Dilemmas and Six-step Solutions for Young Professionals in First-tier Cities Aged 25 - 30

The Typical Dilemma of Young Professionals

Today, I asked DeepSeek another question: What advice would you give to 25 - 30-year-old professionals with a bachelor's degree, working in first or second-tier cities, earning a relatively low salary of around 10,000 yuan, coming from small towns or rural areas with little support, having saved some money after a few years of work, either without a house or a car or just having a car, currently feeling lost, not knowing the future direction, being very anxious, and worrying about potential unemployment?

This user profile is quite typical. If it were up to me to answer this question, I'd probably start with developing a side hustle.

The essence of the problem lies in the fear of future uncertainties and the lack of independent earning ability with a single source of income.

DeepSeek's Six - aspect Advice

DeepSeek gave advice from six aspects, which was quite in line with my expectations at the cognitive level.

The Three - line Thinking Model

• Survival Line: Maintain the cash flow from your current job (at least cover basic expenses and 10% of your savings).
• Development Line: Allocate 20% of your energy to building transferable skills (such as data analysis, AI toolchains, etc.).
• Safety Line: Establish an emergency fund that can cover 3 - 6 months of expenses.

Break the illusion of linear growth. Conduct "anxiety breakdowns" every week and transform vague worries into specific action items.

Since I asked for an action plan, it provided a six - month, three - stage plan to build a second income curve. This plan's path can be used as a reference, but its feasibility is limited. Many things can't be accomplished in just a few months, and the details are insufficient. We still need to ask it for a more in - depth analysis.

The third, fourth, and fifth aspects are the financial safety construction plan, the networking breakthrough strategy, and the psychological resilience training respectively.

I didn't consider these three points before, which shows the limitations of personal experience.

I'm completely ignorant about financial management. So when giving advice to others, I'd just suggest keeping accounts and saving money. I can't come up with more detailed and comprehensive plan suggestions.

Networking Breakthrough Strategy

The networking breakthrough strategy suggests step - by - step socializing. Strengthen new strong, medium, and weak relationships. At the same time, break into specific circles precisely, operate deeply within several circles, and find mentors to learn from.

Key Point: There are two types of mentors. Industry mentors can guide you to deepen your expertise in your professional field, while cross - industry mentors can help you broaden your cognitive horizons. This addition is really comprehensive.

Psychological Resilience Training

Psychological resilience training starts from aspects such as meditation, keeping a success diary, reading, exercising, and socializing.

Insights and Areas for Improvement

The inspiration from its answer is that we need to build a theoretical system to solve problems more comprehensively and objectively. When facing this kind of problem, we should not only focus on making money but also consider financial issues, psychological problems, and interpersonal relationships.

Is there anything that needs to be improved in DeepSeek's answer? Yes, it's the specific action plan. This needs to be adjusted according to more detailed personal situations.

I've tested it. After feeding it with a large amount of my personal experiences, article content, and Gallup Strengths Report, the plan it provided seems comprehensive, but it still needs further adjustment for implementation.

The professional theory is relatively strong, but the practicality is a bit weak. We need to feed it with a large number of real cases and data, rather than the seemingly amazing but unrealistic cases and data from the public on the Internet.

Most of the data sources of AI are public data, and a lot of public data is neither real nor specific, mostly in the form of stories. Especially when you enable the Internet search function, if the searched content itself has problems, the conclusions it gives will also have certain biases. You must verify, verify, and verify by yourself.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 02/19/2025 [Day 534]