Help me with my current life plan (going back to college)

[BipolarGrowth]

I’ve been told by one of my best and most intelligent friends that I tend to be overly optimistic at times. Due to this, I’ve decided to contact the esteemed members of this forum to help shoot holes in my current plan and receive constructive suggestions and criticisms. 

 

I currently work full-time as a shift manager for McAlister’s Deli and am a landlord in my home town which is not necessarily my happily-ever-after-riding-off-into-the-sunset scenario. I’ll quickly list the things I don’t like about my current situation and what I do like about it. 
 

Prose:

I get to see my parents on a weekly basis (my mom is currently fighting breast cancer, and apparently winning fortunately)

I’m able to be relatively financially stable on my own

I have several good friends here, although only a few of them are simultaneously my own age and available to hang out when I have free time

It’s pretty easy to live here 

My job security is quite high

Kāns:

I feel like I’m stuck in life somewhat frequently 

I don’t get to spend much time focusing on things that I enjoy most

I am not making much more progress at becoming financially free

The dating and gaming options I find in a town of 40,000 people (with an older population) in Indiana is quite abysmal for my taste

My current job is quite stressful for the compensation I receive 

My job does not utilize many of my talents and skills

My spirit feels dormant 

The Plan

I want to go back to college at the university I first attended (Indiana University Bloomington) 

I am going to continue at the same job and run my small business until I move. My real estate business can be run remotely most likely. I currently pay myself $426.50 per month (10% of rents) from that. I could potentially take out more on a monthly basis if I wanted, but my business partner and I have been reinvesting ever since the start which has worked well. I’ll potentially do contracting work at my old property management job as well to save up as much money as feasible before I move to Bloomington 

I want to buy a more reliable vehicle (ideally with cash) before I make the move. I currently drive a 1989 Ford F-150 which I got from my stepdad after I totaled a couple of my own vehicles in manic episodes (gotta love that serotonergic psychedelic & professional psychiatric care combination, thank God I got off of that nonsense) 

I am going to likely get my tuition paid in full or large part from government grants thanks to riding that good ole’ poverty line

I want to go for a religious studies bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Buddhism, but this could change depending on what studying that is like in actuality. The purpose of this is not to make more money. It is to spend more of my time doing what I like. I quite enjoy the academic environment, and I really enjoy tasting the many flavors of Buddhist theory. IU is supposedly one of the best schools in the U.S. for studying Buddhism according to some light Googling. There is also a Buddhist Temple in Bloomington nestled in the forested hills. I’ve heard the Dalai Lama’s brother or cousin was the one who used to run it which might hint at a bit more legitimacy compared to other American Buddhist Temples. This sounds like a rather fortuitous situation for meditating and meeting spiritual people (maybe even a nice blonde? Probably not, but a man can dream…) 

Another benefit of this degree is I’d like to eventually turn spirituality into something that pays the bills or that I can do full time if I find other ways to cover my living expenses. The degree won’t really do shit for that directly, but it will give me some more confidence and knowledge in going in that direction and a slight boost to credibility. I think the main benefit is I’ll be focused on something closer to spirituality with my time than making sandwiches and inappropriate kitchen jokes for a living. 
 

I want to start improving my game and social skills. Bloomington will be a much better place for this than where I currently live even though there are better choices if that were a primary goal. 
 

Some analysis and further explanation

I initially came up with this plan because I was experiencing a lot of stress and anger in my current situation at moments. This is quite uncomfortable as I usually don’t feel much anger. Being in a management position of underpaid workers isn’t that pleasant. I realized that I have been wasting my life doing what I’m doing now in a sense. What I mostly want to come out of this plan is more fulfillment and satisfaction. Academics is a strength of mine, and I think switching from working to studying for a few years will be a nice change of pace. It will allow me to spend more time with people who are more intelligent, knowledgeable, and you might even say “spirally developed.”

I can work for the same company even if I’d like to. There is a location in Bloomington. I’d ideally only work part time and in a reduced capacity while going to school. There are surely plenty of other options for some light employment there. 

[Guest Nilsi]

The population of Bloomington is 80.000... 

How on earth are you going to work on your dating life there?

Can't you study in a big city? I bet there are lots of authentic Buddhist places in Cali, New York etc., if that's your big thing.

Also, don't bank on meeting highly developed people (in academia) - this is a wet dream, in my experience.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Nilsi

[BipolarGrowth]

52 minutes ago, Nilsi said:

The population of Bloomington is 80.000... 

How on earth are you going to work on your dating life there?

