Possible careers for people like us

[Al]

Hi, I'm very indecisive and I haven't been able to choose a major or anything to start working on. I thought that maybe I should use what my family and everyone else sees as bad for good. Since I'm always daydreaming maybe there could be an advantage to it? I'm not good at communicating so I don't think I could be a writer. However, I like art and I would love to become like a digital art director and come up with some of the story. Sadly, I don't think it's very realistic though. I need an actual job but I don't know if there is anything realistic I can do. I'm very introverted (which I'm guessing people with this disorder are) so it's hard to find something I might actually like. Does anyone have any advice?


Also, if you don't mind me asking what job or career do you have?

[Sarah]

I'm a Marketing Manager and wouldn't recommend it! I wish I had helpful career advice but 5 years out of university I'm still undecided myself. Current job was one I wandered into after college and just sort of stayed with for lack of any better ideas.

I'd really love to do charity work or social work or something but I'm really uncomfortable with people.

I think the daydreaming makes it difficult to know who you are or what you want and obviously makes it more difficult to go after something you want if you do figure it out.

Apologies. Not awfully cheery today!

[Al]

It's fine :) Yeah, I think this is pretty much why I'm so indecisive. -- "I think the daydreaming makes it difficult to know who you are or what you want and obviously makes it more difficult to go after something you want if you do figure it out." -- I completely understand what you mean.

Sarah said:

I'm a Marketing Manager and wouldn't recommend it! I wish I had helpful career advice but 5 years out of university I'm still undecided myself. Current job was one I wandered into after college and just sort of stayed with for lack of any better ideas.

I'd really love to do charity work or social work or something but I'm really uncomfortable with people.

I think the daydreaming makes it difficult to know who you are or what you want and obviously makes it more difficult to go after something you want if you do figure it out.

Apologies. Not awfully cheery today!

[Rebecca Jay]

I have this problem too. I'm in my last year of highschool and I always daydream about all the different careers I would like. It's usually a romantisized view though and not realistic. Personally, I would like to do something in film - anything really because films display so many 'worlds' other than my own. I think if you just follow your interests ( even if they're minor ones) you will go down the right path.

[Heinriech Heisner]

I hear ya. I've changed my major and been in and out of school so many times that now I would just like to stick with my last one, history, so I might actually get my degree. It's been eight years since I graduated high school and will probably have to go to college for two more.

I used to daydream about all the different things that I could do, whether it be an astronaut, a wealthy business man who started his own company, a great architect, etc. I've finally realized though that those dreams can never materialize because of who I am. My state of mind changes every three to four months and so do my desires.

So I'm sticking with my backup plan and acting on my impulses. Here is my story: Since I am naturally lazy when it comes to working like other people, I had learned early on how to live frugilly and save/invest my money. I have no desire to date or start a family of my own, so that makes this lifestyle feasible. Since I am lazy, I like to seek out opportunities to my likings. I once stated that my life goal was to go through life without ever having a 'real' job. Last year I came close to having to get one, but then a great opportunity came up and saved me. For two years inbetween school courses, I told my father that I would like to come home and help in the reovation of old homes. He agreed after a bit of persausion and that's what I did. It was good hard work and I got to know my father well. Then the semester I went back to school, I had to look for my first apartment, but I wanted to save money. So I made a portfolio of my house renovation experience and posted ads up in local churches seeking a work/trade agreement. One opportunity did come up near the end. For working 40 hours a month, ripping out lath and plaster and carrying it to the dumpster out back, I got to rent the third floor apartment of one of Milwaukee's finest mansions. Last year, after quiting school for a third time, I was really concerned about having to actually get a job, but I put it off as long as I could by getting a really cheap apartment and living off the money I had saved up. Near the end though, as I was beginning to put in applications, halfway across the country, my brother and his wife were coming up with an idea to start a business. They called me up and finding I was still without a job, they asked if I would like to help them. I was a quite reluctant though because I was at home with family and family is really important to me, but as my sister has said to me, sometimes we have to do things we don't want to in order to survive. So I agreed to the offer and moved across the country. Thats where I am now. They business we are starting is picking up a lot of interest and so we are hopeful for what might come. In the mean time I've learned a whole slew of new talents and skills, which is always a plus. I also found an oppurtunity for a decent rent. I rent a room out of this guy's house with use of the common area. We share a lot of interests that I use to daydream about. I finally got the opportunity to go to a shooting range and learn to shoot a gun. I've been able to play with a truck's mechanics a little bit. I found a church to go to and even though I don't neecessarily share their beliefs I have found them to be a great people and I joined the choir even though I always feared doing that. Right now life is good.

