The Prison Created by an Excess of Choices
"I don't know what I want to do."
Job seekers, people looking to change careers, and many others standing at life's crossroads often utter these words. It is as if not having a clear will or being unable to find a direction is a personal failing.
However, I would like you to pause and think for a moment.
In the first place, are humans really beings that live with such clear 'things they want to do'?
Perhaps the problem is not that you 'don't know,' but rather the structure that says you 'must know' that is the problem.
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In recent years, messages like 'make what you love your job' and 'give your all to what you want to do' have been overflowing.
If you open social media, words from people charging toward their dreams, people talking about their missions, and people confidently painting their futures jump out at you.
And before we know it, we start comparing ourselves.
'Wait, I don't have anything I can talk about with that kind of passion.'
'Isn't that a bad thing?'
However, there is a structural substitution happening here.
Originally, 'what you want to do' was something whose outline would emerge as you walked along. Yet, in the modern age, it has become a structure where you cannot even start unless it is clear from the beginning.
So why has this structure come to be?
One reason lies in the 'excess of choices.'
In society in the past, there were, to some extent, 'chosen paths' for education and careers.
Because what you could do was limited, life was designed on the premise that 'there is no need to get lost.'
However, the modern age is different.
Further education, employment, side jobs, moving abroad, starting a business, NPOs, freelancing—there are infinite things you can do. Consequently, the burden of 'having to choose' has increased overwhelmingly.
Moreover, each choice is loaded with 'correct-sounding words' like 'fulfillment,' 'significance,' and 'self-actualization.'correct-sounding words.
That is why we cannot choose. We do not want to make a mistake. We do not want to have regrets.
At this point, the true nature of 'not knowing what I want to do' is not a lack of will, but a structure where 'avoiding failure' is the top priority.
What is even more troublesome is that the 'evaluation structure after choosing' is also intense.
As soon as you start something—
'What are the results?' 'Does it make money?' 'Are you keeping it up properly?'—the gaze from the outside comes flying at you.
In other words, the modern structure is like this.
You are expected to know exactly what you want to do from the start
You are expected to choose it as the "correct answer" without ever having done it
And if you don't produce results, it isn't recognized as "what you want to do"
This is no longer a search for "what you want to do," but rather a game of searching for a "fail-proof story."
That is why you cannot move. And you end up blaming yourself for "not knowing."
So, how can you break free from this structure?
One way is to start by reframing "what you want to do" not as something to "remember," but as something to "nurture."
In other words, "try moving first," "try touching upon things that interest you," "try small experiments." In that process, the things that give you a sense of "unease" or "interest" become the "seeds of what you want to do."
And another way is to reclaim the "freedom not to choose."
"I don't know yet. But there's no need to rush and decide." Just being able to say that to yourself makes life much easier.
Not knowing what you want to do doesn't mean you are inferior. It might actually be that you are just "being forced to choose" amidst too much information.
If you don't choose, you can't move forward. But even if you do choose, you don't want to regret it.
If you are suffering from that dilemma—
that is likely because of the "structure."
The previous #StructuralAnalysisSeries was...
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