As adults, we get to do what works for us. We have choices. We can organize our day’s activities based on our optimal sleeping and waking times, and we can take breaks when we need to. We can leave living situations, relationships, and job roles that are no longer working for us. We can eat and pee when we need to.

I would argue that becoming a self-actualized human actually depends on learning to make choices for ourselves. After years of being told what to do, seeing the full array of possibilities available to us can be overwhelming. It takes practice.

Yeah, I know that schools talk about how important creativity and critical thinking are. And some school cultures are set up to deeply value these skills. However, for the most part, nobody wants students to, for instance, use their critical thinking skills in to question the value of the assignments they are given or put their creativity to work to find more efficient ways to get a given result. “I can see from your test that you understand this material, but you still need to turn in the homework so you don’t get zeros. The YouTube video you made was great, but you still need to do the worksheet.”