The Illusion of Anxiety
Let’s cut the crap: what a lot of people call “career anxiety” is usually just poor prep, lazy thinking, and a refusal to get real with yourself.
I’ve seen it too many times — smart, talented people go blank when you ask them something simple like, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" It’s not a trick question. It’s just a mirror. And most folks don’t like what they see. Especially if they’re early in their careers, they’ll default to vague clichés or some recycled LinkedIn nonsense that sounds polished but means absolutely nothing.
This isn’t anxiety. It’s an identity crisis dressed up as a buzzword. You’re not drowning — you’re just standing still and calling it deep water.
The Entrepreneurial Contrast
Now think about entrepreneurs. These people are out here blazing trails with no roadmap, but somehow they’re still clearer on where they’re headed than folks with step-by-step guides. That’s the irony: the ones in uncharted territory often have a stronger internal compass than the ones with every instruction handed to them.
Entrepreneurs make it up as they go — they build, pivot, learn, iterate. But they move. Meanwhile, a lot of people with “safe” careers are paralyzed even with the whole damn playbook in front of them. That’s wild.
Case Studies in Complacency
Example time. I have a friend who wants to be a lawyer. Good goal. He’s smart. But he’s been spinning his wheels. He works at a boutique law firm doing mostly assistant-type work. Took a gap year with no real plan. Scored average on the LSAT and hasn’t applied to law school. His excuse? “The firm needs me.”
Bro. If your firm can't function without your admin-level help, that’s a red flag — not a badge of honor. Especially when you admit AI could do half your job. You’re not being loyal. You’re just stalling.
Another friend of mine wants to be a cop. Cool. Except he majored in business, never did a ride-along, never talked to cops, never built any kind of network. I spent five minutes on LinkedIn and saw that none of the officers from our city had a business background. Again, the info’s right there. But he never looked.
And then there’s my college friend who said she was stressed about internships. Said she’d been searching for six months. I asked how many places she applied to — she said five. FIVE.
We hopped on Discord, and I had her share her screen. I told her to ask ChatGPT, “What are the top five companies I should work at in my field?” Boom — list in seconds. Then I showed her LinkedIn’s alumni tool. Hundreds of potential contacts. Whole thing took less than ten minutes. Her stress wasn’t about the job market — it was about being passive and calling it a problem.
Reframing the Narrative
Let’s stop lying to ourselves. Most career “anxiety” is just inaction with a PR team. It’s people being scared to move, dressing it up like existential dread, and hoping no one calls them out.
Need numbers?
67% of U.S. employees are disengaged at work (Gallup, 2023)
Gen Z’s average job tenure is 1.2 years (LinkedIn, 2024)
Law school admissions are getting tighter every year
Translation: the game’s moving fast, and you sitting around hoping it gets easier isn’t a strategy. It’s a liability.
Toward Strategic Agency
Naval said it best: “Play long-term games with long-term people.” That means stop letting short-term distractions and systems designed for mediocrity run your life.
Try this:
Self-audit: Be brutally honest about where you are and where you want to go.
Reverse-engineer: Study people who made it. Trace their steps. Copy, then innovate.
Get uncomfortable on purpose: Do one hard thing a week. Something that makes you sweat.
Career anxiety can’t survive when you’re in motion. It only thrives when you sit and stew.
So stop waiting. Stop outsourcing your clarity. Stop acting like fear is some immovable force.
You don’t need the whole map — just enough direction to start walking.
You’re not stuck. You’re scared. And if you let fear run the show, don’t be surprised when your life turns out basic.
Move anyway.