Appreciate you putting in some thought with me here. You’re right, gross oversimplification in most cases isn’t appropriate as strategy advice, since the devil is always in the details.

But on the the other hand the matter discussed here is so complex and varied for each individual, the commonalities of the situation might not exist anywhere else but at such high simplification level.

I also agree with the “one foot in the grave” part, which I’m interpreting as overextending oneself and succumbing to exhaustion with duties. Correct me if I misread. Either way, working hard is never the answer alone - working smart must always accompany it. Since this is exactly where the scenario list starts approaching infinity across a pool of individuals, I simplify the outlook by encouraging young people towards continous self-monitoring for their goals, willpower, operational capacity and actively seeking out mentors to discuss these things for course correction opportunities.

People engaging in such activities should have a higher % chance of “figuring things out”, regardless of their current employment or whatever situation they’re in.