this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2026
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I almost don't feel like the same person I was just 5 years ago. Granted, this is my first 5 years of working full-time, outside of schooling, so I'm no longer actively studying and practicing my mathematical skills.

But beyond that, I just feel like I don't have free will? My health is degrading because I have unhealthy eating habits, and I really want to stop, and I don't even really enjoy eating unhealthy food anymore, but I think I might actually be chemically dependent on the refined sugar, carbs, and fat. I work 10 hour days and then I'm too exhausted to eat healthy. If I meal prep healthy food, I sometimes just waste it because I'd rather order a couple burgers. I used to be vegan, and I still think vegans are basically correct, but I no longer have self-discipline.

It feels impossible to fix this shit. Reading what I've laid out, I think, "what you need is therapy". And yeah, maybe, but I've had like 7 different therapists and somehow I feel like it usually just becomes a space for me to go and be all introspective and sharing everything about myself to this quiet professional who isn't really leading the conversation, isn't contributing much, isn't giving me an idea of what therapy is supposed to be. There's just long awkward silences while I think of things to say? And I'm paying $90/hour? So far the only utility to me has been a place to vent. But now I'm doing that here instead because it's free.

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[โ€“] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

around 30 seems to be the age when it's most allowed to settle into a life of incurious stagnation. the bosses and banks don't care if you learn anything new or try to develop mastery in a skill.

i went back to finish school around 30 in a completely different discipline, so honestly my timetable has consistently been off the rails (dropped out at 20, changed careers/quarter life crisis in late 20s). i found higher education and retraining in my 30s to be much easier.

i don't put any weight into western "studies" about cognitive decline happening before like 60, because our society does not reward curiosity or edification. they want almost all of us to be incurious treat seekers. the brain is an adaptive organ in an adaptive body that will do its best to adapt to and survive the conditions it is subjected to.

if i could distill my advice into a directive for people at any age or stage of life: cultivate curiosity.

[โ€“] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 4 points 17 hours ago

i went back to finish school around 30 in a completely different discipline, so honestly my timetable has consistently been off the rails (dropped out at 20, changed careers/quarter life crisis in late 20s). i found higher education and retraining in my 30s to be much easier.

Absolutely. I have to readjust a whole bunch of lifestyle changes, and there's absolutely no way 20 year old me would've handled the transition.