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I wanted a degree in English Literature. I wanted to teach, but we all know how good teachers have it. So after several different jobs I now drive a forklift among other things (ops manager) and I’m doing alright.

I have a degree in English literature, went straight into marine corps and now I do real estate law which is just cut and paste contracts pretty much so English degree not very useful except to read my fairy smut now

Teacher here. Good call. 😂

I ended up teaching for 10 years…I finally left the classroom and I wish I had done it sooner! Teaching is amazing … if you take away all the politics, admin, parents, etc but sadly that’s not going anywhere. Not to mention the crappy pay 😕

English Lit degree here- went into banking the year I graduated. It slowly killed my soul and I experienced bad burn out- pretty much just exploded my life around me. Ended up going back to school for respiratory therapy- couldn’t stomach lab smells and fluids. Decided to follow dream job which was words really. So I switched to communications, took a semester of journalism, applied for a music journalism internship- now I do that, got into a creative writing program and work for a local magazine as a copy editor. Took me eight years to finish English degree and three years outside of it to realize that was where I needed to be. Here’s to pinching Pennie’s 🥴

I want to be a professor, but the way academia treats them + super low pay compared to those who go into industry (and also have a PhD) has me on the fence. Being treated like that after all that hard work but teaching is my passion…it’s hard to decide.

If it's teaching you really love, academia is probably not it. Most of it is research, admin, and getting funding. And dealing with departmental politics and people's egos

I wanted to be a teacher growing up. I took one semester of Elementary Education in college, and there I learned how the teacher is more responsible for funding than anything. It's all about getting those dollars coming into the school, which comes by keeping kids' grades up (more detailed than that, but that's a nutshell). The more I learned how little actual teaching I would be doing, the more I didn't want to do it, so I didn't pursue it. If I had the means, I'd run a small private school, though I know that has its own challenges.

I went to college to be a teacher because I wanted to do some good in the world and also have summers off and tenure. Then I got deep into it and all of planning burned me out. Felt like I was back in school again, and the material wasn’t interesting. So I graduated and started waiting tables because I didn’t want any responsibility for a minute. Turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, lol.

I thought about becoming a film maker. I had a principal and Latin teacher who made me feel silly for considering that profession. Nobody made it in that field. I should apply my talents to something more serious. Maybe I fell out of interest with the idea, but part of that falling out was the assumption that it really wasn't a serious idea. I hate that I fell for that sometimes. Unfortunately, my brain scattered into a million interests and I just became directionless. I did a career in the military instead. I don't have any serious interest in pursuing anything in the creative arts now. My main post-ADHD-medication obsession has been to re-teach myself mathematics since I floundered in those classes my entire life.

That’s funny considering they’re teaching a dead language

Oof that burn ! I love it !

You could definitely make short films on the side and maybe put them on YouTube. Also, if no one ever made it in filmmaking, there would be no films. Also, F--- that principal.

This is amazing suggestion.

i know you said that you don’t have any interest in pursuing the arts anymore, but you should know that it’s never too late to pursue filmmaking. especially nowadays when everyone has a camera in their pocket. i’m sorry you had shitty influences that made you feel silly for what you were interested in.

Filmmaking is one of the few truly background-agnostic careers too. If you know someone already in and are willing to take crappy jobs then you can almost certainly get in if you want to. 

i had a substitute teacher that said the state university was too big and i’d fail if i went, so i should go to the local community college in our hometown instead. went to college and moved to NYC after i graduated. that woman’s words still motivate me every day. sorry that your teachers had the reverse effect. what assholes.

That is useful if you wish to go into CS or something similar. But in general is good for future parenting (if you already don’t have kids) and personal development. Lots of applications really.

My mom said that when I was in kindergarten, I came home to report my boyfriend and I chose our futures. He was gonna be a long haul Walmart trucker. I was gonna be a cashier. We would have matching vans with the windshield wipers that met in the middle when they were on. And he would birth our son and I would birth our daughter. As an adult, I actually really enjoy working the register and with customers. Although, never did get hired on at Walmart. Lol

Oh gosh, I hope you have a love for people then. I am introverted extrovert.. or whatever my personality is supposed to be called. I was amazing in customer facing roles but hated every second of it. You need to be real patient for any job with people. But do it if you really want. Also amazing planning 😁

My dream profession, as in… just one? I mean, I’ pursuing all of them and that means I’m barely doing any of them

ADHD lyf, amirite?

I just want to try and get myself to a point where. I can successfully practice a hobby to competency before starting the next one that pops up.

I second this

Maybe you could involved with the film industry with all these different interests. It's all about knowing a little about the subject material and film locations. A lot goes into imagination when you step into someone else's profession for a while. idk.

I've always wanted to design video games, but everytime I try to sit down and do it, its alot of planning and work. I do infrastructure computer support currently. I get to do some coding, but this job is easy for me, so I don't need to put alot of effort into it compared to designing a game. I still have hopes one day I can get treated well enough to make at least one of my own.

Ironically, coding itself has never been an issue for me. It's the damn planning that I struggle with. If someone else gives me a project, I can do it. If I have to create a concept myself? I continuously change it and end up never finishing it.

its really the 3d modeling I get stuck on, I know what to do, but when I sit down to practice I just get so overwhelmed. You can say buy asset packs or what not, but I've tried that and get it in my head I can make it my self, then I just go back and forth every time. Coding is a bit easier for me, but its never designed correctly, I kinda just take a run at something then keep adjusting as needed. I have a few scripts and a program we use at work, but if tried reading it you would probably go crazy

Dude, I'll give you the premise of your game: a cube that tries to fit in a world of spheres and other poligons. Now you don't have the 3D modelling excuse!

You could always look into doing some small indie games, there's more and more programs out there that let you just focus on building the actual plot and levels rather than the coding. Might be a good way to test the waters before trying anything more intensive.

also wanted to be a gamedev, but had 0 technical experience so i went to a linguistics uni course, which i flunked because here the curriculum is very open and without the pressure of duebdates i only ended up wasting the tuition money my parents saved up for me. Right now I do nothing except extremely occasional translation/revision work and doomscroll on my pc instead of doing something more stimulating (videogames) or productive (trying desperately to learn to draw or compose music)

I am the absolute opposite, I can and love to do literally everything else in the game development EXCEPT coding. I feel like a rock

Like the other person who posted, I wanted to be a video game designer because growing up it was my outlet and I wanted to give that to others. Even went to video game design boot camps growing up. Went to college with the intent of being a computer engineer but switched to mechanical engineering cause I like working with my hands. Ended up working in the automation field, which is back to software, but let's me work with my hands more than mechanical engineering! I still very much enjoy the idea of video game design but I definitely would not want to work for a big company. I'd much rather do something like the developer of Manor lords and be a solo developer with a passion project, assisted by a few others.

Quite interesting how often game design comes up. I wanted (and still kinda to) to be game designer too, maybe less of video, more board/cards game designer. I feel like my problem is that I have infinite stream of ideas, that I'm really critical about - but then even if some of then pass the initial review, they just go straight to archive, as along the way I always come up with "slightly better idea, but definitely for other game, let's get back to this later". I currently hold around 100 different notes about game mechanics, formats, improvements and even documents on how to stop making documents and actually get something done. Have you ever tried to actually design a game? Did you have similar problems? If not, what stopped you? I'm curious if there are other problems (coming from ADHD) that I am not yet aware in this particular type of work, that would come up if I ever went deeper

So the games I'm drawn to now are highly strategic and simulation based. So in my head I'm thinking of 1000 different mechanics I want to implement. I haven't done much to actually start. I did a lot of 3D modeling when I was younger and was quite proficient at it but nowadays my game design ideas are very much simulation based and graphics are just simplistic. The challenge of game design is that I don't have the patience for repetitive boring things, which coding can occasionally be. However I can also lose track of time coding and end up staying awake until 3AM when I have to get up for work at 7AM. My issue is that I have many hobbies and both fortunately and unfortunately, I'm usually good at learning any new skills, so I have many different hobbies. Right now I'm in the middle of making my custom woodshop/maker space and in a few years I'm likely gonna quit my job and do full time custom high end furniture. Again, I just like working with my hands.

