“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” - Steve Maraboli

Ah yes, the horrible vortex of the future. People want to know where you’re going and what you’re doing and how you’re going to make something of your life all at the tender age of 18. The questions are endless. If you answer with the ever popular, “I don’t really know yet,” then you get judgment, death stares and awkward laughs saying, “Well, you'd better figure it out.”

So, you make a plan.

You make a grand plan that you decide to stick to, because not having a plan is unacceptable. It’s convoluted. It’s crazy. Is it what you really want? No, no, you don’t have time for doubt, stick to the plan. Have a plan and everything will be sorted out.

But then, you realize that you don’t really want what you've planned, so you add stuff to make it a better plan. Let’s add another major and two minors, because then maybe you’ll like your direction better. So you change. You don’t know what you want to do with the rest of your life, so you end up staying in school. Grad school! That’s an acceptable plan, right? Always have to have a plan. With no plan you’re a failure and you’ve wasted your time. What do you mean that you haven’t actually learned anything applicable? Ignore that minor problem. Get some jobs in instead. You can work five jobs at once and be overloaded with credits, as long as it fits with the plan. And then your plan falls apart. Your plan is ruined. All that organizing and stress have been tossed out the window, with no reward. You realize that you don’t even care because you are so burnt out. And, anyway, you've found a new direction you want to try. But it’s not part of the plan.

Plans change, and that’s okay. You grow up in college, and your goals should grow with you.

So freshmen (and everyone else), don’t stress yourself out by making a plan. Set some goals and get that extra hour of sleep instead.