Installment #2 explores senioritis as a universal fear of choosing when every option feels heavy with consequences. It breaks down how opportunity cost and the search for a “perfect” decision keep us stuck, procrastinating, and afraid to move. The takeaway is clear: momentum beats perfection, and growth begins the moment you choose and take a step forward.
There’s a moment—usually quiet, usually inconvenient—when life feels like a hallway with too many doors. You stand in the middle, hands in your pockets, staring at each one like it’s daring you to move. You know you can’t open all of them. You know picking one means losing the others. And somehow, doing absolutely nothing starts to feel like the safest option in the world.
That, right there, is senioritis. Or, could we say, human-itis?
People like to pretend senioritis is just about homework and graduation, but it’s much bigger than that. It’s a universal experience: the hesitation that shows up exactly when something important is on the line. The slowdown before the finish line. The sudden desire to reorganize your entire room instead of responding to that one email. The way a simple choice becomes heavier than a hundred-pound kettlebell.
At its core, senioritis isn’t laziness. It’s the psychological weight of choices.
And the older you get, the more you realize that choosing always comes with a cost.
The Coffee Shop Moment
Imagine walking into a coffee shop you’ve never visited. You want something simple—just a warm drink—and suddenly you’re staring at a menu that looks like a calculus problem. Cold brew. Nitro cold brew. Oat milk latte. Pistachio sweet cream foam. You came in for coffee, and now you’re having an existential crisis.
You start doing the mental math:
- Will cold brew make me jittery later?
- Is $7.65 worth it for an oat milk latte?
- Do I look like the type of person who orders pistachio foam?
- Should I be a tea person now?
So, you stall. You pretend to examine pastries. You consider walking out altogether because this feels like a life-or-death decision. That is pure opportunity cost. Choosing one thing means giving up all the other things you could’ve chosen instead. The brain—which loves imagining perfect futures—panics at losing all the hypothetical versions of you. So, it freezes. We treat opportunity cost like an economic concept, but it’s a human one, too. It shows up when choosing where to go, who to be, what to study, what to prioritize, and which door to open. The more options you have, the heavier each choice feels.
Why Senioritis Hits So Hard
Senioritis hits at the exact moment choice becomes real. For students, like me, the future stops being a theory and becomes a set of decisions with consequences. For adults, the feeling is the same when facing a job change, a relationship decision, a financial move, or any major life transition. The brain whispers, “What if I pick wrong? What if there’s something better? What if this closes a door I didn’t even get to peek behind?” And then the symptoms arrive: procrastination, avoidance, numbing out, pretending you don’t care even though you absolutely do. It feels like senioritis because your body is reacting to the emotional math of opportunity cost. Choosing means losing. Losing means grieving. And grieving—no matter how small the loss—creates resistance.
The Hidden Trap: Doing Nothing Is Still a Choice
Most people think avoiding a choice isn’t choosing. But it is. Doing nothing has an opportunity cost, too. Not applying for the job means losing the chance to get it. Not finishing the assignment means losing the freedom that comes after it’s done. Not taking the risk means losing the reward. And not choosing a door means the hallway becomes your entire life. Sometimes we stay stuck not because the options are bad, but because choosing forces us to confront something: that we’re scared, uncertain, and imperfect. But no one knows the future. Even confident people are just making educated guesses. Every path has unknowns; Every decision has a tradeoff; Every choice takes courage—not certainty.
The Myth of the Perfect Decision
One of the biggest causes of hesitation—especially for young people—is the idea that the “perfect choice” exists somewhere out there. But real life isn’t shaped by perfect decisions. It’s shaped by committed ones. The person who shows up beats the person with the ideal plan who never starts. The writer who writes a little, beats the one waiting for inspiration. And the person who chooses a direction gains more opportunities than the one who refuses to move.
Perfection isn’t the point. Momentum is.
Your life doesn’t collapse because you choose one thing over another. You simply create a different timeline—one you still get to shape. When you understand that, opportunity cost becomes less scary. Because every choice also creates new opportunities you couldn’t see before.
A New Way to Think About Choices
Instead of asking, “What will I lose if I choose this?” Ask, “What will I gain by committing to something?” Commitment unlocks direction, clarity, momentum, growth, experience, and confidence.
A decision isn’t an ending. It’s the beginning. Think of your life like a book. If you refuse to turn the page because you’re scared the next chapter won’t be good enough, you never learn how the story unfolds. Turn the page, even if it’s messy, even if it’s confusing, and even if you’re not fully ready.
No one ever feels fully ready.
The Resolution (Or Maybe the Real Beginning)
Back to the coffee shop. The truth is, the coffee doesn’t matter. The decision does. Because once you choose, a few things happen: the tension lifts; the moment moves forward; nothing explodes, and you survive. You get your drink; walk out the door and life continue as normal.
Senioritis—choice paralysis, fear of regret, hesitation—fades the moment you take a step. Not when you feel confident, but when you move. And once you move, life has a way of meeting you halfway.
The Takeaway
You don’t beat senioritis by trying harder. You beat it by choosing. Opportunity cost will always exist and the hallway of doors will always feel overwhelming, but the only true failure is standing still long enough that life chooses for you.
Making choices is harder than it sounds. But growth, momentum, and freedom all wait on the other side of a decision. Open a door. Pick a lane. Choose something—anything.
Your future doesn’t begin when you feel ready. It begins when you finally move your feet.
TheAlonzoJones 