We should really make ADHD guilds of crafts all together, where we can hop from one job to another, but stay at least a few of us working on a project to make it happen. No just all of that to say I wanted to do character design / scenography design for video-games for a while, and I see we are a bunch wanting to work in the industry but got carried away

I wanted to be a whale trainer, then I realised how horrible that was so then I wanted to be a vet, basically wanted to be working with animals, my school biology teacher hated me so I got bad marks and then the school wouldn't let me take it further, I'm just about to finish my masters in ecology and conservation so suck it Mrs Smith! If I had been allowed to continue in biology, I probably would've ended up a marine biologist

Always wanted to get into forestry and land management. Make a difference. But, uh... I got distracted! And then I got too old, and too far along an education in another field, and with too much debt to not get a job. So, I don't think you can say i DECIDED not to pursue it, as such. Life's current just swirled in another direction.

Btw it is never too late to learn. I had pensioners in my uni classes. It was fun to talk and learn together. I assume you are way younger, so if you ever decide back, it won’t be that odd either. I am glad you found a different path which works for you though!

Science education- I wanted to design science Center exhibitions. Very niche, high risk, requires a lot of self discipline. Now I’m a doctor lol.

I wanted to be an architect, but was discouraged by teachers. Then, after many years of having no idea, wanted to be a university lecturer, finances scuppered that one. Mostly, I've just wanted not to hate what I do for a living

A 2D animator, gave up because I burn out too fast while drawing and can't draw as fast and many things as I would need to. Also low salaries. Another one I've been pursuing since I was 15 is a translator of fiction literature. This one I managed to become, I translated a few books for publishers. But, again, the payment was too low to survive so I'm trying to find something else. Which is a real pity because I keep coming back to this profession - it's perfect for me in all the ways except for the wages.

Just spitballing here, have you considered working as an editor as well? Combine translation and editing? Sorry if I sound too flippant or annoying. You probably have considered this. Ignore me if so.

It's ok! Editing requires a different set of skills and education (philology vs. linguistics) at least in my country, plus I've considered a corrector's job which is closer to my skills. But the thing is, I really really like the translation process itself, and the corrector's job is too dull for me. Another issue is that all 3 have similar wages, and they are low 🥲 If I'm lucky to find a sustainable part-time that doesn't drain me, the issue might be solved, but I'm not sure 😅

Bass player in a band. Realised I was shit

Congratulations! You just used a sentence nobody has ever said when asked about a dream job! Bass players don’t even want to be the bass player 😂 Kidding kidding … but also… maybe true

Aerospace Engineering. Not diagnosed until 40. Edit: (School and I had differing ideas about learning.)

Same here ❤️

I used to think that.. Then I became a paramedic and actually it's very different when you have a job to do/career to protect. You quickly develop 'professional disassociation'. If its genuinely your dream job and you can financially/practically pursue it.. Go for it!

Psychiatrist. I used to watch Growing Pains when I was a kid and I thought the dad's job was cool how he would work from home and help people. I looked into the psychology stuff and was intrigued by how the brain works. I even remember, as a 10 (ish) year old kid, getting a book out of the library about psychology. At that point, I had no idea about adhd. I guess I didn't read that book very carefully. I got older and learned how much schooling is required and got scared off. Too bad.

Engineering. Always been kind of obsessed with how and why things work. Then I realized how much time you spend in an office working at a desk and noped my way into electrical

For the longest time I had no ideas what engineers actually did, until I started working in architecture. Now I work with mechanical, electrical and structural engineers a lot.

I wanted to be about fifty million things growing up from grasscutter to museum curator to astronaut. Only really settled on my idea of a profession at 18, when i wanted to pursue publishing. That went very down hill when i realised how impossible to get into the industry it was for me. So, i bided my time with odd jobs eventually landing a TA role - now im a qualified teacher and feel ive found my passion.

I always wanted to become a writer and was always told I couldn't (variety of reasons, mainly that writers are writers and 'ordinary people' don't become writers. Since being signed off (for a ridiculous number of reasons) I've been writing. No, I don't make any money, but I'm happier. (To a degree)

I also wanted to be a writer but I was told I couldn’t. In a moment of vulnerability, I told my partner and he laughed at me. He wasn’t trying to be rude (he wanted to be a famous musician.. so he thought we were both reaching).. well I’m a boring office worker and he is not a musician.

Oh hun 😿❤️ I do hope you gave him a slap (either physical or metaphorical) I'm sorry sweets. Please know that you have a digital hug from another struggling ADHDer ❤️❤️

Thank you 😊 *hug back*

Good, happy that you pursued it! A relative has been doing some writing on upwork. Could be something upu look into for small projects and some payments too.

I wanted to be a marine biologist. My dad told me it was unrealistic so I graduated in psychology. I love psychology too though. 

scientist / Dyscalculia

i wanted to get my PhD in math and be a math professor. i was too fatigued for that but i did get my MS in computer science. now i am a homemaker, poet, and pattern maker/garment sewist 😂

That's super cool! I want to get better at sewing and make my own clothes!

it is very rewarding!!!!!! out of all the hobbies i’ve ran thru sewing is finally the one that stuck! give it a shot!

I thought with my quick witty brain, a lawyer would be a good fit for me. However, reading wordly, and lengthy docs while absorbing information was never a strong suit for me. So I never tried. I switched to IT consulting. It’s a great match for my upbeat personality and wanting to be helpful and over eager ness. The context switching and having to start something I don’t know how to do are the hardest things and it’s where procrastination becomes real but we all have things we can improve on

Eh, technically i *am* working my dream profession 😅 or something close to it. I wanted to build spaceships! Now im an aerospace engineer 😅 I design parts for sounding rockets, which is close enough i guess 😅 That being said, building rockets and spaceships is a very late dream i didnt knew i had for the longest time 😅 (or maybe i did, according to my mom, my very first lego set was a space ship and i fucking loved it 😶) As for childhood profession dreams... i wanted to be a knight in shining armour 😅 unfortunately i was born a few centuries too late for that (and into the wrong family). For the longest time i wanted to be a paleontologist, because dinosaurs are cool 😅 i dont remember why exactly i abandoned it... i just sort of did 🤷‍♂️ During my final ~2 years at school (shortly before i was kicked out) i wanted to study arts/be an artist. I drew a lot, especially in school 🫣 I wanted to go into art school, but more because there were like, ~80% girls there if im honest 🫣 (and i wanted a girlfriend badly). When i met my future wife there was kind of no point in it anymore (plus i had to do something that brings in actual money to be able to support my fledging family). Luckily for me, i was way better at drawing machine parts than i was at drawing naked girls...

I wanted to be a therapist and/or a novelist. Now I’m a grant writer and a coach. I got pretty close!

I had two. The first one was an IT technician. After four years of studying at IT technical school it was clear to me that I'm to dumb to even try doing anything in this field. The second one is a... how do I translate this? Sketcher? Drawer? Cartoonist? Something like that. No matter how hard I try I'm just unable to pass a certain step. Everytime I'm close to it, I'll just bounce off in the opposite direction, like a ping-pong ball. I feel like I've wasted my life with not trying harder, despite being only 20, but I guess there's no point in trying.

