Many people (but especially Rationals) have this habit of crafting for themselves a series of "if-then" experiments.

IF I take these classes, THEN I will be prepared for this career, for example.

All well and good, until you have to account for variables on the fly...

The more IF/THEN chains you create from the outset, the less flexible you become, and the more frustrated when the inevitable and unforeseen happens.

You then run the risk of a melt down or of convincing yourself that the pursuit was never worth it in the first place...

Lots of folks do this with religious observance.

"if I do this, then God will bless me with that" and get stuck on what they supposed the outcome MUST be. When it doesnt pan out or their plans are foiled, there is a tendency to blame the religion, and not the faulty experiment

People who have engaged in these if/then propositions and are still waiting for them to pan out, believing they will, act like rabid wolves when someone comes along and suggests that maybe theyve got it backwards.

Afterall, I have made a calculated investment!

I weighed the costs and benefits. I decided the best course of action for what I wanted to achieve! And failure is the heart of fear and insecurity.