:) About me 23 married sahm mom to addyson 16 months. I need to go to school for something. I just dont have any passion or goals. Its the story of my life. In gifted and talented art. Won awards had a full scholarship to the art ints. of alanta. Did I go? Nope no desire to do art. Dropped out of highschool. Went back months ago and finshed with 100 avgs in everything I took. Go to sign up for college classes. Lady says wow our IQ is sooo high you can take any class and be anything you want to be doctor lawyer.... SO what would you like to be? NO IDEAL!! Why cant I ever find something I want to do?? I am not depressed. I am a very happy person. I feel like I am going to waste my life. I dont want to even go to school but I need to make more money for my daughter...So anyone else have this problem? I have inattentive ADD..:)

I'd have to say that I'm just the opposite. Although I'm not 100% exactly sure what I want to do, I do know that I'd like to do something w/ cars or racing. I'd actually like to do lots of different things in a lot of different fields, but I don't have the smarts or ambition to go through school to do them.

I love electronics, but electrical engineering is WAY too complicated tme. I love chemistry, but chemical engineering is also WAY too complicated for me. I love working on cars & building things and mechanical engineering is easy for me to grasp, so that's why I'm becoming a Mech. Engr.

But that's only 1/3 of the reason why I'm going to school.

Another 1/3 of the reason is b/c I'm lazy and hate working, so I'm gonna get an education so I'll be able to sit on my butt & get paid.

The last 1/3 of the reason is for my parents. they've sacrificed so much to give me the best childhood & education so I figure the least I can do is make something of myself so that they can be proud of me & so that I'll eventually be able to take care of them.

My problem was usually being interested in too many things -- I changed my mind and major at least 5 times in college, but than I've got a combo thing going. I would suggest you get some career counseling done. There are tests that assess how your interests line up with people who are currently in different fields enjoying their work. My profile fit like a glove (teaching and counseling) and I've heard others on the board say the same thing. I tried both careers on for size and in both felt like I was getting paid to play instead of work -- which I've read is a perfect match for an ADDer. You might also want to read Thomas Brown's book, Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. He discusses the difficulty ADD folks have making career choices and a lot of his work is focused on the gifted ADDer, so might apply well to you. One last piece of advice is just go for something. Once you've got your BS you can always change directions. Having a BS gives you all kinds of options and sometimes what you want to be becomes clearer after taking classes and trying things on for size a bit. The average person has about 5 major career changes in their life, so just getting something and going from there is a good thing!

I forget -- are you on meds? A coach or couselor specializing in ADHD might be helpful to help you get focused and on track too!

Scattered

I'm with Scattered. Go back to school and go for something. You can always change your direction later regardless of what your BS or BA is in. I did, and know many other people that have as well.

When I was in college I had a very difficult time figuring out what I wanted to do. My friends would jokingly ask me what my major was that week. I finally buckled down when my finances became an issue and finished with a degree in a field that I never thought I would be interested in. Ultimately, I told myself that everything is interesting if you have the right mindset. And very importantly, if it doesn't work out, you can always change your direction.

Try it! You can always double major and do two different things too. Or, get a BA in art, and go back later for a Master's in Economics! Things like that are not at all unheard of.

Scattered yes I am on meds. I have been for a month now (adderallxr 20mg) I was hoping it would help me with this but it didnt. I have a 16 month old so I cant "waste" my time in school figuring out what I want. I have someone who has agreed to watch her for 2 years. So I am stuck with limited things I can do. I am thinking radiology...b/c I can always go back and do sooo much with that field. Where I am there isnt many job openings other than the medical fields so I guess thats what I will do....
Thank you all who posted. I was starting to feel all alone:(

Addysmom (hope you don't mind the nickname:)),

This lack of direction probably isn't an ADD thing, but don't feel alone. I'm not directionless, but I still have trouble because I'm interested in too many different things! I've had to limit my focus in ways I don't like, but that's what it takes to move forward.

You may have to force yourself to go in one direction, for a while at least. Just keep in mind that going in this direction does NOT mean you will be forced to keep going that way for the rest of your life. You might find that you meet something else on the way that takes you somewhere else.

Good Luck!