who went to college and got boring ass desk jobs and got fat ugly wives will be who you look at as the failures.

I make great money doing something I love, out of my school friends I'm the most successful and I dropped out of school at 17.

The key is finding something you are passionate about and having the drive to make it work.

 

[backseatjuan]

My suggestion is to start a business. Pick what you like and do good and expand it.

 

[user43770]

It's so cliche these days in the manosphere to tell someone to start a business. Sure, it would be great to create your own company that eventually made a lot of money, but what are you going to sell? You see, they never go into these details. If they knew what to sell they'd be doing it.

I was in a similar situation to yours not too long ago. I set out trying to find my passion. I didn't care so much about making big bucks, I just wanted to find what I was meant to do. Never found it.

You know what I found? All jobs suck for some reason or another. I learned to find something that you don't hate, and stick with it until you're the best at what you do.

Don't waste time in college if you don't have to. It's mostly a money grab to take advantage of people that have been told their entire lives that it's their only option. If you aren't doing finance or engineering, it's probably a waste of time. Unless you plan on investing a lot more money on an advanced degree.

dutchman already said it, but you can make a lot of money by learning a trade. What he didn't say, is that it's a lot of hard, physical work. You're going to bust your ass all day, and just pray for quitting time. You're going to wake up sore and your body is going to be hurting. You don't see many old guys working in the trades. It's for a good reason: their bodies finally gave out. The wealthy ones learned the trade and eventually started their own business. You could do that to if you had the drive.

Ultimately, do whatever you feel most inclined towards, but you should realize that money isn't everything. Plenty of people work all their lives trying to make money, only to realize on their death bed that they wasted their life.

 

[backseatjuan]

Maybe the dude is good in coaching, he could sell his coaching services. I'm good at repairing computers, phones, and sh2t like that, so that's what I sell.

 

[user43770]

Yeah, I forgot about computer science/ IT, that's a career with a future, but you don't necessarily have to get a degree to do that. You could just buy books about it off amazon, get an entry level job somewhere and then work your way up - getting new certs along the way, which all increase your pay grade. A lot of companies will pay for you to get those certs, too.

 

[backseatjuan]

Yeah, and don't forget you get paid $11 an hour, 15 max, while you repair notebooks and sh1t your boss takes more than $100 for those, and you get $11. Haaaaaaaa. Haaaaaaaaa haaaaaa. Open up your own stuff.

 

[prison/con.net]

JB Hunt trucking will "pay for" your $4000 18 wheeler training class, and then pay you 30k for 60'k's worth of driving for them, contract deal, for a year. With that experience and funding, and a school loan, you can be ready to go get a 3rd world wife, and get an older, used truck. If you "live in" that truck (and maybe an old van when you get "home". you can clear 50k per year, each. Your expenses for yourself (and hers) run about 10k per year of that (each). Pay her an additional 10k, cash, and she'll be thrilled. You'll probably lose her after 2-3 years, but hey, it's a way to make a clear 200k in 3 years, with no special skills or investment made with your own money. Keep all investments property in a Nevada corporation, man, and dont let her find out about it.

 

[user43770]

JB Hunt trucking will "pay for" your $4000 18 wheeler training class, and then pay you 30k for 60'k's worth of driving for them, contract deal, for a year. With that experience and funding, and a school loan, you can be ready to go get a 3rd world wife, and get an older, used truck. If you "live in" that truck (and maybe an old van when you get "home". you can clear 50k per year, each. Your expenses for yourself (and hers) run about 10k per year of that (each). Pay her an additional 10k, cash, and she'll be thrilled. You'll probably lose her after 2-3 years, but hey, it's a way to make a clear 200k in 3 years, with no special skills or investment made with your own money. Keep all investments property in a Nevada corporation, man, and dont let her find out about it.

Truck driving can be good money, no doubt, but you have to be willing to be on the road for at least 5 days a week; you need to be prepared to sleep in that truck most of the time, too. And guess what, there's a lot of crime in those rest stops...who knows what city you're going to wind up in - who knows what methed out addict you're going to run into?

Showering in rest stops: check. Eating nothing but fast food: check. Constantly being sleep deprived: check.

Hey, but at least the money is good, right?

