Forget Your Why, Choose Your Way

Tracks, Roads and Open Fields

I live in LA, where the number one topic of conversation is traffic. When I arrive somewhere, people don’t ask me how I am (most important question in the world, naturally), but rather, “how was the traffic?” Boring.

I was sitting in some of this traffic the other day, debating whether I should mindlessly follow the sage wisdom of Google Maps, or rather carve my own path through the congested side streets. And as I wrestled with this somewhat meaningless decision, I thought about how mentally liberating it can be to cede control and just follow the damn directions.

For a long time now, I’ve craved being on “the right track.” Don’t we all. And as I sat in traffic, wondering very much if I was on the right track, deliberating if I should change lanes yet again, I started to interrogate this cliche a bit more.

Tracks, like a railroad track, are actually quite limiting. A train off the tracks is disaster, and even when they’re not dislodged, trains aren’t free. They can’t wake up one day and decide to be a Tesla. But there is a beautiful, and in some ways freeing, simplicity to following a track. You always know where you’re heading.

Take the classic high achiever, who gets straight As, strings together a couple of extracurriculars, goes to college, graduates, and then — struggles. Struggles to find what comes next. They’re on track, they’re on track, and then all of a sudden, that track ends abruptly. Where to now?

Tracks are great when you know exactly where you’re going. If I get on this train, I will arrive at my location as long as I just stick with it. But what about when you wake up one day and find that you’re no longer interested in going to St. Louis?

That’s when you need to hop off the track, and find a more flexible path. Maybe you need a road, which is still an expedient way to get from point A to B, but without the rigidity of a track. And sure you might get lost a bit, or stuck in traffic, but you can usually figure it out.

Finally, sometimes you need to get lost, to stray completely from all of the various metaphors of conveyance - tracks, roads, paths - and just explore. That’s when you find yourself in an open field, able to chart whatever course your heart desires. But open fields are intimidating, who knows which way, if any, is the right one? Freedom is great, but man it comes with a lot of decision fatigue.

So, if you find yourself sitting in literal or figurative traffic, wondering where the hell you’re going, ask yourself: Do I need a track? Do I like the track I’m on? Should I swap speed and clarity for the flexibility of a road? Or do I perhaps need to frolic unfettered in open fields until I find the next right thing?