Can't you study in a big city? I bet there are lots of authentic Buddhist places in Cali, New York etc., if that's your big thing.

Also, don't bank on meeting highly developed people (in academia) - this is a wet dream, in my experience.

I could go to a bigger city, but the cost of living is going to be substantially higher. Working on a dating life isn’t my main focus. It’s a side goal. I’ve lived in Bloomington and do not see dating there as being very difficult compared to where I live now. I’m looking for a more enjoyable phase of life. I think I’d have to work far more in New York or California which is the opposite of what I’m looking for. Do you think there is a straightforward and reliable way to maintain the same standard of living in one of those locations or a similar one without having it take more hours per week? I’m happy to hear any ideas on that. One reason why I’m thinking about Bloomington is because it would be in-state tuition. It’s also in driving distance of my hometown if I need to tend to business matters occasionally or want to visit family. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by BipolarGrowth

[Michal__]

The main issue I see with that is - are you really sure that weekly homework from religious studies (which probably won't do much for your spiritual life) and cramming for exams regarding memorized Buddhist stuff will be more fulfilling than working on your finances/business/maybe starting a second small business?

I get the appeal of having a chill time where you mainly study. Especially if it's somewhat related to spirituality. 

Just something to consider.

I went to University 2 years ago because I thought it would be much more chill than working on my business and now I'm considering quitting. But I definitely learned some useful stuff on the other hand.

I'd love to do a year long concentration retreat instead of university, that would be much better. Except that requires being able to not work on business at all etc.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Michal__

[Javfly33]

1 hour ago, Nilsi said:

The population of Bloomington is 80.000... 

How much people do you guys need to get laid lol? 1 million?

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Javfly33

[BipolarGrowth]

18 minutes ago, Michal__ said:

The main issue I see with that is - are you really sure that weekly homework from religious studies (which probably won't do much for your spiritual life) and cramming for exams regarding memorized Buddhist stuff will be more fulfilling than working on your finances/business/maybe starting a second small business?

I get the appeal of having a chill time where you mainly study. Especially if it's somewhat related to spirituality. 

Just something to consider.

I went to University 2 years ago because I thought it would be much more chill than working on my business and now I'm considering quitting. But I definitely learned some useful stuff on the other hand.

I'd love to do a year long concentration retreat instead of university, that would be much better. Except that requires being able to not work on business at all etc.

My initial thoughts are that it would be more fulfilling, but I’m also not that tied to that specific major. I could always simply look for a different line of work and try to improve my finances instead of going back to school. The issue with that is I imagine my situation wouldn’t change that much overall. My intention if school does feel like a good fit is to go for deeper study into Buddhism or philosophy of some sort. This is essentially meant to be an attainable and moderate or low risk way of exploring a different life path and mode of living than the typical work grind. Whatever gets me to that is what would be best. I’m not too keen on trying something like starting an online business as I tend to do best when I have a strong sense of obligation to complete something. I’ve tried that sort of thing multiple times, and it has always correlated with more manic episodes and in turn more hospital bills that cost tens of thousands of dollars. 
 

College actually is not as good as working  in respect to how much obligation is felt, but it still has more of a structure and built-in sense of obligation than doing a business entirely on my own. One reason my real estate business has gone well is because I have an obligation to my partner. I never really have that when it’s a project I’m working on alone. It’s too easy for me to change course to some new project or burn myself out before things actually start working for me. This is certainly something for me to work on, but I’m looking for a somewhat reliable way to try a different life path right now that won’t necessarily be what I end up doing forever or is some dream situation. This is ultimately a sort of interim step I want to try out. 
 

I would like to point out to anyone giving suggestions that I am susceptible to rather severe manic episodes when I try to accomplish too much at once. This has been a recurring theme for me. This current plan allows me to stay a bit closer to a support network of family in case anything goes south and not put myself in a situation where I might have to work too much for my current mental stability. The fact that it is in-state tuition and a reasonable cost of living are key factors in my decision making process for this plan because of my added risk of instability. Ideally, any alternative paths would not have a larger hours/week time requirement than what I’ve initially thought up here. 

[Guest Nilsi]

30 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

How much people do you guys need to get laid lol? 1 million?

 

Makes it a lot easier.

Also, there just aren't many great places to meet girls in small cities.

[Guest Nilsi]

1 hour ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Do you think there is a straightforward and reliable way to maintain the same standard of living in one of those locations or a similar one without having it take more hours per week? I’m happy to hear any ideas on that. 

You could share a flat, or live in a van, if that's your thing.

There will always be tradeoffs.

I'm sure surviving as a student in a city like New York is not easy, so if you're mainly looking for comfort and enjoyment, that might not be a good fit.

