The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.
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Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
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Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
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I need help deciding on some medium term (1-3 month) life goals. I'm a college freshman at (small American liberal arts college) and feel pretty listless right now. I grew up in a pretty rural environment and got in on the condition I spent the first semester studying abroad. I spent said semester in London, attending a joke college and having lots of type 1 fun. I met some great people, hostel-travelled through the Baltics, and lived it up in the city (read: tons of alcohol). While that semester didn't add intellectual development or employability, I do think I grew as a person let off some adolescent male steam.
This semester, the pendulum swung back the other direction and I find myself once again immersed in rural nothingness. The college "town" is so small it's classified as a hamlet. I don't really miss the high life that much and recognise that I'll be able to travel during the summers and once I graduate (and hopefully attend grad school abroad). There is now a sort of void in my life that living in the city filled. While I can still go "out" on Fridays to parties, it just doesn't feel the same, and the reality is I'm not built for the frat life. So I've found myself with a lot of time on my hands and not much to do with it. For the first half of the semester I've been playing video games in my free time but they suck up too much time and attention that I should be using to be productive.
Ideally, whatever goal(s) I set should be achievable in the next 1-3 months, approximately the end of the semester. This is to keep them self-contained, as I plan to spend summer grinding my ass off taking community college courses at home.
Here's a few goals I'm considering, roughly categorized:
Health-I'm 5'10" 150lbs and pretty lean enough that I have abs for the first time in my life. While this is nice, I don't really have much muscle mass or real strength (November-January were a brutal cut). Anything health related has a triple benefit in that it makes me healthier, helps me pull baddies, and makes me feel good.
Career-This is unfortunately a segment of life I'm really lacking in. Right now, I want to be a research biologist, although this might change. My last real work experience was at a frozen yogurt shop in junior year of high school. The only relevant work I've done is a pretty cool biotech class senior year where I learned some simple lab techniques (PCR, SDS-PAGE, cell culture) and the second semester was a small research project (Does Fe16 and ampicillin work synergistically against E. coli? We still don't know!). What I could do in the next three months is kinda ephemeral but could have some solid rewards. It's important to note that I'm at a small liberal arts college so the professors generally do support interested students. Crap I will do but have not done is update my LinkedIn and write a proper resume.
Social-My dad is borderline autistic and I'm an only child, it's only natural that my social skills are stunted. While I can be socially active when around people I know and like, in unfamiliar group settings I can really quickly shut down. Right now, approaching a group of people I don't know unless I'm borderline blackout drunk is damn near impossible for me. Maybe I'm coping but I'm not actually super upset at the status quo because I do have friends and I enjoy their company and don't feel like I need other people. At the same time, starting a semester behind is a bit isolating and it would be nice to get to know the rest of the school.
I'd really appreciate feedback on these goals, is there anything I should add/change/remove? I can't do all of these, what would you guys recommend prioritising? Do you have any alternate suggestions or questions? Right now, I think I'm going for Dean's List and running, and will probably cave to the girl. Joining a club sport would be a great add-on but I don't know if it's doable time wise. Just writing this has been great for mentally mapping out my priorities.
Can you explain what a "joke college" is?
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