Are You "Still Deciding" What You Wanna Do? Because SAME!

Look at this picture of a wall. It can't really decide what it wants to be, can it? Or rather, whoever's designing the thing didn't finish the remodeling. Whatever. Let's start with the right side, where I see three major possibilities for how the whole thing could've turned out. I'm imagining how each "version" of this wall would appear, because each one really changes the whole vibe.

You look at the bottom right, at those old bricks, and begin to imagine what the whole thing looks like as that. Interesting... pretty darn rustic. I think it could work in the right setting, but maybe it would be a little nicer with a revamp. Just my opinion. The top part with the mix of cool white paint over the red brick reminds me of the inside of one of my favorite coffee shops in town. It may not be right for some people, but I personally really enjoy the intentionally unpolished look that can create a lower stakes, "slower" atmosphere than your average corporate building. My entire time in music school was spent in a facility that looked exactly like this on the inside as well (shoutout Goodwin Hall!!!).

Then there's the warm white on the left. I just don't know how I feel about it. I actually have quite a bit of trouble even imagining what the entire wall would look like if it was like that...I would need to experience it for myself. And what about the cinder blocks on the other wall to the left? They're probably much less appealing to the majority of us, and even ugly. In this analogy, perhaps it instead represents the fact your wall could be something different entirely.

So what about you?

How much of your own paint job have you decided?

I'd like to posit some of my recent thoughts surrounding this idea, and as usual, none of this, at all, is from AI's ideas. Anyway, think about this: Are you on a “locked in” trajectory in your career and life? Think about one where most of the big things have already been decided. Maybe you don't have as many surprises left on that front anymore. Is it a path that’s much harder to shift around than your average 18-30 year old's? Maybe so. And maybe not, but I hope you will think about your own answer. Is it necessarily a good or a bad thing? Truthfully, it probably averages out to neither in the end, but I can tell you how being in the situation I’m in as a 25-year-old makes me feel. The short of it is straightforward enough: If it's much harder for you to pivot what you're doing with your life because you're more "locked-in" and deeper into your career than I am, in some ways I actually envy you.

Decisions. How many of them are simply related to how your day is going to play out? It is my belief that if you have a busy job — especially if you’re deeper into your career — then it's not as many as it is for those walking in my shoes. However, the goal is to shift the thought experiment away from just me, and try to encourage a zooming out of sorts, focusing on the broader situations certain people deal with regarding choosing their life's direction. I think it's pretty interesting.

In fact, I invite you to be thinking about which person you more closely identify with as you continue reading. Person A knows exactly what their next week & maybe even next year or few should look like: Working. Teaching. Engineering. Parenting. If you’ve been on the same path for a while and things have been pretty stable and predictable, any job-shifting you do won’t dramatically affect the broader direction of your life because you’re still on the same general life path you settled on.

I know what you may be thinking about that last sentence. Those kind of shifts can change and improve your life to be sure; after all, you’re advancing, making more money, or making a move to a position where you feel you’ll be happier. At the end of the day, it’d be nice to do something you enjoy, and get paid enough to not worry about your finances so much, right?

But the basic idea, again, is that you know what your day to day will be for the foreseeable future, to a higher degree if you're more of a Person A. These days, being a freelancer and a creative person has left me asking a lot of questions and feeling the weight of still having to decide my whole future. That brings me to Person B.

Person B has more decisions to make than Person A at this point for a variety of reasons, but if I had to boil it down to one thing, Person B is anyone who has WAY more free will over what to do with their time than Person A has. They need to completely decide their own schedule, but that can take different forms and exist in many different phases — in my view — of life and career.

I think for instance, you could have kind of a hybrid Person B type who is 45, no formal corporate or industry position, they freelance, manage all their projects and ideas, all direction comes from them, you get the idea. But that person also knows way more about their next 10 years than I do — they’re more established with what they’re doing and with what they want; they know where they’re lugging camera equipment next week; they know they have to decide soon whether they’re going to X convention in 6 months, or if they will say yes to taking X client’s project.

I’m 25, and definitely the kind of Person B where their medium to long-term future is... just totally up in the air. This idea to me is simultaneously freeing and stressful.

I feel particularly energized this week to write down all the things I value in my daily life that I’m not quite getting in a way I find satisfying at the moment, so I can figure out plans to move my life in a direction that gets me those things. One major example in my case: I know I want to collaborate and work with a team, and I don't want to continue having all the work rely on me and me only.

On the other hand, within those desires are endless industries, opportunities, choices. Choices to weigh against my strengths & weaknesses. Countless “correct” choices I will have to consider and make decisions such as, “Is that too drastic of a move for me, or is it exactly what I need? Could I fulfill these needs in other ways (probably), and which of THOSE paths should I go down?”

People in situations where they can much more easily stop what they’re doing and start something new (especially young people like me) always have big decisions ahead of them. They've gotta find their interests and try to build the life they want, and the next question is always one of how.

When you’re in your early-mid 20s, another thing to note is that you see your friends and colleagues start to really settle into their early careers, on a somewhat clear trajectory. They’re taking teaching jobs, cybersecurity, engineering, music industry jobs, band director jobs, or grad school positions. That means there is a natural worry over the potential cost of having shunned that path, knowing I'd have excelled in it. There’s a feeling of trepidation that I will fall behind my peers for what feels like the very first time in my life — but I would argue that's a particularly scary thought for many young adults, especially Person Bs.

That leaves one final question to reflect on:

In what ways can us young Person Bs get over our fear of spinning our wheels, and gain the wisdom and courage to choose our next creative, entrepreneurial, or non-traditional pursuit? It's an important endeavor, especially since we’ve got a constant pressure to increase our income threefold (at least) so that it may one day be possible to support others too, and even buy a house. It will definitely be a more interesting path, but much less predictable than the A's. The ways in which you can and should advance your career as a young Person B often remain unclear for quite some time.

But let's see what opportunities we can create for ourselves — carefully considering the most influential lifestyle goals and values we have... all in an effort to develop an ability and a confidence to say "yes" to some new damn materials and paint for that wall. You never know how long it'll last anyway, so the analogy probably works best if you understand that you can iterate on the wall until you eventually get to something more "sticky." More long lasting — more permanent.

And really, even if you aren't young, you could always re-design it as something that serves you (or those you care about) better later.

Looking forward to your reactions, ideas, and personal experience with this topic! Leave a comment if you like. And share - it's free. Until next time!