u/Repulsive-Concept994

Hello all!

I hope everyone’s day has been well. I want some advice from anyone that can help me with a detrimental situation. I stopped smoking June 4, 2026. Clean. 0 hit. I am smoke free. I’ve smoked Geek Bar vapes and Flume for the past 3 years. It’s been 23 days I’ve been clean. I went thru the withdrawals, and I don’t have any cravings for smoking, and I feel much healthier (breathing, blood flow, skin, etc.)

However…. I don’t feel the motivation and drive I used to have. I work in sales… when I started smoking back in 23’ that’s when I blasted thru success. I got promoted twice, made the most money I’ve seen, and saved a lot.

Again, since I’ve stopped smoking…. I haven’t felt any motivation to work or succeed. I was always #1-#3 at my job and now I’m at the bottom.

Quick add-on: (Minor withdrawal: acute depression?) - which I never had.

I’ve tried working out, eating clean, sleeping well, etc. and some days drank caffeinated beverages or coffee, but it doesn’t help. At my lowest day, I resorted to a 5-10mg of Adderral for 2 days as trial but… nothing… it sounds crazy and either smoking’s effects really spiked me to work or I’m missing something here…

Any advice?

My biggest concern is… can this be systems of undiagnosed ADHD?

Thanks again

Hello all!

I am about to finish my public health B.S. degree here at SJSU this December and wanted to get ideas on what jobs I can land that pay well. Since the bay area's cost of living is high, I wouldn't even aim below the $100k threshold but it seems unrealistic. I've researched plenty of jobs and most of them pay between $40-60k (ceiling) for a public health job. p.s. I currently make more than that range, but the goal is to use the degree. That's why we go for something.

Before any negative statements are made, I choose this degree because I had a large gap in between school time and work. In the beginning of my college career I picked out Nursing or PA school as the main goal, but I soon found out I didn't like the hands-on duties. That's where I selected public health as the bisector of doing something in health, but without direct patient care. Right now I am not quite livid about the field. Instead, I've been leaning into tech, and I think my surroundings might have a lot to do with it. I see how every successful bay area resident is a tech lord making huge salaries. Money isn't the top priority, but it sure is a tool to afford a living in the bay area.

If anyone has stories, ideas, or topics to mention that helps, please let me know. I have looked into graduate school and getting a Master's degree in Informatics, but I'd like to generally know if a different route is better. I have knowledge in plenty of areas apart from PH, like coding, SQL, Quant, finance, sales, management, operations, etc. if that helps.

Hi everyone!

Age 27:

This is my first post here. Some background info. I have 5 years of experience in the auto industry here in the bay area (California) as an Internet Sales Manager at a Ford dealership. I started off as a regular salesman at the front line and worked my way up. I will also finish my Public Health degree this upcoming December and I understand that my degree doesn't align with my current role, but I've learned a lot with car sales and have been taking the job serious at a professional level. I have plenty of B2b deals with big companies, small companies, affiliates, etc. and of course the regular ole' b2c deals. Additionally with sales I'd like to add a few things, I completely run the operations and strategy side of the business in creating growth, plans, and implementation of new ideas to drive more business. I also, run and take care of our entire CRM system here at the dealership and provide training to employees. We have a combination of Ford Direct and Salesforce for CRM and other underlying tools for inventory management, tracking, spreadsheets, google suite, etc. Lastly, I have experience at Stanford Health Care (Pleasanton) back in 2018 as an intern at the Surgery Center and planning on interning again this Fall at Stanford University at the HARTS Lab for my degree requirements.

Apart from the things I know, I have been learning about AI, how to code with Python, learning SQL, and other similar areas at an intermediate level. As you can see, I'm trying my best to maximize my knowledge and experience.

Right now, I really want to join the tech world here in the bay area. However, throughout my life I have been working in the car business and picked Public Health as my degree choice, which I don't want to do anymore. I have been constantly applying to jobs, but I don't hear back. (The roles have been tech sales or entry level health care work (operations, analyst 1, etc.), to test the waters of hearing back. For reference, the money at a car dealership is good, but not the time that goes out of my hand. I want stability and time for my family.

If anyone here works in tech or a similar field, if I am applying to roles out there in SF, Bay Area; does my Internet Sales Manager title at a "car dealership" look bad and scream "sleezy car salesman" and should I remove it or keep it? - p.s. I have tailored it completely to match the exact language of the role.

Any tips will honestly help. Thank you all!