I'm not doing anything because I feel useless. I'm trapped! How do I make it stop?

[Karanime]

17 and jobless.

I have a career plan all set up, but I feel so useless I can't start putting it into action.

Any tips to get the gears going?

/<3

[MovingForward]

Usually if I don't feel like doing something, I don't do anything until the time comes where I feel like doing something. This sounds simple, or silly, but a moment will come when you will feel like taking action and you will.

Taking tiny steps helps me when I feel I have a big plan. Think of the smallest thing you can do to move towards the direction of your goal and do it. If you cannot find the motivation for even a little step, than perhaps you should reconsider your plan.
Good luck!

[lycan]

Would you like to share the career plan?

[beautyscientist]

A detailed plan of action is often the worst possible thing you can do. A big chunk of your brain accepts the plan as equivalent to its fulfillment and moves subconsciously on to other things.

You can make it worse by sharing it on here. Have a look at this TED talk if you want to know more.

Why You Should Keep Your Goals Secret

I suggest dropping your plan entirely for a while and doing something else. Then you might want to do your plan again leaving it a lot vaguer.

[Matthew Cluff]

If you have a vision for what you want to achieve, follow it. Do what you really want to do and take the first step in faith. I'd like to know what's holding you back right now, though. I think that once I know that, I'd be able to help you a bit more.

Originally Posted by beautyscientist

A detailed plan of action is often the worst possible thing you can do. A big chunk of your brain accepts the plan as equivalent to its fulfillment and moves subconsciously on to other things.

I suggest dropping your plan entirely for a while and doing something else. Then you might want to do your plan again leaving it a lot vaguer.

I think that you should never drop a plan or vision that you have. I think that having a vision for what you want to achieve is important, and as long as you are adaptable to change and whatever curves you're subjected to in the future along the journey toward ultimate success, if you have an end result and inspired purpose in mind, I think you should continue to follow it and express it to the best of your ability. Do what you want to do and be okay and adaptable to change if necessary down the road.

To Your Success,
Matthew Cluff

[sandy]

Do one simple thing you can do right now, to get the snow ball rolled.

Like simply write up your resume for today, send it out to couple places tomorrow, and go around the interviews the next day...

Slowly you will build the momentum to fully get into the action.

Just do one thing you can do today to make things happen, it's that simple, that powerful

[VinceG]

Ramit Sethi has a wonderful way of putting this struggle. Basically you have two kinds of goals in mind. You have Big Wins, and you have Quick Wins. You need Quick Wins to start off with, and provide just enough momentum to get you to the point where you can chase the Big Wins.

To get Quick Wins, you need a certain kind of focus. You focus on all your current connections. Try to put them together to make something happen. Spend a little time, half an hour works great, and come up with an actionable plan. That plan consists of two things, Action Steps and criteria for success/failure.

A plan for starting up a dog walking business might go like this:

Step 1: Make a list of all my current contacts with dogs. Names, phone numbers or emails.

Step 2: Call all of the names on the list, have brief conversation, mention that you're looking for dog walking clients. Ask if they're interested. Ask for possible referrals. Thank them and hang up.

That's a possible plan for Quick Wins. A plan for Big Wins takes more time to execute, but, if executed properly, produces outsized rewards. For example, you might try calling veternary clinics/pet shops and asking if they need walkers. Since they deal with a lot of animals, you could make a lot more with less work. The downside is, they may need things like certification/training. So they take more work to get going. But once you do, you're set for awhile.

Important for Quick Wins is keeping the plans simple and easily actionable. The simpler the better. Don't do anything that doesn't directly lead to dollars in your pocket. Save those actions for courting Big Wins.

[CroMagna]

Do you want to go to college?

[Karanime]

It's not a specific plan. All I really know is the end goal.

I don't know about college. I guess I'd like to go but it's not really a main part of my plan. I'm currently trying to figure out if the money is worth the opportunities, or if I'm just going to be in debt for a while for no reason.

/<3

[Steve Boyd]

>> I have a career plan all set up

This plan will change many times :-) Trust me on this.

When I was 17 I wanted to be a golf pro. LOL. So much for that.

Big kudos to you for being ambitious enough to think about this stuff though. You're destined for great things

As for your current procrastination, I'd say that your current plan isn't really inspiring you to do anything. Likely that your current goals make some sort sense logically, but don't inspire any real passion in you.

When you're really passionate about your goals, you can't help but take action.

You should try messing around with a bunch of different things and see if anything inspires some passion for you. Could be writing, photography, making website, talking to strangers, anything really.

Just be random for a while and have fun

[Clint Cora]

With just respect to jobs, you might benefit from being part of some employment workshops offered at your local employment center or library if there are any. Sometimes it helps to be with a group of others who are in the same situation so you don't feel so alone. Then you can help inspire each other to push on and perhaps get some good ideas along the way from people who have had some success.

As for overall goals, it definitely helps to break them down into little steps that you can do so that the big goals don't seem so overwhelming. Again, this is something that a group can help you with.

[hueyliew]

Originally Posted by Steve Boyd

>> ... When you're really passionate about your goals, you can't help but take action ....

Karanime, at 17, you do not need to be too hard on yourself, you have your whole and full life ahead of you. It is already a good start that you are thinking about your future. What are you passionate about? Find out and learn what and how can you capitalize from it.

"Knowledge is not power, knowledge is only potential power. Applied knowledge is Power". Take action as Steve mentioned, start with baby steps and eventually it will add up to something great towards a long term goal.

Wish you well.

[lifetimelearner]

Originally Posted by sandy

Do one simple thing you can do right now, to get the snow ball rolled.

Like simply write up your resume for today, send it out to couple places tomorrow, and go around the interviews the next day...

Slowly you will build the momentum to fully get into the action.

Just do one thing you can do today to make things happen, it's that simple, that powerful

I totally agree -write down the goals and then begin
If you are unsure of how to start one in particular ask for more advice
maybe write down your goals here on the forum

[Brutha]

I have a career plan all set up, but I feel so useless I can't start putting it into action.

Could it be that you feel useless to show rebel against people that tell you, you should do "something useful"?

Any tips to get the gears going?

Quit the drugs?

[Andrew Brunelle]

Just do the first thing. Just start. Do the easiest part if you have to. If you've made the plan, you've at least started. But you have to do the first action step. Just do one thing at a time. One day at a time. When you finish the first step, go on to the second step. Take your time, but don't slack too much. Before you know it, you'll have a lot of action under your belt and also a lot of experience. Then you'll have your career off the ground.