Are you in your third decade and disillusioned, disappointed and disheartened at your career? Are you still in your “college” job that was supposed to be temporary? Do you use a credit card like a drug to make yourself feel better and then discover you cannot quit your dead-end job because you are in debt? After arriving into your twenties somewhat battered, filled with stale dreams and smarting from past rejections, your path to future success may elude you. Take a moment to review your possibilities. A happy ending is still possible. Here are ten ways to get unstuck from the 3-D Doldrums.

1. Decide You Deserve Success.

What is holding you back? It may be your “worse case scenario” thinking. Sometimes to protect yourself from disappointment, do you think negative comments to yourself: “I probably will not get the job, anyway,” “Everyone else is set except for me,” “I should be driving a new BMW,” or “Why bother, it is just a volunteer job.” Change your self-defeating jargon to “I say yes to every great opportunity.” Fail all the time, but keep trying.

2. Who Am I?

You are not who you were five years ago, nor will you be the same person five years from now. Your life and work choices, just like food preferences, accumulate. Make smart decisions and “Voila” there you are, lean and successful. Make lazy choices and “Voila,” there you are bloated, debt-ridden and depressed. The easy road is usually the wrong one.

3. My Parents.

The push-pull of your parent’s advice and your own desires can often leave you at a standstill. People only nag people they care about and their urgent nagging of you is simply misdirected affection. They may have twenty to fifty years of experience on you, so be sure to sit down and really listen to their advice as well as other respected adults in your future field. Then if you must, you can make your own mistakes - as long as you only make them once.

4. I Want It Now.

Do you want a better life? Live within your current means and avoid debt like a plague. Make the right decisions on the smallest scale possible, like for the next thirty minutes pretend you are a money-saving, happy and fit professional. What is the next choice that will keep it going? Do it. Take a break and relax, then start again. As long as the good decisions outweigh the bad, you will begin to improve and feel empowered. The process of achievement is often more satisfying then reaching the final goal.

5. Any Work Is Good.

Every day you work at your low-level job accumulates good work experience. Whether you are a garbage collector or a stockbroker, all jobs have very similar skills to learn. Punctuality, dependability, responsibility all mean that “you do what you promise to do” and that takes years of practice. If you are selling shoes or selling real estate developments for millions you need to know your product, treat the customer great, and know when to move on to the next real buyer. Analysis, psychology and statistics are more than just boring classes - they are tools of the trade that can make you money.