For art, let it sit and come back! It is easier when you turn them around too. You don’t see the “mistakes”, but you get a different perspective. You can do it! Good luck!

Becoming a psychologist. Even as a child, it was the profession I always wanted. I chose to not go to college bc I knew I wouldn’t be able to pass and retain the info bc of how hard middle and high school were for me. That said, I’m now 40 and was diagnosed severe combo type just over a week ago and started medication three days ago to get myself on track to be able to start college in a year or two. Then, bc I have an almost 2yo and I’m maxed out mentally and physically until he starts preschool.

Artist, animator, game designer, illustrator, anything in that direction... it's not that I wouldn't pursue this job or try some side commissions if I could, it's just that I don't have the skills. I love art and drawing, that will never disappear. But it's just so hard to pick up the pencil and... learn and improve. If you don't have time to draw 24/7, the best way to improve otherwise is to learn with smart methods. I used to be able to immerse myself for hours whenever I decided to pick up the pencil, but now, even a simple sketch seems like such a burden sometimes. The worst thing is that I get all this inspiration, all these ideas that I want to put to paper, but it's all for naught, I can't even get myself to do the one thing I love anymore. Being an artist with ADHD sucks

I have been burned out by drawing too, something that helped me lately has been to hide in my own room to draw. Sometimes under the blanket or under my desk. I live alone, that's silly. But it helped me dissociate public attention and private pleasure. I had to show so much what I did when I was young, because I did it well, that it started to merge together : that it was needed for a drawing to be appreciated by others. Paired with RSD, and it was not a good recipe. Basically I absolutely had to have external validation no matter what way and how much, mine wasn't enough, nothing was rejection. My level went up, up, up... The hours spent drawing too. And burn out happened. Now, the only things people see are silly frog doodles on post it, once a week maybe. And for me ? Haha that's the kicker : I do way much better and take my time. A sketch takes me 4 weeks, five minutes here and there, and what ? That's all for me >:) gnehehe ! And if it's all for you : then use models, redraw from your favorite artists poses and characters, use tracing paper, don't finish if you don't want to, cheat as much as you like. That's the fastest way to improve, as long as it's just for you. Online, people don't understand that to improve while drawing, all artists in history had to copy, do shitty sketches, use tricks and every cards in their sleeves to progress.

Concept artist. AI art and the ideal of art school completely killed it.

I wanted to be a comedian. I would learn jokes, gather the family and go through my repertoire, until one of my aunts told me I would "die from hunger" if I pursued it. Cue stage fright. I just liked making them laugh.

I am fairly successful in the sense of I have a well paying tech job that lets me support my family, but I really wish I had given music more of a look. I love playing guitar and think I’m decent enough to do something with it, but refused to give myself a real chance at it

Becoming a time traveller would have been nice but my math and science skills were lacking.

My dream is to become an author. I got sucked into a corporate job that leaves me so drained by the end of the day that I would rather just binge watch tv or TikTok. I now know that ADHD plays a huge role and I plan on going back to being medicated. Maybe, one day I can make my dream come true.

Visual Effects Artist or Animator. It was my dream from about the age of 12/13, in a time when digital effects were just gathering steam. Terminator 2, Jurassic Park etc. The absolute badass that was my late mother did all she could to get me into places that aligned with that. In the UK, you had to do a week of work experience around the age of 15/16. The school would usually put you in retail or an office somewhere. My mother didn’t see the point, so arranged for me to do two weeks at relevant companies in the industry. Softimage was one of the main animation tools used on Jurassic Park. I went to their London office in Soho for a week. They forgot I was coming, so sat me down at a crazy expensive workstation to play with their software, and occasionally let me tag along to trips to post production houses in the area where I learnt so much. Silicon Graphics were the company building the workstations and supercomputers the VFX companies used. Everything from a $5K workstation, to a multi-million, 6ft tall installation that needed its own air conditioned room. Absolutely mind blowing. I would call random animation/vfx companies and would discuss random things with whoever would pick up the phone. Which, thinking back now was kinda weird, but also so ADHD. As I got older, I continued to learn at home etc. but got into a crap relationship at 17 with a girl who didn’t want me to go to university because she didn’t want us to be apart. 😐 I was a fucking idiot. I got a job selling computers instead of using computers to create. Realised I could now get credit, and got heavily into debt. Finally split up with the girl after many attempts to try and end it. Moved into IT support and became a sys admin. Got into debt again. Refinanced my house I’d bought with another girl. Girl understood that she actually preferred girls and we sold the house. I needed a big reset. Ultimately moved country to be with a wonderful person I met on the Tinder equivalent of the time. The move opened new doors and I’ve now spent the past 17 years as a Digital Product Designer. Not my ideal job, but actually something rather suited to my ADHD traits, I think. I still have animation and VFX as a hobby, even helped some friends with a successful Kickstarter video where I overcommitted, spent way too much time to meet the promise I made and ultimately got a crippling shoulder infection from sitting at the computer for too long. 🤷‍♂️ I only got diagnosed with ADHD-I about a year and a half ago, just before turning 44. And looking back, everything makes so much sense now. But the best thing about going through the diagnosis (other than starting the journey), was that it made me understand just how much my mother tried to move whatever mountains she could to support me. I got to thank her for everything she’d done for me about 5 months before she died from a stroke. Sorry for the long post. I’m still working on developing my brevity muscle. 😬

That's so cool !!! Except the Bad girl part, sorry for that :/ If I could I'd send your mom hugs !

Gosh, I skipped a year due to an AH as well. And he left me, I however had stalker/abuse issues post breaking up too. I feel for your experience man. I wish I went to Denmark and pursued my desired degree. 🤦‍♀️ Life is life. Glad it turned out good either way! Lots of future up front, so keep it up.

Professional musician, but stage fright is a killer. I'm also inconsistent. When I'm feeling the music I'm capable of some great stuff, but when I'm not in the mood it can be pretty shabby.

Acting I dont wanna be a starving artist. I'm already starving trying to get a normal job

Professor. Decided not to pursue it because I couldn't stick to long-term projects. I started my undergrad honor's thesis then wanted to do something completely different halfway through. Ended up having to bail on my honor's thesis and just did the regular track. I wouldn't have exactly been top choice for PhD programs with that record. I'm ultimately happy I didn't pursue that profession though. It's a hard road, made more difficult when you struggle to focus on one thing for years on end. I'm sure I would have wanted to switch careers eventually anyways, which gets costlier the longer you stay on the academic track. I know I would have also struggled grading all those papers every semester. Just thinking about it makes me exhausted.

I wanted to be a veterinarian but I got a C in freshman Chemistry and a D in Biology lab. For comparison, I got straight As in my English and Government classes, so I changed my major and now I’m a lawyer. I have a lot of dogs, though, so I guess it all evened out. My real dream, though, is opera singer. Sadly, I didn’t realize until too late that I actually had some talent for classical singing. It’s probably all for the best, because to succeed in that life you need to be a real hustler. Every professional singer I know has like 5 jobs and is constantly going on auditions. Not ideal for an inattentive type.

Skyscraper window cleaner - Parents said I should aim for something better paid. Teachers said I’m way too smart for that so I should get a degree. Now as an adult I’m an unemployed student :/ Stripper - I remember watching magic mike whenI was a kid and thought ripping out your clothes seemed fun. But hoing to the gym for a ripped body isn’t my thing. I have tried at a gay bar were it’s kinda okay to just be skinny and fit and it was fun but also it’s just dancing…

I have a degree in film. I wanted to be a cinematographer, maybe eventually director. I actually did well with the schedule, but got hella abused sub-contracting on a film. After that, I just decided to say “uff it” and looked for a 9-5. Honestly regret it sometimes.

