>>741>20>no university>hate studying>want to earn money>doesn't want to get into a trade that destroys the body>doesn't want to be outside all dayOne of my friends did vocational training and learnt a trade before going to university, failing and then studying something that he's better at at a different university.
I also know someone who went into archaeology but her body couldn't keep up with it after so many decades (I don't know if she got any health problems but she mentioned that the job is harder on her body than it used to be) so she went back to university for something a bit more easy for someone of older age.
Even if whatever you choose gets too much, you can still try something else (although university costs money ofc, but you're being supported when it comes to education, right?).
Maybe check out jobs that are recommended for older people, they usually are a bit easier on the body
https://www.greatseniorliving.com/articles/jobs-for-older-people Also, a physically not demanding job isn't necessarily better for your body (sedentary lifestyle and all), but if you're concerned about this, you're surely working out regularly anyway.
>no matter what path I take, I will end up regretting itI think you're overestimating how bad a "wrong" choice would impact you. I know several people who failed university and they just studied something else, you can do that. (Unless you're in america or some place where studying is unreasonably expensive, then it just depends on how rich your caregivers are)
Either way, if you keep your pessimistic outlook, you'll fret about "oh no, back in my 20's I had a NEET phase, my CV is ruined, I wasted my youth" or whatnot, like, it doesn't have to be that big of a deal either way, but I can promise that you'll have more fun doing productive things. Doesn't have to be mentally challenging, just a regular job.
If you have no idea what might be fun for you at all, you could try some traineeships or volunteer work (if your caregivers give you the money to afford such things). It's a bit easier than getting a paying job and you'll also be under less pressure to perform. Especially volunteer work was an enriching experience for me personally and showed me some of my strengths and flaws when it comes to working with people so I have a better idea of how to go about things and what to work on.
You could apply for part-time jobs and do more research on what job environment and activities you'd enjoy being in and doing regularly. Do you enjoy labs, offices, libraries, gardens, vehicles, bars, museums or the empty roads at 6 in the morning? Menial work, customer service, doing stuff on a computer, taking care of animals, looking at data, cleaning, watching out for people, looking at screens, taking calls…
When I was in your place, I made myself a list of stuff I could imagine myself enjoying, then at what my area offers (I really didn't want to move states) and then made a list for that too, like how far I'd have to commute and how confident I was in not failing it and then I just applied everywhere (including at like 12 universities).
When I got my answers, I threw out the rejections and wrote down where I'd gotten accepted, then ranked everything on my list according to my level of confidence and low commuting time (those are the things that were actually important to me, maybe you have different parameters, like money or something physical) to narrow down my choices.
I narrowed things down to whatever I had high enough confidence in and also had a low commuting time and then picked from those what I thought I'd have the most fun with overall. (It ended up being something with a high commute time tbh, I went with my gut feel in the end, no regrets). I made good friends at uni too because many shared my interests, I could really vibe with them.
I don't think I'll earn much money with what I chose, but I'm not planning on starting a family or anything and I do have people supporting me financially if things should get rough, so I'm fine and happy with my choice. If I'd been in a different financial situation, that would've affected my ranking and choice as well, but I think I'd have gone with the same methodology.
…Well, that's how I went about it anyway, I'm sure you'll have your own way of making a choice. Going by gut feel also isn't always a bad idea, it's also based on information you have even if the details of it aren't obvious to you when you try to think about it to figure out why you have that feeling.
Anyway, good luck!