What I'm trying to get across here is that if you want something, put yourself out there and take some risks. If you are just starting school Al, take your general education courses in a variety of disiplines, even if you might not find them that interesting. I always get at least one thing out of every class I've taken and kept it for life. If you want to do something with art, make a portfolio and ask someone to look it over for you and then put it out there for potential employers to see. Worst case, you don't hear from anyone, but you've put a collection of your skills together and learned how to do it. Best case, you hear from someone interested in your talent. When you seek a job, see it as an opportunity to learn something new. If you end up not liking it, seek new opportunities until you find something you really enjoy and you find that it is no longer a 'job', but a hobby you get paid for. Put yourself out there and see what comes your way. Good luck.

[phoenix62]

I wish I had suggestions...I don't, really. Perhaps if you feel you can't really control the MD, you'd want to do something that would limit your interaction with the public...or would you be wanting to go in the opposite direction (like me) and FORCE yourself to focus in the here-and-now?

I work in the health care field, I'm a respiratory therapist. Needless to say I have to be mentally focused, or bad things will happen;0D

To be frank, I have had trouble off and on for a long time with this MD thing, but it's a symptom of depression-far as I can figure, so for YEARS I've had no trouble, but in the last 3 weeks or so it's come back with a vengeance. I suspect I am suffering another depressive episode....and it's my own damn fault. I need antidepressants, and I DO NOT WANT to go through the damn MH system again, it's been YEARS since I've had to....haven't seen a MH professional since 1993. Pfft.

[Mattie]

I'm still not old enough to pick a career, but as of last year I've always wanted to be a psychologist. It's pretty much my dream job, I'm just not sure if I will ever be able to become one because of MD.

[Katherine]

I'm an accountant and weirdly it goes very well with MD.  It's a mentally demanding job and requires my focus while working, yet doesn't use the creative side at all.  Perhaps that's why I like it because the creative side of my brain is "dormant" while number crunching and I find it very easy to concentrate.   It's not a job where you have to think "how can I make this better" - it's pretty much about finding our the right way to do something and then doing it, so there's little scope for drifting off into a day dream.  The creative side is only used at work when I'm talking to people, writing letters or emailing and since I have learned to enjoy interacting with others I don't feel the need to daydream while doing that.

 

Having said that I do get "off" days when i find it difficult to concentrate - it's usually when I'm feeling a bit down or I haven't slept.  I don't think I have the same attention difficulties as many on this forum.  If I'm into something, I get totally absorbed, otherwise I do get bored quite frequently watching TV or reading.  Also I tend to phase out a lot when people are talking at me.

[KwanKwan]

To Al:

Can you draw? you said you like art, so that's why i'm asking.

If you can draw, then you can be a storyboard artist or a comic book artist. Both fun jobs yet they require you to slighlty be in contact andcooperation with people and you will be kept on track because there will be a deadline.

[Nicole]

I highly suggest teaching or training.

I am a trainer for a living and it is SO fantastic for my MD. Once I'm at work, the DD is done. Period. I can't afford to waste my mind or creativity to my "world". Training requires you to be focused, be creative, work with others, and develop people skills. It makes you feel "important" (which is something SO many with MD dream or obsess over). Perhaps the greatest part (maybe just for me) is that you feel like an actor.

Let me elaborate on the "actor" thing: No matter your mood or what has happened to you that day, you HAVE to be optimistic and positive when you train others. This requires you to "escape yourself". You "escape" your stresses, "escape" your problems, and just become what you need to be to train others. This sense of "escape" is satisfying, and almost exactly what I look for when DD. It's sometimes difficult, but getting into that training zone is exactly what I need to channel my creative energy to a good cause.

Let me also elaborate on why training/teaching requires creativity. I train adults, and to keep adults engaged you have to master the art of entertainment. You have to learn to be witty, funny, and personable. You have to learn how to take a bad situation (such as the system you are training break half way through) and turn it into a positive one ("So... let's go on a field trip to our XXX department and learn what they do!") You also have to use creativity to think of how best to present something, such as design a review game or write a mini manual.  This creativity is sooo satisfying. Sometimes when I get off of work, my creative juices have run SO dry that I don't want to think of my "world". I would rather just turn on news radio and tune out everything.

Anyway, obviously I'm quite passionate about this, but I'm just saying that through my experience, training/teaching has been one of the greatest things that has ever happened to my MD.