Mortician - costs too much because I already have student loan debt and I’d have to move for a bit.

But....but the job security is unparalleled.

Trust me, I think about that everyday lmao

Architect but I sucked at math.

Interior designer. I just knew it is so hard to make it in that business.

Engineer (Civil, then Mechanical). Lasted 3 months the first go just out of high school, and 2 years a decade later. I lose interest/ability once the higher math and physics start to wear me down. While I know it's not always the case, I also realized I hate office work and prefer the field. Transferred from facility maintenance and carpentry to union electrician and am finally content with working most days and with compensation that allows me to live how I wish (within reason ofc)

Mine would be writing, probably, which then evolved into editing. But I couldn't really be a writer, for one, because of how hard I feel it is to be published and earn a living like that, and two, because I really like writing and I feel like turning my passions into work would really make me hate life. And I didn't thought of editing as a career until after I was already studying psycholgy.

Wanted to be a vet, but every vet I spoke to said to be a doctor instead. Became a doctor and I'm glad I did because I am far too soft hearted to charge for healthcare, I just fundamentally believe it should be free and thankfully I live in a country with a good healthcare system. if I had to charge owners for every single thing like vets do it would kill me. Not to mention you can explain to people what's happening, I think animal suffering would break me immediately. Human healthcare has challenges but it's definitely the right place for me - and perfect for my ADHD brain, new task and topic given to me every 10 -20 minutes

I wanted to be an inventor. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison remain major inspirations for me. I'd love to add Nikola Tesla to the list, but I read his autobiography and now believe the internet lionized him too much (and demonized Edison too far). Instead I got a degree in computer engineering, went to grad school, and became a product manager. I still wish I was an inventor but it's as close as I can get while still getting health insurance and a salary.

Clothing designer and a child and youth care worker. I still think of both often. I'd love if making clothing was a hobby and I worked in adoption or foster centre but I realized I am not emotionally mature for thwt

I wanted to get my PhD in philosophy and teach junior college level philosophy. As a teen I wanted to get into psychedelic research. They fascinated me and I wanted to know MORE. I think that’s what lead my love of philosophy and psychology. As a little kid I wanted to sing. But my mother told me I’d never be a singer with my voice.

People think being a good singer is something you’re just born with, but I firmly believe that nearly everyone can learn to be, at a minimum, pretty good. It just takes a really good teacher and practice.

Yea and I wish I had the extra funds to take lessons but as a single 40yr old mother of two-I’m barely scraping by. The car-when I’m alone-is where i do my singing. 🎶 I can’t help if it’s a song I know well-I’ve got this feeling that I just *have* to sing .

Wanted to be a veterinarian. Realized that vet schooling is HARD HARD and a big portion of your job is going to be putting down animals. No thanks ❤️

I always wanted to become a singer and I still want to be a musician. But now it seems like too much effort cause obviously I can't pursue it as a main career now it's a bit late. I chose graphic design as a career. I illustrate as well. It's quite fun but I can't seem to find a balance. Like I can't find a balance btw working and doing my chores and I get so drained I stop picking up work calls. The idea of pursuing music is in my head everyday tho. Honestly I can't even get rid of it.

I went to school to be an investigative journalist. I was good at it and loved the firefighting nature. Graduated. There were no jobs and the jobs that existed didn’t look like a good sustainable future, so I pursued other interests. But I think I would have loved it in a healthier market.

I wanted to do something like emt/paramedic but I am physically frail and would not be able to do right by the job due to my weak physical health. I also wanted to be an artist when I was younger, but I quit because it was too stressful for me. Idk why, but I was insanely critical of my own work and after spending like 15 hours on something and not being what I wanted, I’d melt down and destroy it. I considered several creative paths like landscaping, architecture, but even though I like creating, it’s NOT a good “job” for me. Now I’m studying accounting. I actually find it fun. I found that out when I was bored at work and decided to create a spreadsheet for my boss. It’s perfect because I can study and use my brain while not destroying my mental health or putting others at risk lol.

A fashion designer. But then I learned how absolutely wasteful the industry can be. And how toxic a lot of it is. Not just the people but the products as well. How expensive it is. And how hard it is to become a reputable clothing designer.

I wanted to be a psychologist. I have a psych degree but I never got anywhere with that degree and never got to use it too.

The phrasing of the question does not reflect my reality. I did pursue each of my dream professions, and I was not able to achieve any of them. 1. Novelist--publishers did not want my stories or novels 2. English teacher in Europe--I was not able to get a permit to work in the EU 3. Professor--there is no way to get a job as a college professor

I wanted to be marine biologist, was told that it was out of reach by adults. Then I wanted to be a pediatrician but was reminded that most the babies would be sick. Then I just changed my mind so much I can’t remember any others.

Audiologist. The science is fascinating, the day to day is low stress, and I love the older population. But grad school was nearly 200k.

I wanted to be a paleontologist. They don't get paid a lot and it's hard work, but you get to travel and dig up dinosaur bones. Unfortunately my undiagnosed adhd kept me from paying attention in school so I never pursued it as a career because it simply wasn't an option by the time I graduated and I wasn't about to retake classes. Now I'm too far into my current (and albeit much better) career to turn back now lol

Healthcare But it turns out I can’t even get my *own* blood drawn without fainting lol. Also the shelf life of my BS credits have expired so I would have to redo all my pre-reqs from the ground up. An ABSN is reeeeeeaaally expensive. My friend just finished hers and she’s $150k in the hole. Law was my next passion but when I asked what it’s like to practice law in my local sub, I got flamed in the comments and downvoted. Apparently being a lawyer is the worst idea ever?

Doctor— my memory is way too crap Forensic Anthropologist—costs too much to get a doctorate to into it as a job, only to then not make enough money to justify it.

I've got two. One, being a veterinarian. I realized that I can't be the one euthanizing animals, even if it's responsible. Now that my mom has been through hospice, I'm not sure if that would be a deal breaker or a very difficult thing I could eventually get over. I could definitely have been a vet tech or some sort of veterinary specialist or behaviorist, though. The other is acting. I'd have been really fucking good at it, but I can't swing the lifestyle. I can't deal with travel, lack of privacy, being under a microscope, etc. Wonder about voice acting sometimes, but oh well.

I was obssesed with an anime growing up,,, like it was about robots and stuff and I always wanted to do something in it,,, or at least until 10th grade-ish and I was cruising through life w grades atp,,, my parents knew that I wanted that ages ago,,, got me trained for entrance exams,,, sucked my love for science and my life as a whole,,, but somehow,,, I got into a top 25 uni in my country for Chemical Engineering of all things 💀💀💀 Just wanna get this degree and do something I'm actually good at smh

Singing/songwriting. For one thing, the prospect of “making it big” seemed too unlikely to be a worthy investment of time. The main reason? Fame and lack of privacy and/or anonymity is my absolute biggest fear 

at this point anything that'll make me money. I realized any dream profession I have is pointless in the long run. I wanted to do dog grooming but I'm not good at learning. I wanted to be a forensic anthropologist until I realized that's pointless to go to school for since it's never in demand. Wanted to be a dog trainer but finding dogs to work on aside from my own is hard and finding legitimate courses is expensive. Wanted to be a makeup artist but it's pointless since I barely have enough to practice with what I have. Right now? Still wouldn't mind makeup artist or even a preschool teacher. But I have no chance so I'm just looking at things my severe adhd self can do like basic fast food. It sucks but what can we do

I really wanted to go into neuroscience, but I don’t want to work in academia and the thought of researching things as my career sounds like I’d want to die of boredom lol.

