The Struggle of Knowing Exactly What You Want and Not Having a Clue

**This post was originally written for Her Campus**

Today’s society is funny.

We live in a world that tells us we can be anything we want, and do anything we want, but we need to decide what exactly that is by the time we turn 18 and graduate school. God forbid you might take an alternate route and not go to university, finish a degree, and go straight into the workforce.

If you’re reading this and thinking about how boring the safe route is and how you could never do it, then chances are, you are someone who knows what they want in life, but seems to have no idea all at the same time because you choose to take the path less travelled.

Don’t worry, I totally understand your thought process, which is why I have broken down your thought process into ten simple categories. If you can relate to most of these then chances are you are someone who knows exactly what you want, and doesn’t have a clue all at the same time.

1. YOLO is your life motto

In the wise words of Eminem, “you only got one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity only comes once in a lifetime (yo).” You are not willing to miss an amazing opportunity to make memories. You are okay with putting yourself out there and being totally ridiculous because these memories are not offered every day, and you might not get another chance. And quite frankly, you very literally only live once, so why not live out loud? The problem is, sometimes this gets you into some sticky situations.

2. Normal is not your jam and no one seems to understand that

You know what you love, you know roughly what you want to do in life, but you refuse to take the normal route there. People think you’re flighty because you have so many ideas about what to do, and where to go, but picking one is just too difficult. You’re not okay with just doing a four year undergrad like everyone else and getting a big kid job. You need to take the path less travelled. Which, probably makes everyone think you are lost and confused even though you know what you’re doing.

3. You have so many interests and passions and you refuse to pursue just one.

Health and Fitness? Cool!

Art? Also cool!

Psychology? That’s pretty cool too

English? Shakespeare is the man

Biology? Who doesn’t like dissecting pigs?

Business? Yeah starting a business could be cool!

There are just so many options and you like them all. You’d love to study them all. Choosing one is hard. How could anyone possibly spend the rest of their lives in just one profession?

4. You get side tracked easily

Because you have so many interests you like to start something and then when something else catches your eye you get side tracked. This is not to say that you are not going to finish what you started at some point, you just need to be excited about this new thing for a moment first.

5. You don’t know how to do anything besides live out loud

Nothing about your decision making pattern has ever been normal. Whatever you do, you are all in or all out. When you’re all in, you live your life boldly and loudly, and no one is getting in your way.

6. You don’t have a sweet clue what you’re going to do with your degree but you love what you’re doing.

Society has spent so many years telling you that you need to know exactly what you are going to do with your life by the age of 18. It’s ingrained in your DNA whether you like it or not. But somewhere along the line, you fell in love with your degree, you haven’t decided what to do with it, and you’re not worried about it because what you’re studying brings you joy, and you’ll figure the rest out later.

7. You are probably going to be the hot topic at family Christmas

Your family thinks you’re totally ridiculous because you’ve changed your degree a hundred times, or have gone gallivanting across the country, or you are taking a totally ridiculous degree but you totally love it. You don’t have your s**t together like your younger cousin who condensed her degree to three years and is working for that super high end company and making cash money. You’re family is totally judging you and some days you wish you were as successful as your cousin, but for the most part you don’t give two hoots because you’re busy doing something you love.

8. You’re not willing to serve a 30-year sentence.

You’ve already served a 12-year government mandated school sentence and now you’re not willing to put yourself through a self inflicted one.

I was at work the other day and heard two second year Commerce students talking about how they were going to pursue accounting because it would secure them a job, even though they were not necessarily interested in accounting at all. To you, this sounds like a life sentence. How could anyone possibly be willing to serve 30, maybe even 40, years of their life doing something they don’t love? You’re not willing to do it, even if it promises financial security.

9. You refuse to settle

On anything. You aren’t going to settle on a degree, a job, a hobby, an adventure, and you certainly will not settle in a relationship. To others you might seem like you don’t know what you want, but the cold hard truth is that you know what you want – you want a vibrant, exciting life and mediocrity is not on your radar.

10. You are okay with growing

You are a work in progress. You will always be a work in progress and you embrace growth and change. You know that you are always developing as a person and all you can do is strive to become better than you were yesterday.