I'm DROPPING OUT of School? I Want YOUR Advice

Mar '23 (edited) in Other

This is a long post so thanks to anyone who reads it and replies. I appreciate you. This post took me > 3 hours 30 minutes to write and organise my thoughts. Good times, organising the whirlwind of thoughts that I put down on paper.

𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹

I am in a funny position. I have opportunities to go to the 'best' universities in the UK but I am not interested in that. They keep trying to get us to write what subjects you are passionate about and what you want to apply for at university. I'm just sitting there like: I'm not really passionate about these subjects (in a school setting) and I don't want to take them further. Dropping out calls me.

I got dialled in for 6 months on GCSEs (UK exams you take at 16 years old) and basically smashed them. Everyone else was super happy about their results. I felt barely anything. I set a goal, I did well but it wasn't worth it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I played that game and it wasn't worth it. I am not interested in playing the 'get good grades' game anymore. I know I could crush it again if I wanted to, but I just don't care. Motivation for school has plummeted since. I've been doing the minimal possible. Teachers are irritating, the work feels pointless. I have this urge, this energy to break out.

There is a little bit of fear/ anxiety around dropping out but also excitement. It feels right. (with things like this I suppose there is always a bit of uncertainty. A defence mechanism. I suspect some it may also be down to not having completely broke the chains of my parents opinions.)

It doesn't take tons of time (20 - 30 hours per week right now I think. They do like to randomly give more work though and I suspect it will increase around mock exams and the real exams. I do have data from the past few weeks to analyse so I will have a more accurate number) but still a distraction that gives no real benefit.

The way I look at it, is it is probably worth working a few more hours (or even the same hours, J.O.B. depending) but actually at something where I'm learning and earning. (I will be able to use money to then buy back time that is currently used up - e.g. get food delivered, build home gym etc. Buy other things to increase productivity/ save time. more control around routine when I move out, softwares, VAs in the future idk).

I was rereading the Building Judgement section from the Navalmanack and a part that hit me was that: 'one definition of suffering is when you see reality for what it really is.' I think I now can crystal clearly see the school system as almost completely useless for what I want to do and that is causing mental pain due to the time and energy wasted.

Basically 0% chance of me going to university/ college at this point (not that that decision matters if I decide to drop out. 1 decision to save making future decisions). Even if it was free I still wouldn't go. I have had enough of the traditional education system.

Just opened Twitter and found this gem from Dan Koe:

"Most of the time, a degree is just a sign that you can do work you hate for years without pursuing your own thing, and that's exactly what employers want."

'There are no coincidences' - Master Oogway. lol. (only creepy invasive algorithms)

𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵

If you are not sure which path to take, go towards the one with more short term pain -> drop out

If you are are stuck on a decision, take the one which would make the story more interesting -> drop out

Learn Earn Or Quit -> drop out (not learning anything useful and not getting paid at school)

Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes - doing well at school is a stupid game from my experience and from having listened to people in front of me -> drop out

Does this get me closer to my longer term goal (financial freedom)? - School: no. I am also aware that you are not going to get rich renting out your time. A J.O.B. that has similar hours to school would allow me to still work on my own projects but actually have more (locational & financial) freedom as I would have my own means. I also would learn more valuable skills than from school.

Think about the half life of a decision - this is an irreversible decision, that is why I have been pondering/ journaling over it for a while. It also makes it more important, as I only get to choose once. However I will be fine whatever happens. Even if everything goes wrong, dropping out will not end me. I WILL find a way

Dependencies - dropping out depends on having an alternative. So I plan on starting to apply for J.O.B.s

Think Long Term and Input/ output. look for asymmetries - I believe this has asymmetric upside.

@Wiktor Romanowicz

pointed out to me how 1 year at my age can result in a very large difference in a tree of possible lives. I think he's right.

Most of these frameworks are taken from Sam Ovens's video on How To Make Decisions. God bless that man, I have been going through his old videos and there is some gold in there.

𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀

I use to think you have to be 18 to 'legally' drop out which will be in September for me (sixth form ends at 19 years old in the UK for some reason)...

...Until I found this on Quora

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 “𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜” 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. (which makes sense. They don't really care, they just need to look like they are doing something)

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙗, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 18. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙗, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙩. (𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠.)

From UK government website:

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 18:

𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡-𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚
𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥
𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 20 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩-𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜"

I'm sure I could get an online job to count as an apprenticeship, traineeship, part time education or training 😜

Plus even if it doesn't the government won't come and get you. The don't have the resources to chase down kids who dislike school so much that they leave. There appears to be no implications apart from my parents not being too pleased with me dropping out. I have mentioned it a few times to them, I don't think my dad actually thinks I'm serious about it. My mum just said don't make any rash decisions. I spoke to my dad about how he may not like some of the decisions I make in the next few years and that I'm going to live my life not the life he wants me to live. He said ok and that he will still talk to me. (Looks like we're good).

My only thought is if I drop out before 18 and don't move out until I'm 18 then parents may be a little toxic for a while, but if I start earning some decent money will probably be fine. Even if they don't like it I will still be able to do this. It will only be 6 months max anyway.

So it appears the barriers are mental and not real. GOOD. No excuses. Extreme ownership accepted

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡

Get A Remote Job now (or over summer). See what is possible. See how much I can make and how it would fit into my routine.

I was thinking about doing it over the summer but I don't really see any reason to not start applying for jobs now. What am I waiting for? The only thing is that I will have less time to spend on making content if I'm in school and doing a job for a bit. (Again it will only be a few months max).

Over summer seems safe play as parents won't be mad and I will have time to test to see how I can balance work with other things. But I don't like safe. It scares me. What treasure/ potential lies behind the (perceived or real) danger?

@Rex Loyer

recommended high ticket appointment setting which seems like a good option to make decent money without taking loads of time. Another thing I was considering was working for a creator: video editing, photoshop etc. (Learn skills that I will actually use. Let me know what you think and any opportunities you think I could be good at. Thanks 😁)

There are thoughts of moving to SE Asia or another cheaper nomad hub than the UK (maybe a hustle house with some of you legends 👀) and live cheaply = more disposable money to invest/ save and better lifestyle (which is likely to lead to accelerated results). Tim Ferriss currency/ geography arbitrage style.

The counter argument to all of this is just stay in school (which doesn't take that many hours) and cruise exams so I have some more qualifications (my foundations are so strong I can get solid grades with almost no work. Thanks for that, past self.) but that seems boring and playing it safe. (Opinions on the feeling of playing it safe stated above)

I don't think those qualifications will help me. There is also the SIGMA MASCULINE URGE (cringe lol) to leave the nest at/ before 18 years old. I am very grateful to my parents but I would be a full legal adult then and don't want to leach off of them (especially if they pay for me and I do things they don't want e.g. not going to university.)

@Connor Widmaier

said his relationship with his parents improved a lot when he was no longer financially dependent on them. I could see the same happening with me.

Thanks to

@Raphael Mayr

for sparking this idea. He made me realise I could set a level of 'good enough' grades. The highest value bus ride I have ever been on fr. I think it used to be part of my identity that I was always good at school. I was always told to be good at it from a young age. The deprogramming has been going well.

I would probably execute the same plan in Summer 2024 if I didn't do this, so my thought process is, if I'm going to do it anyway, why not pull the trigger now?

Also any J.O.B. I can imagine myself having would probably be online and remote (appointment setting, video editing etc. not in some big bloated corporate) and from what I have seen so far they don't seem to care about your education/ grades, so why not drop out now? It's can you do the job, or not? (correct me if you think otherwise).

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you deeply.

P.S. hyperlinks go crazy again

@Corey Bennett Boardman

P.P.S. stole your bold font

@Griffin A. Hamilton

P.P.P.S. somewhat sensationalised/ clickbaity title. Thanks for clicking/ reading

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