Extreme mental block - Inability to study

[AlfilRey]

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In a few years time, do you want to be a lawyer?

Will your law degree be of use elsewhere?

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Probably...there's a pretty long tradition in my family regarding setting up and running businesses, investments / currency exchange stuff and purchasing and selling property. This is one of the main reasons why I chose Law. I won't be working as a lawyer I don't think, unless things change drastically...but the idea was to spend a few years in college "maturing", learning and getting my degree and then aged 22-23 try to follow in the footsteps of a lot of family members. In the meantime, try to build a starting up capital through poker. Perhaps, however, this is just a naive dream.

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Your comments regarding wasting two years is like your blind money. It is no longer yours, and you can defend it by putting more years into it, then give up, or find a more profitable solution as to where to put the next few years of your life

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I really like this poker analogy. I had never thought of it that way. However, the real problem is that with all the different factors that I have to take into account, I'm not sure WHAT EVEN IS the most profitable/optimal solution...

[AlfilRey]

Yeah you're right. My daily routine when I don't go into college is pretty bad. A lot of my friends are pretty irresponsible and rarely go into college themselves, and I know a few people who are not in college at all. So often when I don't want to go into college I'll give a couple of them a ring and see if they wanna head into town / hang out whatever.

The problem is that most of them don't want to change their lifestyle as much as I do. In fact, a lot of them seem content to shirk responsibilities and laze about for the foreseeable future. For good or for bad, I don't have that personality and it eats me up inside when I feel I am not getting enough out of my time.

However, I can't just dump my group of friends. I do get on well with them, and they are without exception nice people. Regarding the goals that I am working towards, they are, unwillingly, a bad influence on me...but I still enjoy their company.

Regarding "gladly wasting" a few years in college, yeah I agreed with that at first...but my social and college life aren't linked. It would be fair enough if I didn't like what I was studying, but loved every other aspect of college. However, as it stands, not going to college would not have any significant impact on the non-academic side of things.

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edit:quick question...your self-worth/esteem?


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Ridiculously low. However, when I do things right, like put in a good day of work, do sport/go to the gym, eat well, and not adopt my extreme, obsessive nature when doing whatever...my self-esteem shoots up. Pity I can't keep up the whole "doing things right" routine...

[noonun]

I just graduated about a year ago, and I have to say that Adderall helped me a lot. I have never been an extremely motivated person academically, I would skip class all the time, and put off papers until 2am of the day they were due. I did, however, graduate with a good GPA and ended up learning a great deal...in large part due to Adderall, it helped me cram before tests with increased retention, I could also read at a much faster rate. While on Adderall it is like I had a greater thirst for learning.

I did not take it often (only when I could get some from freinds), only when it was crucial that I accomplish a lot in a short period of time. I wouldn't recommend take it unless you have been prescibed it by a psychiatrist you trust...also BE AWARE OF THE SIDEEFFECTS, Adderall is a combination of amphedamine salts and it can greatly increase your heart rate (make sure you have no heart problems beforehand), your sense of anxiety/paranoia, and can decrease your sex drive (this is by no means an exhaustive list of sideeffects...look them all up!)

[Vraket]

Since they are your friends, they'll accept that you go to another city to study. You're talking about the rest of your life, staying in the city because you have friends there is silly. Time separates people anyway, and you'll keep in touch with them. It's better to move away from them now and do something useful of your life, than waiting 6 years for them to get married/or find a job in another city and move away from you..

Friends are important, but, in the age 16-25 a lot of things happens. If you have X good friends when you're 20, you might be in touch with 20% of that particular group when you're 30..

[schusch]

well,i agree with vraket...plus in fact,they wont support you if you want to change,be prepared for that aswell,i mean if you want to get up in social order its natural that they will try to keep you down.I would have moved long time ago if i could easily afford it,i wouldnt leave country but away from home,as it is hard to break through habits(i bet you know when you want to do something but then fall back into old patterns).And know what?I just found a site for college students and found alot of people i havent met for ages and we will meet on monday.What i want to say,if you want to stay in contact,you can do it,if you really want to.You can also use skype as a small alternative, which i do with my friends in Hungary, or drive home once in 14days.
Thats my opinion..and what do you think about NP2?Do you like it?You can use it for self-worth pushing aswell, check the helpfile.

[sledghammer]

I was in a similar boat in college; I had a very tough time getting homework and studying done. I sort of breezed through high school without much effort, and the same strategy didn't really work once I hit my 3rd year of college, when I started failing classes.

Everything turned around when I started working on homework and studying in groups. I used to shun working in groups because I thought was 'smarter than that,' and figured it would just take longer. It was an entirely new experience for the most part; I became motivated by my competitiveness, and for social acceptance. It also takes less time, even though you have to help people along sometimes, since you stay focused on the task at hand. And when you do have to help people along and explain concepts to them, it clarifies and cements them in your own mind. I can't recommend it enough: I never would have graduated otherwise.