Well, there's a couple things.Christmas of 2019, I will turn 22. As of the time I'm writing this, I have accomplished nothing noteworthy in life, have dropped out of college twice, and have no passions or dreams in general. To put it bluntly, I am lost. I don't know where I'm going. I wanted this year to be the year that I focused on physical/mental health over anything but I'm realizing that those efforts will be entirely fruitless if I do not have goals set in place following them.
The thought of joining the military has crossed my mind more than a few times in the past but out of fear, anxiety, or the idea that I'd be ruining my chances of finding happiness in my supposed "golden years", I wrote it off. Now I'm back at the drawing board hoping something sticks. I like art. I want to become a painter when I get older although it isn't a lucrative profession so I'm looking for something to support that hope.
To make this a short post, I'm simply referring to the question asked in this thread title. Apologies if this post has been asked before or if there appears to be an obvious answer.
1. If you aren't into it, you might want to stay away from combat roles. If you are deployed and zoned out just thinking, "Why did I sign up?", you are going to get yourself killed or those around you. Also, look into the Coast Guard, not just army, navy, marines and air force. They train you in what you need to know. That's the good thing. Other jobs, you need education or experience before getting hired. Otherwise, you are behind the 8-ball always competing against others that meet and/or exceed the job requirements.
2. Military is a good stepping stone to get a college degree with the GI Bill paying for the degree. You may find "your calling" while in the military and when you get out, you'll have more personal motive to complete a degree in a particular major.
3. You may want to major in something you might not necessarily be gung ho about, but you can handle it. I'm not in the perfect dream job. But it pays well, I like it and it allows me to do hobbies that I like during my off hours.
4. You are signing your life away. You can't just go AWOL, literally speaking, like a regular 9-5 job. You sort of need to know that you are going to be on a base or ship and can't just leave on a whim. It's a sacrifice, and being half-hearted might make it a sour 4 years of your life. Or you might make some really great friends and help launch your next goals in life. This could be college. This could be just working a regular job where your military background helps you be a leader. Or you could have a career in the military where you take on a supervisory role, sergeant and up.
Good luck.