"Life without goals is like flying a plane and not knowing the landing destination"
I saw this quote earlier today and I've never seen something that described life for 20 year olds better. Imagine a plane just flying around with absolutely no destination. How much sense would that make? Absolutely none at all. It wouldn't matter how fast the plane is traveling, because it has no plans to land anywhere in particular. You have to agree that you would never get on a plane that had no intentions of landing in a particular place.
This circumstance is exactly like life, especially for 20 year olds. At this point in life, it's so easy to follow the crowd. Go to college, get an internship, get a job, and then you're done. But nobody ever talks about the smaller aspects of those plans. Like are you studying what you're passionate about in college? And is your internship in an industry that excites you and makes you look forward to waking up every morning over your junior year summer? What I'm saying is that none of these huge successes mean anything if you aren't genuinely happy.
In fact, sometimes it takes more than just a few years to develop a life plan that you're truly happy about. And that's totally okay. Don't look at your confusion as a flaw. Instead, look at it as a blessing that your mind goes in so many different directions that it's difficult for you to choose your ultimate passion. And if you feel like you can't put your finger on anything you're passionate about, make a list of 30 things you would do to make yourself happy right now and begin to do them more often. We as humans develop our goals by reflecting on ourselves and figuring out what makes us happy.
To sum it up, it doesn't matter how fast you're going, as long as you don't stop moving. Although going to school and getting an internship and a job in a timely manner is applause-worthy, don't be ashamed to not know what you want to do for the rest of your life. Take deep breaths and realize that although that's the most popular path for people our age right now, it's not the only path. I hope you remember this if you're ever in a situation and realize that you don't like where your path is heading, and I encourage you to be brave and redirect yourself. Set your goals and make your destination known before time for take off arrives, no matter how "late" that time may be.
