There seems to be this common belief that young people need to have everything in their lives planned and that they have to know what they’re going to do every step of the way. So many are so consumed with this unrealistic idea of success and what it means to attain that.

Now there can be a number of reasons for this common phenomenon, it can be social media which seems to be a common culprit for any problem in recent years, however, I believe that this phenomenon has deeper roots than what is initially contemplated. We as human beings have this natural need to compete, a survival of the fittest mindset. This mindset has driven humans to evolve in the way that they have, as society changes and evolves this survival of the fittest mindset evolves as well. Humans had evolved from a place of physical survival and preservation to a place of financial survival and preservation. Once humans no longer needed to compete to survive, had established civilization, and no longer struggled to maintain a supply of food and water, their wants and needs had evolved. Once humans basic needs are met on every level then there is room for new needs. Needs that are inherently less dire than previous ones. This is where money and finance are introduced.

Many seem to correlate stability and success with what one does with their life and how much money they make doing so. As young people progress in age more and more pressure is applied on them to be successful; they are pressured to make quick decisions that are the right decisions and are expected to know what is next. Young people are told that they have to go down a certain path to be successful, they are told that making money is the most important thing to focus on or they will never amount to anything. This instills a crippling constant state of fear and anxiety in young people. Instead of willfully learning and seeking out experiences that will benefit them, young people force learning and growth in order to be employable and to make the most amount of money in a career that makes them miserable.

Here’s a bit of a secret, everything anyone says about following a certain path to success is bullshit. Not one single person has a single idea of what they’re doing. There is no need to have everything figured out because life doesn’t accommodate the plans we make. Life is absolutely unpredictable and can and will throw anything your way. It seems that so many people will set passions and desires aside to fulfill an expectation that society has placed on them. Being young is about experimentation and failure and finding out what works and what doesn’t work. Yet young people have put so much pressure on themselves to fit into a mold of what employers want and what others want; so much so that they don’t know who they are or what they want. This causes anxiety, self-hatred, depression, and stress. The weight of the future hangs heavily on the shoulders of young people when it doesn’t have to.

Life is too short to be caught up in what others want you to be and how “successful” you are. As a young person, you should find what you are passionate about and what lights a fire inside of you and follow it relentlessly because no one is going to do that for you. Only you have the power to make yourself happy, no amount of money can fill the void that is meant for passion. Go out and live life and happily go in blind. You don’t have to know what you’re doing and I guarantee that you will never know what’s next. So go out and make yourself happy and learn from your failures and make mistakes because it all part of your journey and no one can take that from you.