What job is right for me?

[Eliza]

I had a plan. I was going to open up a healthy restaurant with a clever name and everyone was going to love it. I'd be my own boss and have fun and be social and all that. I would take a year off college and work for a restaurant to learn more about the business. I thought this was perfect. After all, I'd be doing what I love. Cooking, healthy. Today, I researched it. I read things about how much work and stress it is. How you'd be working on holidays and weekends for long hours. I would like to have a family when I'm older, and I don't want a job that doesn't give me much quality time with them. I also don't deal with stress well either. Now, I'm not so sure if owning a restaurant's right for me. Any ideas about what job is? I'm really into cooking and nutrition.
Also, another dream I have, is to be a published cookbook writer. Would I be able to make a decent living off that? What if I worked part time as a personal trainer as well?

[fgnf]

i love how u have the guts to pursue ur dream, and i approve 100%. same with me. i fvcked off my parents, family, friends everbody who toldme i was crazy, and found my dream realized...

and you should follow ur heart. ur passion.

[A]

Eliza you are on the right track. Don't just follow your dream, embrace it and pursue it relentlessly In the mean time you will need to eat. To make it in the food industry you need what most lack, business sense. I suggest business training and grahic arts/ media degrees.

You are on the right track. Is this a career or a lifestyle decision?
They are 2 completely different issues. A good career will pay for a lifestyle that provides opportunities for your lifestyle choice with animals. I know lots people in animal job fields and it does not feed a family.It cost a fortune, they spent years studying, related areas like biology require a phd to earn a living. They mostly dumped animal careers and got real jobs while doing the animal thing on the side. Cirque du soleil, animal shelter, veterinarian, farm worker, etc. Do more research...

Congrats on your initiative. Good research efforts.
Complete thorough realistic research to achieve life sustaining income. Maybe accounting, engineering, law, medicine, computers, .... Always get job descriptions with course requirements from employers, unions, certification groups/associations. Don’t sign up for education till you’ve done this, EVER!!!

Pick a path where you don't start working bankrupt with debt. Don't become another casualty of the Trillion$ student debt. You must earn enough, $200k+ to support a family in a major City. Do not low ball your life and your family. If you can't find work volunteer to get in the door. Try volunteering at good potential employers and go down from there to community service, but get in anywhere and start working/networking, even if it’s for free. Be a model worker, no yapping, internet, cell phone..start work 30 minutes early and end work 30 minutes after day's end. Keep learning from more courses, read books, get another language, etc.

There are almost 50 million people on food stamps, ~20% of males 25 to 54 yrs not working, lowest SATs in 40 years, debt to GDP over 100%, 25% of global prison inmates with only 5% of global population, etc, and what’s uncle Sam’s answer to America's problem, which impacts the rest of the planet? Corrupt political paralysis and meteoric debt plague spiking by adding a trillion dollars of debt in 2013 to criminally prop up financial markets artificially. What a mess we live in!

You are On Your Own. YOYO's the word. Never forget it. Take control of your own lives and ignore whatever fictional solutions the politicians and corporate bobble heads throw around as their self-profiteering benevolence.

Abandon obese consumer spending debt addiction culture and resulting self-enslavement. Cut your lifestyle in half or less of the destructive unrealistic American dream nightmare standard....small house or apt..one car or no car .. always have a second job cause the one you have can/will disappear ...save and invest over 50% of your income if you can .... stay with your parents....parents move in with your kids...Rent with friends...rent rooms in your home ..Live like the wage you make today could be the last you'll earn, always. Stay away from Ponzi’s, addictions, unhealthy lifestyles, get rich scams, online rip offs and purple Kool-Aid cults.

Most of all maintain constructive positive relationships and forward planning. Have fun at it without spending money. What you want to do is great but do it with a strong dose of reality and caring for your future, family and community. Good luck! Cheers.