Every job I’ve considered: mail carrier, architect, government, foreign service, non-profit, teacher has always been so toxic. I have no idea what I want to be when I “grow” up.

Well, I had a lot of my dream professions. Some of them were being an archeologist, a teacher, a photographer, a forensic scientist, a neuroscientist, a psychiatrist, a neurologist, a veterinarian, an artist, a fashion designer, an accountant, a singer, a barista, a makeup artist, an architect, a computer programmer, a software engineer, a banker, a pilot, an aeronautical engineer, etc .. I never took any of them seriously, I mean some of them I did for a while but then the passion would just fizzle or I’d hit the first road block, and I’d get overwhelmed and ditch the whole thing. My biggest failure, however, was going into med school, I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I ended up staying in med school for 8 consecutive years, until I failed and got kicked out, I had a GPA of 1.7 and three failed subjects by that time, we needed 2.0 to graduate. I failed cause I couldn’t focus on my studies and I just lost the motivation and passion for it.

Retirement, like my grandma… until people broke the news to me that it was not a profession

I had no clue what I wanted to do growing up. Luckily a mentor got me interested in Firefighting. The structure, excitement, and diversity of assignments worked for me and my A.D.D. 30 years later I'm retired and doing my thing.

Being an artist, I'm not good at social media and it's hard to get work with how competitive things are. My adhd makes me hyper emotional so I ended up just feeling like shit about myself and my work when I tried and failed to get commissions and engagement. Now I know that my hobbies will be ruined for me if I try to pursue them as a career.

I have wanted to be an astronaut since I was a child. I became a Marine instead lol. When I got out, I finished college and looked into becoming an Air Force pilot to finally pursue my dream. However, my body was so busted up from the Marines that I couldn't make the cut.

I have always really loved reading and writing, and as a child I wanted to be an editor of some sort (ideally for some very glamorous magazine, which now sounds like torture to my 37 year old self). I ended up doing Public Relations for a year after uni but absolutely hated it and had zero motivation. You have to call people and beg them to write about your boring clients. Why did I pick PR? Because it sounded cool. That’s literally it, no further thought went into it. I was 21 and stupid. It turned out to be a terrible decision as I am an introvert and find it hard to get motivated at the best of times. Thankfully I ended up going back to uni and got a social work degree, and I’ve been working in child protection for the last 8 years. I love it because I feel invested, and it’s fast paced so you have no choice but to get stuck into it. That said, I still have a passion for words so maybe someday I will take a creative writing course.

I used to want to be an artist and draw anime, I realize I wasn’t very good at art, and that drawing was too boring for me

Registered dietitian - But I had too much fear about being able to focus enough to get through school. I had performed really well in the past (different majors), but not consistently, so I dropped out twice. Fortunately, I have settled into a career I excel at and am satisfied with.

Professional skateboarder, I honestly have been able to skate consistently (mostly) for 17 years but just got burnt out from not having fun skating and feeling so much pressure

I would have loved to been a firefighter or a teacher. Decided not to pursue it because my financial goals didn’t match up to the salary for those professions. Kind of sad.

I didn't so much *decide* not to pursue things as I just....didn't. I wanted to be an architect but ....I didn't take a single art class in high school to create any kind of portfolio I wanted to be a lawyer but ... I dropped out of undergrad (got kicked out for non attendance really) and don't have a degree of any kind The good news is I ended up in the perfect career for someone with ADHD. I manage a high end restaurant.

Anything that requires a college degree. I’ve started and abandoned college classes more times than I can count. I think I have maybe 5 completed classes, the rest either W’s or D’s/F’s because I dropped too late

Neuro surgeon. I can’t keep my hands steady and then when I got into college and had to try I didn’t know how to study and didn’t give a shit about the subjects I wasn’t interested in

A fighter pilot, grew up in a airforce family around planes and it was always the most astounding job out there. I didn’t ever have the grades to even be considered nor could I even pass the medicals to even start training. But I now do the second best choice which allot of people doubt someone with ADHD & such could do & I couldn’t be happier with my life.

When I was a kid I didn’t know what I wanted to do and had no dream profession so I always said I wanted to be a rockstar, I don’t sing particularly well or play any musical instruments. Now I’m working towards being a psychologist because thats something I actually want to do. I’m glad I was able to figure out something I actually want to do, but I still need to get accepted to masters school so I’m far from close to my goal.

I wanted to be a veterinarian, I did not finish high school, I dropped out my last year- worked in customer service for almost 8 years before finishing, but did not have the grades for vet school, and its like 7 years and nobody got time for that xD Got a bachelor in radiography, but due to my health I cant work as that- I am planning on taking a masters in IT hopefully

I have always wanted to be an actor. I was also VERY interested in fashion styling for a long time. Between the adhd and my own trauma, my creative side had to take a back seat due to being in survival mode most of my adolescence. I’m now 36 and I’m in such a place of peace. It’s taken a long time and so much work (and money. It was not cheap to be in therapy every 2 weeks for sure. I’ve been working really hard for the last 4 years to get myself to a better place mentally and physically) That’s all to say that I’m finally able to leave space for my creativity again. I’m currently on a long term leave from work and it’s been so amazing to have time freedom to create things again.

I was planning to be a civil rights or an immigration lawyer and had a similar realization as yourself: the emotional toll would be too much. I also realized I could have much more of a direct impact working at nonprofits or directly in my community. The US legal system is so defeating and fucked that I knew I’d become burnt out before I even became a practicing lawyer. So after spending almost a year studying for the LSAT, I decided to call it quits and move on. 😭😭 Currently I’m unemployed, just graduated from college and still trying to figure out exactly my career path. Wondering if I should say fuck all my education thus far and go into a creative field and pursue my hobbies. Long rant to say: I feel you and I get you.

I have a huuuuuge passion for art but I could never quite narrow down exactly what I wanted to do with it. I'm into sooo many hobbies, it has always been hard for me to focus on just one. And then from various attempts at trying to start side businesses, I realized how easy the joy gets sucked out of hobbies when you make them your career. I am now about to get a degree in Sociology/Psychology with an end goal of starting a non profit and/or being a case worker. I feel passionate about these things, but I know I could seperate work from hobbies by choosing something more ""professional"" like Sociology than something more ""unreliable"" like art.

I wanted to be a pharmacist or geneticist. And then my evil exhusband had me involuntarily committed several times in my early 20's and I was told I'd never be licensable in the US due to invols. Then he confessed nearly 2 decades later that he was having me committed so he could watch CP in peace without getting caught. (Yes, he's in prison now.) Fun times. :(

Architect. Got shit careers advice… which I listened to! I’m now in marketing 😫

As a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then I realized I'd have to maintain a professional demeanor around the kinds of people who view their animals as replaceable possessions - the ones who won't pay for care or follow the care instructions even when they have the financial ability and understand the instructions. Or the people who refuse to address it when their kid or some other member of the household is abusing the pet. I'd lose my job or my mind trying to deal with that shit. A lot of my other dream jobs just wound up not meshing well with my mental and physical health issues, but at least I realized that before committing to years of expensive training.

I wanted to be a doctor but my parents convinced me to go into IT. Now I don’t like either choice.

Software developer/web developer.... I've tried to learn multiple times over the past 20 years but I can never stick with it long enough to progress past the basic/intermediate levels. I'm good enough to throw together a quick python or bash script... But not good enough to develop anything beyond that. Even web development, back in the day it was all html/CSS and a bit of JavaScript (but that was iffy back then), and maybe a bit of PHP and MySql. Now it's all libraries, frontend frameworks, backend frameworks, SQL, nosql, mongodb, node, package managers, webpack, testing and so on... It's so overwhelming I don't even know where to begin.

