There is often a common stigma that when you are getting ready to leave high school, you need to have your whole life planned out. You need to know what college you want to go to and what major you want to have. High schools often put this pressure on you to have it figured out, and sometimes so do colleges. When you are applying, they make you pick a major. Yes, you can pick undecided, but for some people that makes them feel worse about themselves. Sometimes it isn’t just the school pressure; it is family pressure too. It can come from your parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, literally anyone in your life. That pressure can come from yourself too. It doesn’t matter where it comes from; it just happens. It is a normal reaction to growing up and becoming an adult.Â
Why It is OkayÂ
When you are growing up, you realize how much there is to life. You realize how much responsibility you truly have. That can be hard for someone, especially when you feel like you need to plan your future. That’s just not true. You don’t need a plan for everything because I am here to tell you that if you plan everything out, it’s not all going to go according to that plan. If you expect life to go by a plan, then you are going to live a hard life. You are going to be constantly disappointed because something didn’t go the way you planned. It’s okay to have a rough outline for a day planned with friends, but don’t feel bad or behind in life if you don’t know what you want to do with your life in ten years.Â
Why Having Everything Figured Out is UnrealisticÂ
Life is so unpredictable. You don’t know what can happen in ten years, let alone tomorrow, so you can’t stress about knowing what your future will hold. If you have a rough idea of what you want to do rather than a set idea, then you are setting yourself up for better success. If you go with the flow more than a set plan, then you are better off.Â
What to do insteadÂ
Figure out your strengths and weaknesses. What are you good at? Whether it’s helping people, writing papers, doing math or just cooking a meal, figure that out first. Then figure out what you aren’t the best at. When you figure those things out, then you can narrow down things that you can possibly do in your future that you will enjoy.Â
In the end, it might feel like everyone has their life figured out, but I can guarantee you they probably don’t, and that is okay. Take your life one day at a time and enjoy it. If you stress about your life too much, you won’t enjoy it the way you should. Figure out the things you can control, your strengths and weaknesses and everything else will follow along.Â