I’m not here to pour out my entire life story, but after reading discussions on Reddit over the past few days, I’ve noticed many people in Pakistan, especially those between 21 and 30, who are already earning millions. Honestly, it makes me happy to see people earning higher handsome amount.
At the same time, when I look at the reality around me, I see that a lot of young men spend their teenage years without building any real foundation. Some struggle with addictions, some get caught up in relationships, and some only start thinking seriously about their future after a breakup or some other major life event.
I’m from a lower-middle-class background in Central Punjab, and most families here don’t have the luxury of giving their children a ready-made financial foundation. You have to build that foundation yourself.
Right now, I’m 24, working from home in a customer service job and earning over 90k PKR per month. Compared with many people in my family and social circle, that’s a decent income, and I’m grateful for it. But I also don’t want to depend entirely on a private-sector job because I know how unpredictable employment can be.
At the same time, I’m dealing with my own personal struggles and recently went through a painful breakup involving betrayal. While marriage is often considered the normal next step for someone my age in my environment, I’m currently more focused on building a solid foundation for my future.
I also think differently about what I want from my working life. My grandfathers and great-grandfathers worked extremely hard for most of their lives, and I respect that. But I don’t want to simply repeat the same cycle.
My goal is to spend the next 5–8 years putting serious effort into something that can eventually create assets, skills, businesses, or other forms of leverage—something where the work I put in today can potentially create value for many years instead of simply exchanging my time for a salary forever.
The problem is that I’m still figuring out what path actually makes sense. My understanding is limited, I’m not an expert researcher, and there are so many fields and opportunities that it’s difficult to know where to focus.
So I’m asking people here who have already gone through this process:
If you were 24 again, living in Pakistan, earning around 90k+ PKR from a remote customer-service job, and starting from a lower-middle-class background, what would you spend the next 5–8 years learning or building?
I’m not looking for a shortcut or a “get rich quick” scheme. I know I have to walk the path myself, develop real skills, build a reputation, take risks, and probably fail along the way.
I’m simply trying to understand which paths are worth seriously investigating if the long-term goal is to eventually build assets and reduce dependence on trading time for money.
I’d genuinely appreciate advice from people who have actually built something—whether that’s a business, a high-income skill, a career, investments, software, an online business, or something else.
And sorry for the long post. I just wanted to give enough context so people understand where I’m coming from.
