"Do it for the plot", a saying that has been thrown around the Internet that essentially means YOLO in a way. It's telling people to do something regardless of the potential for a negative outcome, to essentially do something as if you are the main character of your own story in order to move the story along. 

While many people would actually advise against doing things for the plot as it usually leads to something negative, I personally kind of advocate for it. It technically might not always mean making the best decisions, but as someone who 'did it for the plot' in the past, I feel like it can add so much more zest to your life and let you speedrun learning all kinds of lessons and learning about more yourself.

Just in case you're still confused about what doing it for the plot means, I personally define it as making decisions that you know might be bad for you but you just feel compelled to do it for the potential excitement that it could bring to your life (of course I mean all of this within reason!). 

Now, why would I advocate for something that can potentially impact your mental health in a really bad way? Because in my own experience, doing it for the plot was what led me down a journey of self-discovery. I veered from my usual rational self and made decisions that I knew were not the best. 

Let me dive into some of those decisions so you have a better idea of what I mean. The first decision was getting into a relationship with someone that I knew was never going to work out and essentially having two relationships (a really good friendship along with a romantic relationship) destroyed in one go. There were things that were done and said prior to the romantic relationship starting that should've given me pause and not go ahead with it but I fully blame my heart and hormones for going ahead. It was a very emotionally painful experience when it ended, but I did learn a lot about what I would want in a romantic partner and relationship moving forward. It made me realize that I was a lot more resilient than I give myself credit for. 

Another decision would be going against my principles and getting into the hookup culture to see what it was like (check out my other article on that titled 'Hookup Culture: My Personal Take'). I "did that for the plot" because I was always so curious about it and I was bored at the time and wanted some excitement. I learned that I was not built to take part in that kind of culture and merely removed myself from it. It did take me on a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts in a short amount of time though.

Again I'm not advocating for doing anything too crazy, or life-destroying but there is a certain freedom that comes from letting yourself make mistakes in life. Those decisions did have pretty emotionally and mentally painful consequences, but I felt like I had learnt a lot from them and I do believe that I am better off now than I was before (though perhaps this is just me trying to justify the pain). Regardless, I got a lot of life experiences and entertaining stories in a short amount of time from 'doing it for the plot' and I'm thankful for what I've learned because of it.