Lived off trust fund and now my career sucks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Entrepreneur path seems like the best option for your personality type. Actually there are many top entrepreneurs similar to how you described for you. But a salaried desk job as is common in DC is not for you. And that’s okay- you might make way more money than them anyway!

Lol not at all.

OP has no work ethic. Therefore would never be bale to be successful as a company founder or president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Entrepreneur path seems like the best option for your personality type. Actually there are many top entrepreneurs similar to how you described for you. But a salaried desk job as is common in DC is not for you. And that’s okay- you might make way more money than them anyway!

Lol not at all.

OP has no work ethic. Therefore would never be bale to be successful as a company founder or president.

You’re naive ifyou don’t think a ton of entrepreneurs are like this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP lost interest in this thread already.

Heh. I mean, of course.

And here are us strivers still trying to fix the problem.

I literally laughed out loud.

Oh God, hilarious!!! I was just getting ready to tell OP to teach a dance class. Heck maybe even open up a barre studio. Or go into real estate. But oh well I guess she lost interest.

You all understand you are making fun of a non-NT person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Entrepreneur path seems like the best option for your personality type. Actually there are many top entrepreneurs similar to how you described for you. But a salaried desk job as is common in DC is not for you. And that’s okay- you might make way more money than them anyway!

Lol not at all.

OP has no work ethic. Therefore would never be bale to be successful as a company founder or president.

You’re naive ifyou don’t think a ton of entrepreneurs are like this

Not ones who can't afford to throw away money on their pet project. OP doesn't have enough money to blow it on a vanity project. If she actually wanted to try to make a business work, she would have to put a lot of work into it.

[Anonymous]

Figure out what you enjoy and do that. Not like you are going to be homeless if unemployed.

[Anonymous]

Lots of entenpeaurs have bad work ethics? I always assumed the opposite.

Tell me more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work and like my job, but I would not work if I had your trust fund.

The good apartment and basic income would be enough for me though. Read, exercise, write a novel, and never feel stressed or tired from a full time work schedule: that sounds like heaven to me. Is being able to afford nice vacations really worth spending 40 hours a week at a job? It wouldn’t be worth it to me.


You are so lucky.

You forgot the most important thing for a human life - purpose. If you are worthless if you don't have that and I would still work even if I have tons of money. I would do things to make a difference and more meaningful work than a stressful job but no way I am sitting at home with nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't waste time with college classes or getting a degree in X. Since you can't hold down a typical job, the degree won't do you any good. It's a waste of time and money. Given that a lot of colleges/universities are online these days, do you really have the self discipline to complete consecutive online courses?

Since your passion and degree is Dance why not go into coaching or teaching dance? There are a ton of studios, rec centers, camps, etc that are always hiring that you could find a job.
Plus, teaching a bunch of dance classes isn't a 9-5 job so that's a plus since an office-type job is where you struggle.

Hec, even teaching a few zumba classes a few times a week would check off all your boxes.

This is terrible advice. Who would want to pay for their child or budding professional to take classes from a never-professional? College dance degree holders are people who paid 4 years of tuition dollars to self-actualizing their self-fantasies, not actual dancers who the public pays season tickets to watch perform. And frankly, nobody would pay to take physical training lessons from someone who is out of shape. A good number of college dance (i.e. modern dance) products do not have body types to aspire towards.

This might be the dumbest response in a thread full of really dumb responses.

Completely agree but I can 100% see the woman who wrote this. Precious Larla would ONLY take lessons from someone with a ballet company pedigree. All else is a waste of time and you lose the ability to brag about the coach's credentials. Its foolish and narrow

[Anonymous]

What Color is Your Parachute didn't help me at all, and I've been in the same position. You're in a great position to volunteer for whatever cause you think you might be passionate about, and that could lead you down a path to that kind of work. Causes are worth getting up for, and a good network of people working for what they believe in can be better than vacations, etc. Community is important, and in those kinds of jobs, no one has much money or spends lavishly. Another degree isn't a bad idea. Law school? Film/communications? AU has a good program and you can do it on weekends. It would be marketable because there are lots of jobs for communications/video savvy people. And you can take those skills into an interesting, cause oriented nonprofit. You may not make a ton of money but you will have meaning, useful skills, and a way to contribute.

Don't be hard on yourself. You're in a unique situation without much of a sense of community--it's not like there's a support group for people with trust funds. And I believe you, they bring with them their own downsides. Think about what would make you most happy and fill your life most. Don't judge yourself by your resume or your income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 starting a business, law school, +1 MBA

Uh, no.

[Anonymous]

This is not ADHD. This is someone who has no reason to do boring shit. Most jobs are no fun. The challenge for OP is to find work that is fun, interesting, fulfilling. Good luck, OP. If you're brave enough to write a book or an article about this, the underbelly of the trust fund, I think it would resonate for a number of women living in the suburbs (or cities) who are married and don't work. The challenge is the same. How to create meaning when you aren't forced to work? It would be interesting to look at different cultures where work isn't such a primary part of one's identity.

