993 Planning Your Life

<p>There are endless Pop psychology articles and a whole self-help industry that caters to the illusion that individuals can plan their lives. These so-called, experts, exploit our dual vulnerabilities of self-abortion & thinking each of us is the center of the universe, and our inherent evolutionary sense of optimism. It’s all fantasy; give no credence to any advice from pretenders whose own lives probably leave something to be desired or they wouldn’t trying to be selling snake oil to you. The simple fact is that no one can plan their life without being able to predict the future, which you can’t, and anyone who says they can is a liar. It also requires wisdom, but wisdom requires knowledge, experience & self-awareness that you can only get by living your life, an impossible circularity.</p> <p>What you can do is live your life by following the path of least resistance. If you’re good at sports, do that until you can no longer compete; if you’re good in school, do that until everyone else is better; if your family has a business that you enjoy, enjoy it. If the luckiest opportunity in the world comes along, becoming an astronaut or president of the United States, and you want it, take it. Here’s the most important part of planning your life this way: if you don’t want it, don’t do it. No value can be placed on your own happiness, satisfaction & contentment, and it’s subjective, so what other people think doesn’t matter; and if it does, factor that in too if it’s easy & convenient.</p>