 

[user43770]

Yeah, and don't forget you get paid $11 an hour, 15 max, while you repair notebooks and sh1t your boss takes more than $100 for those, and you get $11. Haaaaaaaa. Haaaaaaaaa haaaaaa. Open up your own stuff.

I know of guys making upward of 100k based off the number of certs and experience they have. It's more than just repairing broken laptops. I was talking about IT guys that keep entire businesses up and running.

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

Truck driving can be good money, no doubt, but you have to be willing to be on the road for at least 5 days a week; you need to be prepared to sleep in that truck most of the time, too. And guess what, there's a lot of crime in those rest stops...who knows what city you're going to wind up in - who knows what methed out addict you're going to run into?

Showering in rest stops: check. Eating nothing but fast food: check. Constantly being sleep deprived: check.

Hey, but at least the money is good, right?

Well it's definitely a tough life there's no denying that. But like any profession, there's going to be an ugly side.

there's also going to be an up side too if you play your cards right.

Think about the truck guys that also are license to transport refrigerated merchandise or hazardous material or liquid material. Those guys do pretty well once they get on a dedicated account with a customer.

Or, how about the kamikaze guys who are actually brave enough to transport into Mexico which in my opinion is a suicide mission, but they get paid well.

The one bit of advice I've consistently heard from truck guys is to not rush to become an Owner/Operator too soon. Most companies will push you to be an owner/operator and lease a vehicle through them but this is a poor choice since they pay you a fixed rate but you would have to incur all the maintenance expense of the truck. Don't do it until you've got a few years experience under your belt.

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

you can still join the miitary at age 35, so it's not out as an option. If you do a tour in "Stan" you can get hired as a merc for 150k per year. If you know how to invest it, especially as a vet, that 150k can retire you, right there. I mean on a clear 50k per year, after just a couple of years of learning what to do.

It's a definitely an option, but IMHO, it's not really a practical option since to be hired as a merc making 150K+ escorting high value people, he'd need to have experience with an elite outfit like Army Green Berets, Army Rangers, Delta Force, Navy SEALs, Navy SWCC, Marine Corps Force Recon, etc... and he'd also have to serve tours in Iraq or Afghanistan but the US has scaled down the war effort and so this doesn't seem likely to happen.

Considering that he's also a former druggie and generally lacks discipline, his chances of being accepted into these elite outfits is pretty slim.

 

[cola]

It's a definitely an option, but IMHO, it's not really a practical option since to be hired as a merc making 150K+ escorting high value people, he'd need to have experience with an elite outfit like Army Green Berets, Army Rangers, Delta Force, Navy SEALs, Navy SWCC, Marine Corps Force Recon, etc... and he'd also have to serve tours in Iraq or Afghanistan but the US has scaled down the war effort and so this doesn't seem likely to happen.


Considering that he's also a former druggie and generally lacks discipline, his chances of being accepted into these elite outfits is pretty slim.

Never said I lack discipline. Discipline is actually one of my strengths. And you make it sound as if I said I was on heroine or something..
just weed and an epill or 2
dude wtf?

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

Never said I lack discipline. Discipline is actually one of my strengths. And you make it sound as if I said I was on heroine or something..
just weed and an epill or 2
dude wtf?

Don't get all defensive, kid. Maybe in your eyes you perceive yourself as having discipline, but in the eyes of another person they'd think you're a slacker. Just look back at what you wrote:

a) spent your young years partying and doing drugs
b) didn't go to college
c) didn't join the millitary
e) 25 years old and still directionless

With this kind of resume, you honestly don't think people would have good reason to think you're undisciplined?

I want to give you a piece of honest, sincere advice: in the working world, how you perceive yourself doesn't matter nearly as much as how others perceive you....



Right now, if I were in your position, my ideal choice would be to see if your local community college has certification programs in Human Resources.

In my personal opinion, Human Resources is a woman's job. But just like Registered Nurses, times have changed and it's socially acceptible for men to work in HR.

The reason why I favor this route for you is because it's approximately a 6-8 month cert program and you have the potential to earn more with experience.

And it's not a very difficult job.

Investigate this option..... and make sure to quit being so overly sensitive..