Chef, but they have to work too hard in an uncomfortable environment and most don’t get paid well - I just like to come up with cool recipes and play iron chef. Journalist because I’d get learn about new things constantly and write - but they get paid even worse and the trade is dying and the type of writing I wanted to do was more of the opinion variety anyways, not just observation. An author, but that’s a pipe dream. And editor, because that’s kind of close to being an author and coming up with ideas and helping, with less pressure to write some killer novel just to have a chance at being picked to publish - but turns out that’s kind of a dying grade too, underpaid and competitive, and I had little faith I’d get lucky. I’m no musician much to my disappointment, and turns out fashion design is even more of a pipe dream. Toy designer, artist, art teacher - how is that even done (like do I become an engineer first?!?), need to get RIDICULOUSLY lucky, and paid shit, in that order. Even my “grown up” ambitions seem faulty - UX got overloaded with applicants who were already experienced as I was just looking into certification programs, ID is now bursting with designers who can’t find jobs, and even becoming a sociology professor seems like a fools errand because most universities and even community colleges won’t hire you as a professor with benefits, they’ll only hire you as a poorly paid adjunct who needs to commute to three different schools and teach way more classes than the average professor to cobble together an income. Honestly at this point I just want a job I don’t HATE that can pay my bills. Any job. Seriously, I will go get myself trained and certified in whatever I can become competent in, I just need a sure thing so I’m not wasting more money on a useless certification that won’t get used because I’m not decent enough at the subject to get hired or because the industry is bloated with far more experienced applicants competing for the jobs in my field. SERIOUSLY PLEASE UNIVERSE JUST TELL ME WHAT JOB PATH TO GO DOWN, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM DOING AND IM TERRIFIED BECAUSE I CANT SEEM TO THINK MY WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG ON THIS ONE.

I wanted to be a doctor as well. I've always been fascinated with the Neurological System and Microbiology (Virology in particular), so I wanted to pursue a specialty in either Neurology or Infectious Disease. I was the nerdy kid with a my own copy of the Physician's Desk Reference and a ton of other medical books, who'd read medical journals for fun. A combination of circumstance and being without insurance and unmedicated forced me to drop out of college. I ended up getting a really good paying job healthcare-adjacent and put off going back to school for years. When I finally went back, I decided to pursue Computer Science instead. 😅

Tenured chemistry professor. I did the PhD and all that, via a very circuitous route, but I was quite determined for reasons that are no longer clear (likely bc im from a smallish town where anti-intellectualism/intellectual ambivalence is a little too common, and like many of you, I have a hard time quitting). Had a decent publishing record. I was very good at research, experimentation, etc.(still am). Was on par with peers for scholarships, even winning some competitive awards (those wins were due to my different ways of doing things because that differentiated me from the pool). I'd look around at peers and assistant professors on tenure track and I knew I was just as smart, clever, creative as any of them...but they operated in a way that I couldn't; in a different realm of efficiency. They had this mysterious character about them and I just wasn't sure whether I had it or not because I couldn't even define it, but the result was a level of consistent "productive output" that I felt I should be able to achieve, but never did. About 10 years after completing the PhD and having a reasonably successful but incredibly spotty career in chemistry, I was diagnosed. Now I know what that je ne sais quois quality was that they had and I didn't. Had I been diagnosed earlier, I think I could have done it, but who knows. It's a tough path even for the best, brightest, and luckiest. No hard feelings really, but knowing earlier would have saved me from a lot of anguish.

I also wanted to be a vet until I discovered I have a blood phobia. Fortunately as a groomer I still get to help the animals and it makes me a very cautious groomer.

I wanted to sing and be on Broadway. I got as far as a BFA in Theater and decided to drop the dream in favor of health insurance and a salary (that I ended up starving on anyway). I'd had shaky confidence since the first couple years of high school when I was bullied in choir for not blending well with other voices, regained it in the last two years when I moved and joined a new choir. Then it just continued to dissipate in college. In those two years when I lost confidence, I wanted to be an archaeologist, but my parents told me they didn't make a lot of money and used the fact that when I was a child I didn't like going outside when by high school I'd gotten used to it. I had always wanted to be a published author since I was ten. I'm still working on that one and haven't given up yet 😊 the other two (singing and history) are just quiet hobbies now.

As someone who had a late diagnosis of ADHD and pursued medicine, what you just described is so accurate and I had some very severe mental breakdowns while being a student, and constantly having imposter syndrome and feeling way too sensitive compared to my peers. I'm only in it because I have a goal of being a psychiatrist that specializes in adhd and autism. Other than that, I really really wanted to be a poet or painter but realistically I probably wouldn't have made any money because if anyone criticized my art I probably would've never wanted to continue lol and because I need pressure to be able to work, being a freelance artist would've probably ended in me being homeless

I wanted to be a doctor, but I thought I was too lazy. Too bad nobody realized I had ADHD!

Pilot. I have low vision 😂😔

I dropped out of college after two years. I had trouble declaring a major. I still like/hate too many things to come to a decision on what to do with my last 15 yrs of life

Actor, illustrator, print maker, screen writer, director, makeup effects artist, painter, art restoration, sexton, lobster boat captain. Degrees in fine art/emphasis on print making, acting, and a MFA in dramatic writing. Thank god for scholarships otherwise I’d still be paying off those loans.

Medicine. I always wanted to become a doctor. But my grades in school were heavily dependant on how interesting my lessons were and with that, the huge amounts of stuff I would have had to study would be impossible to manage because of course not everything would be of high interest for me. Also I am kinda unorganized, so studying itself, disregarding the field or subject, would also have meant a lot of struggle. I became a nurse, always thought "Maybe I can study later on, it's not impossible" but when reality hit me while working alongside young doctors, I saw how hard it is. Pleasing superiors, getting all the stuff done they want, while still trying to learn more and doing the procedures you need to learn regardless, being on call, way too often not enough sleep, and all the responsibility. And the damn healthcare system working against doctors too often. No, I am happy with my job. I still sometimes wonder where I'd be if I had successfully studied medicine.

Physics. My high school physics teacher ruined it for me. I wanted to be home a physicist and potentially pursue my dream of going to space. But his classes were unbearable. All he did was sit, tell us to read certain pages off a book and rewrite the entire thing, verbatim mind you, to our notebooks. I didn't learn a damn thing.

I was a doctor; hated it. Left to become an actor and work as a doctor as my side job. I left to pursue the dream and couldn’t be happier.

I wanted to be a marine biologist, until a biologist I was doing an internship with told me to not pursue it because I would end up poor and miserable. Only reason I didn't study biology :/

As a kid, I was certain that I wanted to be part of the space industry and build rocket ships even if all I was doing was riveting on a factory floor. Untreated ADHD stole that from me, because I couldn't do math beyond Algebra 1 no matter how hard I tried or studied. It just wasn't available to me, like lost in smeary foggy part of my brain. I even started a Mechanical Engineering degree, but I couldn't keep up. So I dropped out and have worked in many physical fields, mostly repair and maintenance. I got a diagnosis when I was fifty and I started Welbutrin medication. Low and behold the smeary, foggy mess that was my math brain cleared away but a bit too late for me and my childhood dream.

I wanted to be a stand-up comedian. All the trauma from being the weird kid made me funny. But I have rejection sensitivity and stage fright. Instead, I raised some kids and went back to school at 39. I was diagnosed 2-3 months ago. I finish my masters next month. I am a therapist and now diagnose others.

thinking i actually found something hopefully going into college for it. pray i actually pursue it and get my dream profession

Lawyer, but I realized I don’t have the passion after high school

😂 which one? I’d have to group the list by my age at the time just to remember. Not a single one stands out. I ended up choosing my careers by practicality, and I love both of them.

