I just graduated from university!! Which means I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life, and have been questioning if I’m even pursuing the right things as a fresh graduate. I have no plans lined up for work just yet, which got me thinking about what I would want my ideal lifestyle to look like as of writing this. Remembering I did an assignment about 5 year plans and alternatives, I also wanted to see if what I put down was still relevant.
This is what I put 4 years ago when I took the Career Fundamentals course at UBC Sauder in 2020:
Being a first year at the time of taking this course, I was not humbled by the grind of being consistent when going to the gym and looking for that first internship just yet. Thankfully, I was able to achieve my travel goals through trips with friends and was able to secure a few solid internships during university, but I am not where I want to be for accepting a full time job offer.
I always told myself as a kid that I wanted to skip school and jump right into entrepreneurship, but the reality is that I need to gain somewhat of a foundation of the skills I will need to start a business by going to university. I was able to live with friends and even did a study abroad semester in Europe, but in terms of working at a startup or founding one myself, I guess it will have to wait. Summer courses were especially handy in giving me more free time during the semester though.
I guess I just wanted to be a college dropout, startup founder, MMA fighter, and globetrotter all at the same time. If only…
After looking back on what my 18 year old self said, I now think about my ideal lifestyle in the following ways:
What I do to make money
I try to think about what skills I currently have and how I can use them to make money. Then I try to focus my efforts on honing in on these skills to make them even better. This got me thinking about how long I can use these skills for until I don’t want to rely on them to work for a living anymore. I even started to ask myself deeper questions such as how much money will actually be enough to live where I want and how I want?
- Would highly recommend watching Ali Abdaal’s guide on achieving financial freedom and some things to think about on the way
Where I live
I’m a strong believer that your environment dictates your habits, ultimately shaping your lifestyle. In my experience, I found that I like to live in quieter and more nature friendly cities like Vancouver, which led me to being more active and outdoors. On the other hand, when I lived in a big metropolitan city like Toronto, I was more social and spent the majority of my paycheck going out with friends and coworkers.
- Although living in these fast paced and more social environments were a lot of fun in the moment, I did not find it to be the most sustainable in the long run for me.
What I do to have fun
Work life balance is key to a healthy and wealthy life. Finding hobbies and spending time with friends is important to keeping mental health and positive vibes up. I try to live by the saying ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’, and have definitely rewarded myself through travel and different experiences that I will remember forever. Some material things once in a while like a car is nice too.
The people I want to be around
Being around the right people and having friends that support one other has definitely made dealing with all the pressures of life a bit more bearable. Creating those meaningful relationships leads to success later on the future when everyone has built their dream lives.
At the end of the day, I am currently only 22 years old, and my goals and ambitions are changing everyday. I won’t be surprised if what I want now is different in another 4 years, especially as other factors such as work or relationships develop further in my life. Trying my best to live day by day has helped a lot with this anxiety about the future.
Its hard to keep going in the moment, but getting through it with people that support you makes the process a lot easier. Just try not to take the process too seriously, have fun along the way, and everything will work out.
- What I tell myself after I get an automated job rejection
As a final note, It also seems like the saying that “more money leads to more problems” is becoming more true as I reach these different milestones in life. I guess Drake and every other rapper was right…