[BipolarGrowth]

1 minute ago, Nilsi said:

You could share a flat, or live in a van, if that's your thing.

There will always be tradeoffs.

I'm sure surviving as a student in a city like New York is not easy, so if you're mainly looking for comfort and enjoyment, that might not be a good fit.

I think your suggestion still has some merit to it that makes it worth exploring. I think traveling to experience what some of these options would be like could help. One of the reasons I’ve devised this Bloomington plan is that I pretty much know what I’m getting since I lived and studied there before. If I stay where I’m at now, I’m probably going to get roped into a 50+ hrs/week salary position that might not be the best overall but could help in ways. Real estate and restaurants are things I can do well and have experience in, but I know that they are not the most inspired path I could walk. 

[Guest Nilsi]

6 minutes ago, BipolarGrowth said:

I think your suggestion still has some merit to it that makes it worth exploring. I think traveling to experience what some of these options would be like could help. One of the reasons I’ve devised this Bloomington plan is that I pretty much know what I’m getting since I lived and studied there before. If I stay where I’m at now, I’m probably going to get roped into a 50+ hrs/week salary position that might not be the best overall but could help in ways. Real estate and restaurants are things I can do well and have experience in, but I know that they are not the most inspired path I could walk. 

Whatever you may choose, I advice you to not choose it based on whether it will be easy and comfortable.

[RedLine]

You have all the information on the internet (all the books, all the scientific literature, etc), why would you want to go the university? Nowadays is mostly a burocratic institution. Personally I would foucs on scaling the real state thing  and read about buddhism in your free time.

[Jwayne]

Don't go to college to study Buddhism.

Go to college to get a practical certification or degree that's going to further your career aspirations. I'm sorry but, my opinion is that, spirituality certification is not going to pay in Indiana.

[Michal__]

On 7. 4. 2023 at 3:23 PM, BipolarGrowth said:

My initial thoughts are that it would be more fulfilling, but I’m also not that tied to that specific major. I could always simply look for a different line of work and try to improve my finances instead of going back to school. The issue with that is I imagine my situation wouldn’t change that much overall. My intention if school does feel like a good fit is to go for deeper study into Buddhism or philosophy of some sort. This is essentially meant to be an attainable and moderate or low risk way of exploring a different life path and mode of living than the typical work grind. Whatever gets me to that is what would be best. I’m not too keen on trying something like starting an online business as I tend to do best when I have a strong sense of obligation to complete something. I’ve tried that sort of thing multiple times, and it has always correlated with more manic episodes and in turn more hospital bills that cost tens of thousands of dollars. 
 

College actually is not as good as working  in respect to how much obligation is felt, but it still has more of a structure and built-in sense of obligation than doing a business entirely on my own. One reason my real estate business has gone well is because I have an obligation to my partner. I never really have that when it’s a project I’m working on alone. It’s too easy for me to change course to some new project or burn myself out before things actually start working for me. This is certainly something for me to work on, but I’m looking for a somewhat reliable way to try a different life path right now that won’t necessarily be what I end up doing forever or is some dream situation. This is ultimately a sort of interim step I want to try out. 
 

I would like to point out to anyone giving suggestions that I am susceptible to rather severe manic episodes when I try to accomplish too much at once. This has been a recurring theme for me. This current plan allows me to stay a bit closer to a support network of family in case anything goes south and not put myself in a situation where I might have to work too much for my current mental stability. The fact that it is in-state tuition and a reasonable cost of living are key factors in my decision making process for this plan because of my added risk of instability. Ideally, any alternative paths would not have a larger hours/week time requirement than what I’ve initially thought up here. 

Another thought - I got around not feeling a sense of obligation because my current main client gives me daily deadlines (copywriting). And also - it is important to make sure that I am not taking an order that is more complicated than my current skill level (eg, - doing a lot of complicated modifications to an existing website is much harder than building a website from scratch).

So if you can think of a way to do something like that it would be ideal.

Idk if it is helpful in your situation, but maybe another thing to think about.

[BipolarGrowth]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:13 PM, Michal__ said:

Another thought - I got around not feeling a sense of obligation because my current main client gives me daily deadlines (copywriting). And also - it is important to make sure that I am not taking an order that is more complicated than my current skill level (eg, - doing a lot of complicated modifications to an existing website is much harder than building a website from scratch).

So if you can think of a way to do something like that it would be ideal.

Idk if it is helpful in your situation, but maybe another thing to think about.

This is actually a pretty helpful detail. I’m glad you mentioned it.