The idea that people who don't have things they want to do are actually 'not broken'

Hello. I'm Poyon.

On my day off, I didn't feel like doing anything, just kept looking at my smartphone, and before I knew it, it was evening.
A vague sense of impatience, wondering, 'What am I doing with my life?'
When I open social media, someone is always shining, holding up 'ambitions' or 'goals'.

—I felt like I couldn't explain this time to anyone.

If you are blaming yourself like that right now, I want you to stop for a moment and read this article.
That blank space is by no means a 'deficiency'.
It might be an extremely sophisticated reaction where your intelligence is trying to protect you.

1. 'Not wanting to do anything' is a defensive reaction of autonomy

When we are constantly told to 'do this,' do we start to feel pain even from things we used to like?
This can be explained by theSelf-Determination Theoryproposed by psychologists like Edward Deci, specifically theundermining effect.

Humans have a fundamentalneed for autonomyto 'decide their own actions.'
When external coercion (extrinsic motivation) intervenes, the brain recognizes it as an 'obligation' and dampens the interest that was welling up from within.
In fact, the very fact that you feel like you 'don't have anything you want to do' means your autonomy is not yet broken.
It might be that your inner self is showing a rejection reaction.

2. The 'true nature' of the fear of losing one's place

The 'fear of being thought of as incompetent' and the 'fear of losing one's place' that lie behind the sense of impatience.
These are not merely signs of mental weakness.

According to research by neuroscientist Naomi Eisenberger and others, it has been found that when humans feelsocial exclusion (isolation from a group), the brain activates the same regions as it does for physical pain.
In other words, the anxiety of losing one's place is a real pain to the brain, just like being injured.

This vigilance is a legitimate survival instinct as a biological being, and it speaks to the cold, hard reality that you are 'successfully sensing a crisis.'

3. An active experiment in 'increasing the resolution of the world'

Trying to force yourself to grow in order to dispel fear leads to 'over-adaptation,' where you chip away at yourself to fit into a mold.
Therefore, I would like to propose a shift in perspective to'increasing the resolution of the world.'

In the latest brain science (such as the free energy principle), the brain is considered to be a 'system that predicts an uncertain world and minimizes its errors.'
For the brain, the greatest stress is an 'unpredictable state,' and conversely, breaking down discomfort and understanding the structure by thinking, 'Oh, so that's what it is,' leads to an instinctive pleasure that increases the probability of survival.

When you are in the fog of 'not having anything you want to do,' if you try to force your way through, you will get lost.
Instead, observe in detail the 'density of the fog' and the 'sensation under your feet' where you are standing right now. That is the act of increasing resolution.

For example, when the other person's eyes drift slightly during a conversation.
Instead of letting it pass with the feeling of 'maybe they dislike me,' try accepting it as data that 'some kind of prediction change has occurred within the other person right now.'
When you start to perceive the world as a 'structure' rather than an 'interpretation,' there is less room to be swayed by emotions, and the initiative to navigate the world returns to you.

4. 'Autonomous conviction': Taking back the right to decide evaluations

As the resolution of the world increases, you will run into one reality.
That is that 'other people's evaluations' are also just one piece of observational data.

What becomes important here is the attitude of'autonomous conviction.'The core of the 'optimism' proposed by psychologist Martin Seligman lies in not viewing bad events as 'permanent and universal flaws of oneself.'
While calmly accepting external evaluations, you give yourself a passing grade based on your own 'blueprint' of progress.

For example, when you receive a harsh evaluation on a presentation, instead of despairing that 'I am no good,' you think, 'The evaluation shows data of 'lack of preparation.'
However, this time I improved my 'speed of structuring.'
In that respect, this work has cleared my own standards,' and you keep the right to decide your own conviction to yourself.

It is the accumulation of such actions that brings you back to the state of 'flow' (immersion) described by Csikszentmihalyi—a sense of becoming one with the object, forgetting the eyes of those around you.

5. Conclusion: In the midst of the world's contours becoming clear

The period of 'having nothing you want to do' is by no means a stagnation.
It is a 'period of continuously updating the resolution of the world' as you observe the environment surrounding you and your own inner self more deeply.a period of continuously updating the resolution of the world.

While using the eyes of those around you as a high-precision sensor, keep a perspective in your heart that observes from a slight distance.
Set aside the pressure of having a grand ambition for a moment, and enjoy the minute discoveries of daily life.

Finding what you want to do might not happen when you look far away, but rather while you are in the process of the world's contours gradually becoming clearer.
However, no one yet knows where those contours lead.

—That is precisely why the observation continues.

References

• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "What" and "Why" of Goal Pursuits.

• Eisenberger, N. I., et al. (2003). Does Rejection Hurt?

• Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: a rough guide to the brain?

• Seligman, M. E. P. (2006). Learned Optimism.

• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.