I think it is possible to change, but not easy. It's not something simple like do this one thing every day and you will change your life.

You need to go deeper, understand where that lack of drive comes from. How those behaviours were learnt and almost start from scratch, unlearning them one by one and replacing them with behaviours that you would like to have.

One place to start in terms of career is look at do you still want to go into journalism. You talk about lack of goals or long term plans, is that because you don't really want to go into that field any more? Or is it because these other behaviours are holding you back?

If you really do still want to go for it, then get started with a plan whist you are working on those underlying issues. Break it down into steps that feel manageable to you in your current situation. Then as you grow and improve those smaller steps can get bigger and keep you moving forwards.

Do you have a portfolio? Travel plans? Financial literacy? Try new things. Change a tire. Doing something different even if it's 1 little thing in your routine can create ripples.🦋

I think this beyond "get motivated" and "consider talking to a therapist/health professional". Honestly, a lot of things that feel like "you just not being good enough" are NOT that-- it's that you literally can not and should not be expected to "figure it out" it without professional help. Good luck OP!

If the passion and drive are there you can achieve it. Yes it means taking action, being consistent, seeking and creating opportunity but 💯 possible. Otherwise you may stay on the hamster wheel and regret not really going for it while the fire was lit.

Take shrooms, go running in the woods. Worked for me 😊

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You've got food in your belly and a roof over your head. None of these things will change much whether you work hard or not. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with just stagnating... working whatever stuff is available and only doing enough to get by. Millions of people do it every day.

It's not fun or popular to talk about but... people are not really motivated by positive stuff so much. Those Olympic athletes who say "oh, I just wanna be the very best!" are bullshitting you. Everybody wants to be the very best. Everybody wants to see their name in print, or report on a big story, or have a thriving career. Just wanting stuff and having goals is not enough.

I'm very much the same shiftless layabout that you are, just a decade older. My brothers, though, are both really motivated big-shots. In their case, and in the case of everyone that I've seen who is really successful, the motivation is fear. Fear of failure. Fear that not doing 120% today will lead to disaster tomorrow or 10 years down the line.

You (and I) have the opposite: fear of success. You're afraid that something will change irrevocably when you actually become "a real" journalist. Nobody will take you seriously. It'll be a disaster, etc. Think about what happened in the past when you "succeeded." Maybe it really was a disaster. But... you know, "real" journalists don't know what they're doing either. I'm sure you've already realized this intellectually, but it's important to realize that "real" journalists write copy that is mostly used to line birdcages, clean up spills, and wrap fish. Very rarely do people actually read a newspaper anymore.

You mentioned journalists don't make any money. If your goal is just to make money, there's hundreds of dull office jobs that make you boatloads of money. They're always called something very vague like "Systems Analyst" or "Software Consultant" but they usually just boil down to playing around with some pivot tables in Excel. In other words, something any trained monkey could do. Because your dad has money, he probably knows some businessmen that need an Excel-jockey or even someone to just proofread their emails. Nobody dreams of being an Administrative Assistant, but if you're looking to make money it's a heck of a lot better than folding clothes. If your dad has no connections, just sign up for a temp-gig. Offices always need asses in seats, and they prefer to hire from the temp pool because they know what they're getting. Hope this helps!