Adulting Isn’t Linear: Changing Careers, Plans, and Paths in Your 20s

If you’d told me at 18 where I’d be now — co-founder of a book subscription box, homeowner, writing a newsletter called Building-Up — I probably would’ve stared at you blankly and asked what went wrong, or better yet, why?

I had a plan. Or at least, I thought I did. Finish school, get a “real” job, figure it out from there. But like a lot of people in their 20s, life didn’t follow my neat little roadmap. Plans changed, goals shifted, and I had a few What am I doing with my life? moments along the way.

This post isn’t about having it all figured out — it’s about what happens when you don’t. About the pivots, pauses, and curveballs no one warned us about, and why your 20s aren’t supposed to look like anyone else’s.

The Plan vs. Reality

Everyone has their reason for picking a career path. For some, it’s about chasing greatness. For others, it’s a midnight calling, a childhood dream, or the pursuit of a million-dollar payday.

For me? I was stumped. When I left high school, nothing really called to me. So I took a year off to try and figure out a game plan — and here’s what I came up with:

• Join the military as an intelligence officer — I’d been in cadets for a few years and liked the structure, plus my uncle had served in the British Army. It felt like something I should do.

• Study business at university — not because I had a specific job in mind, but because I wanted to understand how money actually works, and how to make it work for me.

• Stick with retail — I was already working a decent job in sales, and figured maybe I could climb the corporate ladder. It paid just enough to stay… but not enough to love it.

I ended up going with option #2. After a year of working, I still wasn’t ready to commit to something as intense and long-term as the military, and university felt like a more flexible option — even if I didn’t know exactly where it would lead.

I kept working while I studied, but it quickly became clear that doing both full-time wasn’t sustainable. I was paying my own way, juggling assignments, and pulling long shifts, all while trying to keep it together during the thick of COVID. My grades were slipping, my mental health was in the bin, and I was completely burnt out.

So, I made the decision to leave my sales job and focus on finishing my degree properly. It felt like giving up at the time, but looking back, it was the right move — especially considering The Source was shut down by Best Buy last year anyway. Guess that door closed itself.

What I Did Instead

After leaving my job, I made myself a promise:
If I ever had the opportunity to focus on school without working full-time, I’d give it everything I had — no excuses, no half-measures. I wanted to walk across that graduation stage with a comeback story I could be proud of.

So, that became my next mission.

And I followed through. In my third and fourth years of university, I brought my GPA up from a struggling 3.2 to back-to-back 4.1s. With work off my plate, I finally had time to dive into my courses, build friendships at school, and be more present with the people in my life — the kind of balance I hadn’t felt in years.

By the end of it all, I landed a stable job with benefits, thanks to my improved performance and a few key connections I made during those last two years. I grew up with a scarcity mindset — always worried the rug might get pulled out from under me — so starting out with something steady gave me the security I felt I needed. It also lit a fire in me to start planning bigger steps, like buying my first home. After years of useless landlords and rent increases, I was ready to invest in something of my own.

But I didn’t stop there.

During my final year of uni, I leaned into my entrepreneurial side too. I co-founded Sweet Feet with my mum — a mobile foot care business that originally started as a class project, but turned into something real. It had its highs and lows, but I learned a lot from it, and I’m still glad I gave it a shot.
(If you’re curious about how that all went down, you can read the full story here.)

Around the same time, I became close friends with someone who’d end up shaping my next big chapter — my now co-founder, Corey. We bonded over personal growth, big ideas, and the shared feeling that life after uni still leaves you with more questions than answers. That friendship led to the launch of Book-It! — our monthly subscription box built to make personal development feel exciting (and a bit indulgent). And on the side, I started writing Building-Up, a newsletter to help others navigate the stuff we’re never really taught — from career pivots and money to figuring life out one messy step at a time.

Wrapping It Up

Life rarely unfolds in a straight line — and that’s perfectly fine. Sometimes you need to take detours, hit pause, or even change direction before you find your footing. For me, leaving that sales job, focusing on school, and exploring entrepreneurship were all essential steps in building a foundation I’m proud of.

Now, with Book-It! and Building-Up, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned and keep growing alongside people who are navigating uncertainty — and figuring things out as they go. Honestly, I often wonder if I’m on the right path too, and sometimes I think about what might have happened if I’d moved back to the UK after high school, or spent three months in Japan trying to live on a dollar a day (or something else cool like that). If you find yourself wondering whether you’re doing the right thing, know you’re definitely not alone.

If you’re feeling stuck or unsure about your next move, remember: it’s not about having all the answers right away. It’s about showing up, taking the next step, and seeing where it leads.

Cheers for reading, and remember that good things come to those who wait. But if you know what you want to achieve, go after it with everything you’ve got. That way, in the end, you can say you gave 101%!

~ Alex