A lot of times, I think about (recurring theme here) my future. Should I do this or that? Should I focus on writing or on cs? For others maybe: should I do long distance with them or end it? Should I cut it off with them or make a move? Should I go into industry or make something of my own? And I wouldn’t say questions like these gave me decision paralysis, but it was a variant of it, more like decision fatigue where I would jump between the two choices and never land on a concrete answer and be so exhausted I’d put it away for tomorrow where I would just do the same leap frogging again.
It really wasn’t until one day this summer, maybe after I watched a tiktok or something, that I paused and thought to myself: this isn’t a decision I have to make today so why am I letting it consume so much of it? So I just let it go because if the pivotal moments of your future career/your relationships, are not going to be made today, why force yourself to make that decision today. And you can argue that this is just putting off the problem for your future self which is less healthy (and I think this is the general “dogma” instilled in us that we shouldn’t put things off for tomorrow), but I’d argue that it’s healthier to give this problem to your future self because your future self has more information on the topic and (1) can not only make a more informed decision but (2) will also have all the information they need (or at least more) to make this decision without regrets.
Me five years from now will probably experience a lot more, try out a lot more things, and will be able to (hopefully) have a lot stronger of an idea of what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life. And you even one week from now will know with a lot more clarity how much you like this person or understand your boundaries & limits better.
Adding on, why make a decision now when you don’t have to and cut off the possibility of something more? Why full-send a career path that I’m not confident in just because I want peace of mind. Why end a relationship that doesn’t need to end just yet because you currently think there is no future.
I realized all I needed to do was reverse what I had been doing. Instead of addressing my mental problems every single day and pushing the actual work I needed to do to progress in any way to “tomorrow,” I needed to continue to progress so I could give my future self enough information to make a decision that I can’t today.
I’m not sure how relevant this is to other people, but I hope you still took something away from it <3
Very insightful. Why make a decision now that you are better equipped to deal with later on. I’ll be sure to incorporate this in my day to day.