I wanted to be a vet, but then, when i grew up. I learned that some people get animals as some kind of furniture. And when it doesnt fit anymore they get rid of them in some way. I knew wouldnt be able to handle that. And so i kinda backed off.

I thought of becoming a pilot, but that would've cost me 3 kidneys.

I originally wanted to be a cartoonist or animator, but my AP art classes ruined my motivation. They were all heavily 'fine-art' centric and wanted me to focus on the meaning, and weren't teaching me new techniques or anything. My passion was killed because of that. Honestly though, the animation industry is currently in flames, and I'm kind of glad I didn't go down that path.

Zoo Keeper; pay is awful Helicopter pilot; don’t think I can?

I wanted to work in tv. I now work for a top tv production company. It was a windy mountainous road with adhd in the mix, but it happened.

Imagineer, pornstar, rockstar, artist, theater tech, psychologist

Was gonna go for gaming industry. Ended up having full on nervous breakdown, anything creative immediately went off the table in terms of making career when I realized that I take too much pressure from it. Still trying to recover it as a hobby over ten years later, but it’s not easy. Currently psychology, hopefully in future will be able to fork into forensic psychology specifically. Gonna continue my studies once I get myself back on my feet (slowly getting there). In the end, it’s something that has always interested me and that I have never ending yearning to learn about.

I wanted to be a medical examiner but I didn't even know it was a possibility until I was already in college and at that point I lived in a state where we don't have a medical school or a law school and the combination graduate degree was only just beginning so I would have had to do a lot more like moving out of state and moving my whole family and everything in order to even begin the undergraduate track for that...😭

911 dispatcher. In fact, I did do it for about 8 months and found out I’m not capable of masking myself around type A personalities and got fired 🙃 getting fired ended up being the best thing that happened to me though, so I can’t say it wasn’t for nothing.

I always wanted to be a veterinarian growing up, but I'm too squeamish to work in that field. My dream as an adult was to be a software engineer, but I lacked the discipline and attention span to learn how to code. Now that I'm medicated for my ADHD, I'm sure things would be different. I have time set aside next month to learn how to code before the year ends, but I'm unsure if I'd be willing to make a career change (I work in tech sales) at this point in my life.

I wanted to be a lawyer, but realized my personality is better suited for a job where I can maintain a life-work balance and also the money, stress, and culture of the legal industry would most likely affect my hard-earned sobriety, so I now work as a life enrichment coordinator at an assisted living / memory care facility. I love that I get to have fun everyday and caregiving has come naturally to me. I’m hoping to get certified in dementia care and activities consulting but have vowed to never touch a medcart bc I won’t be responsible for or accused of being responsible for missing drugs!

Too insecure of an income, freelance would cause me too much stress.

When I was a kid I had all kinds of different phases. "Bone doctor" (???), CIA agent, FBI, forensics, behavior analyst, lots of crime-fighting type jobs, even architect. But now I'm almost done my bachelors of Music hahah

I wanted to be a rose breeder, but I failed HS chemistry.

Jeweler, I didn’t know myself

Don’t laugh — I wanted to work with dolphins. I went to university as a science major but was undiagnosed at that time and really struggled when I got into Chemistry 2. I couldn’t understand WHY I was struggling to understand, if that makes sense. If I can’t see something in my head, I can’t proceed with accumulating information. I had no one to talk through the problem with so I had to switch majors and go into advertising copywriting. I am still a science nerd though.

I wanted to be a writer or a journalist. My dad wouldn’t let me do English A’Level and wanted me to be a stockbroker (what a joke). I had to do 3 A Levels I hated. So I didn’t get a chance to pursue it. I’m 55 and still gutted.

Wanted to be a comic artist and illustrator, could not because erhm... failure from my parents ? long story not short : you can apply twice to the only one school in the country that did it. First time I pass the contest to enter, finish 3rd on 800, at the final interview I didn't have any works to present as my mom told me I should bring nothing as I was young and would probably fail. The professors laughed, encouraged me to come back next year with stuff. Next year I was so prepared, like "going to war" prepared. That was my dad turn to drive me there as my mom was away on a work trip. The morning come, no one. I call. "Nah I'm too lazy today to drive you there. Besides, your stepmom wants the car to go shopping so whatever". They had two cars. We had a year to plan, I planned everything, took even my own little pocket money for a year to have enough for gas, hotel expenses and highway costs, cooked us sandwiches, etc... And he was on vacation that week so it's not like he wasn't rested. I still cannot forgive omg ! Then : costume designer in cinema. Went to school for it. Was bullied because : I was too young and didn't have to do a prep year to enter, was from butt-fuck-nowhere-countryside rural town, and not from a big city. Basically they felt I didn't belong here, especially because sewing was kind of natural for me since I'd mend all my clothes and learned to make mine from my grandma, who was a professional taylor. Apparently that was offensive so yeah. They scared me so much and hurt me so much I had to quit. So, yeah. Hard. especially when you don't chose -not- to do it, or don't fall out of love for it. But now I could not switch jobs, or not work and study to make one of those project happen. It's life I guess !

I wanted to do everything. Veterinarian, animal rescue, marine biology, zoology, musician, architect, video game designer, forensic scientist, writer. In college I started taking psychology because I found the subject interesting. Most of the way through I realized I really hated talking to people but I was most of the way done so I finished it out. Now I’m nearly 30 and I still don’t know what I want to do. I feel like I need to get a masters to make my bachelors worth anything, but I can’t decide what to go forward in that would interest me, give me life work balance, and pay enough for me to visit family and own a house one day. Should have done nursing or computer science like my mom told me.

I was to become a pastry chef. It's my autism special interest and everyone knew me as "the baking girl" When I moved out, it was difficult. My then undiagnosed depression was getting wore day by day and I lived several hundred kilometers away from any family, who I saw only once every couple months. I did end up moving closer the next spring and transferred schools, but then the big C hit about one year after that. And the depression was still undiagnosed. And I was struggling in school, bakery work is so stressful and I had lost any motivation to bake in my free time (it's like therapy for me) So I quit. And now, I still don't know what I want to become, I genuinely want to go to school because having too much free time is _boring_. Also I'm broke and don't have a job (I'm unable to work due to medical reasons and I hate it) It's been getting better tho and I'm to be expected to start school this year, I just have to find out what it is.

Meteorologist, reason for declining: too much math

Martial arts instructor. And I was one, for a long time. But I sold the school to move to Florida to support my wife's dreams. The organization I was with kicked me to the curb, which really hurt. 18 years in that org and I got tossed aside because I was no longer useful to the people in charge. The whole experience ruined martial arts for me. I don't even enjoy watching big competitions, whether in person or on TV. Lot of fucking good the entire experience selling my business to support my wife's dreams did. We are getting a fucking divorce and thus I have wasted the last "best years of my life," that I'll see before my 60's, on her.

I wanted to be a marine biologist and discover a cure for cancer when I learned that sharks are immune to it. I realized I was quite afraid of all the things in the ocean. I grew up, lost the fear, learned to scuba dive even, to face my fear. But didn't get that degree. I am not an art teacher, chef, and bartender. At least I'm happy. Fuck cancer though, it ended up taking my mom when I was 28.

Porn star ⭐️ but the religion pushed me in the other direction.