[Anonymous]

Teach dance, barre, fitness classes, etc. Or work at a private preschool or day care - it’s a fulfilling, active job. And live off your trust. I don’t think OP truly wants more monetary/physical “things,” I think she just wants more meaning and interest in her life but doesn’t know how to express that.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like OP's trust is pumping out $50k per year at most. Which explains why she was able to keep up when her friends were poor students, but now that they're in their 30s with decent jobs, she can no longer keep up (nice apartment, vacations, nice things etc).

I find it incredible someone would blow off their whole working life responsibility based on this paltry sum. DC is literally FILLED with people getting this kind of support from something other than a job. Lots of people with trust funds, and inheritances. But even more common is just people in their 20s and 30s whose parents still pay the credit card bills. A a huge chunk of DC people in their 30s and 40s whose parents buy them a $1m-$2m house (which is the equivalent of more than a $50k annual payment), or pay for multiple kids' private schools at $40k a pop, for instance. People getting five and six figure payments from parents in perpetuity, much like OP. And these people all still work regular DC jobs and still hustle.

That OP never bothered to work hard speaks way more to OP's personality and core qualities, and not because OP has a trust fund.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What Color is Your Parachute didn't help me at all, and I've been in the same position. You're in a great position to volunteer for whatever cause you think you might be passionate about, and that could lead you down a path to that kind of work. Causes are worth getting up for, and a good network of people working for what they believe in can be better than vacations, etc. Community is important, and in those kinds of jobs, no one has much money or spends lavishly. Another degree isn't a bad idea. Law school? Film/communications? AU has a good program and you can do it on weekends. It would be marketable because there are lots of jobs for communications/video savvy people. And you can take those skills into an interesting, cause oriented nonprofit. You may not make a ton of money but you will have meaning, useful skills, and a way to contribute.

Don't be hard on yourself. You're in a unique situation without much of a sense of community--it's not like there's a support group for people with trust funds. And I believe you, they bring with them their own downsides. Think about what would make you most happy and fill your life most. Don't judge yourself by your resume or your income.

Exactly. You are lucky and in a great spot, which is probably why you raised the ire of so many of the DCUM “I hate my job and life crowd”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:+1 starting a business, law school, +1 MBA

Forgot to add that these all require a lot of hard work, focus, and often financial investment--as you probably know. It's a good idea to make sure that your ADHD is treated well first if you choose any of these paths.

FWIW I'm very good at focusing on things that interest me and that I care about. I tested extremely highly and have generally done well in school, although I tended to be a slacker and didn't work that hard. So, I think I could handle the workload, I guess I just wonder if that's the right path or if it's too late, at my age, to start something like this. I've considered law school but have heard lawyers dont make much money, and not sure what I would study in business school, but I have been considering them.

Most people are. (?)

It's more pronounced in people with ADD or ADHD.

Sure. It's also not in itself an overall plus for any job. Most jobs -- and yes, even senior ones -- require you to do things that doing interest you and/or that you don't care about. Finding it easy and enjoyable to do the parts you like is almost a tautology.

I think you've got two options, both valid. One is to accept that this is the way it's going to be, and find some peace and joy in the positives. The other is to accept that you can't be happy or fulfilled like this but will need to do things that don't interest you and that you don't care about to get further ahead, and it will probably be painful -- but there isn't a cheat code (i.e., some magical job or training track) to get around that.

Right. And I totally accept that I will have to do some of that in each job. Of course that's life. I think that it's just hard for me to do jobs where that's basically 100% of the job,i.e. the lowest level of entry level business jobs, where it's a lot of paperwork and phone answering etc, with 0% or 5% of things that interest me. Unfortunately I recognize you usually have to get through this period to get to the level where you're paid to do upper level thinking, but because I'm ADHD it makes it very difficult for me to bear doing these totally boring tasks, with hardly any "strategic" parts of the brain activated. I guess one of the questions I have is if it's possible to find an entry level job where I can switch to that more strategic thinking immediately, rather than the menial paperwork type jobs which I think I'm uniquely ill suited for.

Didn’t read the whole thread so maybe this has been suggested but...Have you considered a helping profession like teaching or being a therapist? I don’t have ADD or a trust fund, but I hated every single office job I tried in my 20s for all the reasons you have listed. I like working with people and teaching is challenging, engages my intellect, and allows me to be creative. One caveat is that I am very organized and efficient by nature so ADD might make it hard. But there are a lot of options in education and psychology based fields, and you can get a really nice quality of life, especially with your trust fund as additional income. I am a teacher married to a school administrator and we are quite financially comfortable, plus we find joy and meaning in our work. Just a thought...