I've never been the “5 year plan” type of person. For as long as I can remember I've never really known what I wanted to do. They started to ask us what we wanted to be when we grew up in elementary school and didn't have answer then as much as I dont have one now.
I'm 22 now and stuck in the retail hellscape. I want out of it desperately, but the labor market is horrible where I live. To leave my job would be to take something that pays less(not that I make a reasonable amount now) and would almost certainly be part-time or seasonal work.
I keep being urged to think about “where I want to be in a year from now” but I just don't know. It feels like a waste of time to try to improve anything with the way everything is going. I went straight to work after graduating and ended up in retail/grocery positions ever since. I can't even get a job bussing tables because I don't have “relevant work experience”.
To be honest I never thought much about a career or anything cuz I didn't think I'd make it this far. So now I'm stuck in an endless loop of punching a time clock for barely enough money to live and I don't see a way out.