Why You Should Embrace the Uncertainty of Change in Your 20s

Planning your life out is working against you

In January, the world was blissfully unaware of what 2020 would bring.

The pandemic is something that couldn’t be planned for, and yet, young adults are told that the most important thing in life is to have a plan.

But the future is never set in stone. The pandemic that was unleashed across the world in 2020 should remind us all that plans are made to be broken, and the world is never going to grant you stability.

Sitting in an empty bookshop, whittling away what were to be my final working hours in a very long time, I had no idea what this pandemic would bring. And I had no idea how I would cope with being contained within the same four walls and spending endless days without a plan in sight.

While I basked in the glory of freedom in the first few months, panic soon set in. As a meticulous planner, I suddenly realized I had no path or direction to follow. And at 23, I was committing a social taboo.

The pandemic has caused many young people to put their lives “on pause” due to the disruption wrought to education and career prospects.

Plans supposedly allow us to make provisions for the future, structuring our personal life, career and usually, finances. They can give us a sense of direction. But, they are a false blanket of security, and if you’re in your 20s, they’re probably ruining your life.

Here are five reasons you should stop making plans and embrace the uncertainty of change.

Reason 1: Life Is Always Uncertain

If anyone has learned anything this year, it’s that life is inherently uncertain, and you can’t plan for any eventualities. Your life cannot be mapped out from A-Z. Things happen and change.

Uncertainty is the only certainty.

Creating complicated career or personal orientated plans for yourself is intended with a beneficial mindset. But plans may force you down a path you assume you should be taking. Whether this is the result of pressure from your parents or societal norms, going down this route is appealing due to the certainty it offers. However, it could be restricting you in the long term.

As long as you have ideas and a sense of direction, that’s what matters. These aren’t set in stone, and therefore will not hold you back at a point in your life where you should be changing with the tides.

Before the pandemic hit, I was ready to chase after my journalism dream. Having secured a place to study an MA in Journalism at a top University in London, I was going to use this year to gain experience in the industry and save up for my studies.

Experiencing the pandemic has caused me to re-assess my path, and going through the loss of a loved one also threw a spanner in the works. To cope with all this uncertainty, I turned to writing.

Having spent 8 months on furlough, my finances aren’t as great as I had hoped, but this time away has given me a crucial opportunity to sit back and think. My interest in journalism is still there, but my love of writing and the idea of being my own boss is taking over.

My path is now not so set in stone, as I consider other options. But for once, I’m okay with the uncertainty, and even using it as an opportunity to grow.

Reason 2: Plans Only Offer Temporary Comfort

Graduating in January of this year caused me far more stress than enjoyment. Immediately, I felt the weight of societal expectations on my shoulders.

Everywhere I turned, my peers were starting impressive careers and becoming more “adult” by the day. I feared that my job as a bookseller come barista was something to be ashamed of, as I hadn’t “made” it as they had.

But society’s version of success is fundamentally flawed, as it’s centred on the notion that wealth equals success rather than happiness. The rigid plans we create to attain this wealth offer us temporary comfort and security, but life is too uncertain for these plans to remain set in stone. Treating them as such is detrimental to our overall happiness and growth.

It takes many of us a lot of trial and error and a lot of time to find our way. From my experience, it’s become increasingly evident that rather than plan ahead, you instead have to learn to roll with the punches and seize the opportunities that come your way.

In a nutshell — the 5-year plan you feel you need to become “successful” is only holding you back.

Reason 3: You’re Limiting Your Growth Potential

Rigidly planning your life, where you want to be and how much money you want to make can cause you to become blind to exploring other avenues, and you may miss opportunities that could make you happier in the long run.

If you only live your life according to certain plans — it allows no room for exploration. You prevent how you can grow and change, which is ironic, as that’s what your twenties are all about.

It’s a bit like if you only read popular books, you miss out on other amazing, undiscovered ones. One of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami, said,

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

In that sense — if you have a plan and conduct it according to societal norms, then you are setting yourself up for failure by only subscribing to live one type of life.

Instead — ditch the planning, embrace uncertainty and allow yourself to breathe. Instead, give yourself time to think about what you love and what motivates you in life.

Use the freedom to take a step back and embrace the time that you have to figure everything out. The rest will come.

Reason 4: Plans Restrict You, But Ideas Let you Grow

Having ideas, aspirations, and a sense of direction is far more valuable than a concrete plan.

Take it from me, as someone who leans towards planning every aspect of her life, not having a direct path has caused me many sleepless nights, guilt and anxiety, that I can’t contend with it anymore.

I have ideas — hell, I have too many ambitions that are good for me. But do I have a plan? No, and for once, I’m okay with that. Having an idea of what you want to do gives you something to work towards, but constructing plans closes yourself off to what could be.

They are detrimental to your future self and expanding your potential. They follow a straight path to only one destination. They make your universe and prospects smaller,

“I am overflowing like coffee leaking from a paper cup. I wonder, shall I make myself smaller? Do I have enough space on Earth to make myself less?” — Deborah Levy, Hot Milk

Additionally, plans naturally have an endpoint and the journey they create never allows for change, let alone global pandemics.

As we live through more uncertainty, it can be tempting to pick up a pen or open an Excel spreadsheet to bring more order into our lives, but we need to realize that this only causes more harm than good.

Ditch the 5-year plan mentality that wants you to go on a direct path, but instead, revel in the fact that your 20s are for exploring avenues, ideas and dreams — your time for planning will come later.

Reason 5: In Your 20s, You Don’t Need a Life Plan

As long as you have a roof over your head, some idea of where you want to go in life and are physically and mentally well — quite frankly, constructing any kind of plan can go out of the window.

You don’t need a 5-year plan, a life plan, or a decade plan in your 20s as now is not the time. In a brilliant story that caused me to think about my own life and making plans in general, Sergey Faldin wrote,

“Your twenties is not the time to build a career. It’s the perfect time to prepare for a career — and for the more productive thirties and forties.”

As young people, the pressure to have everything sorted as soon as we graduate is very real.

However, what we are going through now shows us it’s far more important to embrace uncertainty and the opportunities this may bring. Ditching plans and embracing indecision should be the path we all follow.

The Takeaway

The pandemic and its uncertainty have caused many of us to reassess our relationship with time. Time is all we have, so it should be spent wisely.

But rather than stressing about the time we’ve lost, the opportunities that gave way and the stage we could be at right now in our “careers,” we should be embracing the very fact that we can’t plan.

Plan’s are redundant. Your 20s should be fraught with indecision, uncertainty and changing paths because that mirrors the beauty of life itself.

The more we plan, the more we reduce ourselves by fitting into set boxes and bubbles. Planning the decade out from start to finish closes yourself off to new possibilities and creates a new standard for yourself to adhere to. Your 20s should be a time for change, exploration and self-discovery.

Instead, use the time to work on yourself, and any plans you wish to make in the next decade will surely come to light. Strive to do what you love and what makes your heart sing; the rest will come later.

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