Ramit Sethi examines the common phrase "I just need to figure it out" as a mask for deep procrastination during job searches and life decisions. He argues that retreating into thought creates anxiety, guilt, and inaction; instead he recommends practical steps: get out into the job market, talk to people, learn from experts, and take small actionable steps toward finding a dream job.
Got a really interesting phrase that we discovered in the research of the dream job course it goes like this. I just need to figure it out. I just need to figure it out. Think about your friends. You might meet someone who's been working on a project for a while. You say, hey, how's that going? Yeah, I don't know. I really need to figure it out. Oh, what he's actually saying is, I'm uncomfortable with the topic. Let's check, change the topic. But what he uses is, yeah, I really need to figure it out. This is a totally fascinating phrase because if you look beneath the surface, you realize that there's deep procrastination going on here. What we do often when we're working on a project or perhaps thinking about finding our dream job is number one, we get anxious. What is a dream job? Oh my God. What is my dream job? How am I supposed to find that? What about my resume? Then I have to do a cover letter. Oh my God, I don't know anything about interviewing. So we concoct this massive story in our head. Then we come up with other crippling beliefs. As time goes on and we don't figure it out, we start looking at ourselves and feeling guilty. We say, hey, I'm just lazy, I just need to work harder. Or we use phrases like I need to figure my shit out. What does that really mean? It's funny, as Americans, we tend to retreat inside our heads. We believe we can figure out our way to clarity and we can think our way to action. As an I will teach you be rich reader, you know that you don't just sit in your room and think about it, that helps. And doing some research, that helps. But it's really about getting out into the market, talking to people, learning from experts. Alright, that can clarify your head, it can clarify your ideas. Just think of people who are in a terrible relationship, right? To them, their problems are unique. And yet when they go out and they talk to their friends, their friends are like, they dude, you know he's been unemployed for the last 38 weeks. He has no ambition. He sits at home all day, he eats Pringles. I don't know about this guy. Like it's very clear to them. But to us, in our heads, we need to figure it out. So here's what I want to say. The reason that we actually came upon this was one of my staff members has a girlfriend who's looking for a job. Now it's totally fascinating. We're sitting down and chit chatting and he goes, you know, I. I could actually put the dream job sales page in front of her. And she knows it's good. She knows Ramit. She knows that. She trusts him. But you know what she would say? She would say, yeah, I should do something about this thing, this job. But I need to figure it out first. Do you want to be that person? Do you want to be the person who has been saying, I need to figure it out for 6 months, 12 months, 10 years? I don't care if you use my course. I don't care if you use my materials or someone else's materials. The point is simply saying, I need to figure it out. And retreating into yourself is perhaps one of the least effective solutions you can do, because you're not only just looking inward and never taking advantage of all the people who have gone through the same issue as you. But each day you do that, you're busy beating yourself up and feeling guiltier and guiltier about not taking action. So get started today. Start off with the simplest step you can take. It doesn't matter if you use my dream job. Course I hope you do. But there are simple steps you can take towards finding your dream job instead of waiting for that one mythical day and saying, I need to figure it out.