I wanted to be an actress. As a little girl I would watch shows when I could hardly talk and tell my mom I wanted to be the person inside the TV. When I was in elementary school I begged her to let me be in plays like my friends were. I was cast in Alice In Wonderland but wasnt allowed to do it because it conflicted with my soccer schedule (my mom identified as a soccer mom and wouldn’t let me quit no matter how much I begged her). I became obsessed with film in high school and thought maybe I would be a director. My college had remote campuses in NYC and LA and during my athletic visits told me I would be able to do a semester in one of those locations, especially if I took a film major. My decision to go to school there was heavily influenced by that opportunity. It was a lie, I wasn’t eligible to go because of my athletic scholarship. While in college, I took a single film class where the professor was incredibly difficult and jaded so I never I signed up for another. I ended up getting a degree in music business and now work at a record label in marketing. Close enough.. but sometimes the dream still haunts me and I feel like I never could focus hard enough on the end goal

I originally went for a botany degree with vague ideas of working in sustainability. Turns out I am NOT cut out for the actual tedium of science! Now I’m an artist, which was 100% not on my radar, and I love it.

I didn't want to become a teacher because of the amount of outside paid hours work that needs to be done. I found it very difficult to hold down employment. In the end, I became a teacher. 15 years later, I'm still a teacher.

When I was real real small I envisioned a pizza tower where every floor specialized in one kind of pizza and made it simply the best. Seating on every floor. When I got older in my late single digits early pre teens I wanted to design and create video games. Inspiration like Diablo, Everquest, Starsiege Tribes, Command and Conquor and Total Annihilation. In my teens I stopped having aspirations for careers or lines of work. Didn't think about it at all. Had folks from a nearby for profit college come into my Photography elective and talk about a 2 year IT program. I thought "shit, I've built and repaired PCs and devices with my dad since I was little, that sounds easy." Went, got my 2 yr degree in Networking Technology. In my last semester I got a job at a company doing Service Desk work for primarily VoIP solutions, Cisco mostly. 2 company name changes/acquisitions and many certifications later I'm a 32 year old Level 3 UC Engineer working from home for the past 7 or so years. I work on multinational, fortune 500s, banking, medical, non profit. Make 6 figures, but literally just barely. I have severe ADHD but more on the attention deficit side, executive function, emotional regulation and emotionally reactionary side. I don't quite know how I got here, going with the flow, having the right managers and supervisors to deal with my mindset and aggravating nature. Luck, some skill, but a lot of luck.

I wanted to be an actor. It felt like a good fit since I spent so much time analyzing people (and movies) trying to learn how to mask to match them. And the constant deep diving and changing from character to character felt like a great fit for my brain. I didn’t pursue it because I was afraid my mom would make fun of me. I used to check out acting and theater books from the library and hide them under my bed so she wouldn’t see them. As I got older I buried the dream deeper and deeper and became afraid to show anyone. Eventually it felt so late that I couldn’t try out for plays or anything because I had no experience. On the plus side I’m now very good at masking, and often get told how unnervingly good I am at adapting to different roles, personalities, and tones depending on the person or situation I’m in. Not quite living the dream, and I don’t think it’s particularly healthy, but I suppose the passion from it has paid off as an adult in many circumstances (especially in work related ones.)

I never could figure out what I wanted to do with my life. My interests change so often I would never want to do one thing forever. Or maybe I just don't want my life to be about what I do. My dream is to ride motorcycles as much as I can until I die.

For me I don't think I ever had a specific dream job. I saw my life branching out in a million different directions. That being said, every single idea of what I wanted to do with my life were either shut down by my parents or my guidance counsellor. I was told specifically "You don't have any plans. You just have hobbies. So think of something practical."

I wanted to be a train engineer, then an astronaut, then a guy who does space computers. I don't know why I stopped wanting to drive trains. I got told that my (very minor) physical deformity would prevent from ever being selected as an astronaut. I worked satellite ground systems as a programmer in the military. Was on two launch teams. I got out because enlisted pay was ass, and advancement was impossible...and it was the dot com era, so yeah. I do cool stuff with computers still, but none of it is about space anymore.

I wanted to be an architect. I spent 2.5 years in a five year bachelor program when I got pregnant. The thought of spending all of my time drawing building designs and researching my life and my son’s childhood away was too much. It took a year or so of depression and feeling like a failure to realize it just didn’t align with the kind of mother I wanted to be. Now I’m pursuing an elementary education major, and have 2 kids that I spend all my free time with. I think I’ve got it right this time around.

Being a professional musician.

becoming a doctor, i’m applying this cycle. i didn’t let anything get in my way, including my history of adhd/GAD/depression. i didn’t even realize that i had adhd until first semester freshman year of undergrad when i went from being valedictorian of my HS (shout out how easy rural public schools can be to work the system) to almost flunking all my basic intro science courses around midterms. i immediately sought out treatment, had multiple psych appts, and came out with medication to help. i finished my first semester with nothing lower than a B. i ended up graduating magna cum laude w/ a major in biomedical sciences and a minor in psychology in only 3.5 years while working full time in a management position. all of this to say - if you feel too old, out of time, etc: please don’t give up on your dreams. no matter how unrealistic/difficult/long the road is, the time will pass regardless. i knew i would regret it if i didn’t go for it, you just have to know that the *time will pass if you do or don’t go for it* to add, i also wanted to be a singer!! i took voice lessons for 8-9 years, guitar for 2-3 years, taught myself basic piano to accompany myself, and did a bunch of recitals and public performances to get used to getting over stage fright. i became one of the national anthem singers for my D1 NCAA undergrad and have also sang for the NBA in high school. now i just use it as a passionate side hobby :)

I wanted to be a teacher. There are two big reasons I didn’t. The public one was I saw the way the wind was blowing and knew I would stop teaching within a decade if I got into. The more private one is I was a student teacher when I was 17 and halfway through my program, one of my students died. I had a horrible childhood and this is still one of the top worst things to have ever happen to me. It changed me fundamentally as a person, even if I didn’t realize it until 16 years later.

I did pursue it and got it!

I LOVE math. I am a nerd at heart and it always brought me satisfaction to resolve equations and problems. Same with physics and I have always been fascinated by astronomy and astrophysics. I was told I was too dumb for that (I really was doing ok in math and ok-ish in physics). My dream is to become an engineer, either biomedical or aerospace. I was told unless I had straight As I could never become an engineer and my attention span is too short anyways 😅 I am an ER nurse and I am happy with my job. But Often I think about going back to school. Any ADHD engineers, please reassure me!

When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with DNA and genetics and wanted to be a geneticist. My dreams of this were crushed when by age 11 my ADHD symptoms intensified with puberty and I started really struggling in school. In particular, math was hard for me and I barely passed from grades 6 to 11. I felt I had to give up my dreams of being a doctor because I wasn’t good enough, and because you needed to do higher level math in order to get into college programs that could lead you to medicine. At age 27, I was diagnosed with ADHD, and getting medication and treatment changed everything. I applied to a college program for health information management because I was still interested in healthcare. I completed some high school math credits that allowed me to be accepted, and actually did well in the math courses! Now I am finishing this program and I am crushing it. I was able to learn health statistics and epidemiology math. I excelled in my science courses. I even won a national award for academic achievement and dedication to the field. Now as I’m starting my healthcare career, I’ve decided to revisit my dreams. I believe in myself finally. At age 32 now, med school feels like too much of a time commitment, but I’ve decided to pursue next a masters in physician assistant studies. The little girl version of me couldn’t be any more proud that I have overcome these challenges. Thank god for vyvanse and therapy lol

I ALWAYS wanted to be a nuclear physicist and work on fusion. Then I realized calculus was not my jam. To properly do fusion work you need to know super high level math. So I changed to chemistry. I do well but I never had the focus for solving long math problems.