In retrospect, I've had some of my worst times when I wasn't sure I was even headed in the right direction, never mind taking the right steps to get somewhere. Even now, I seek out situations (at work, for instance) where someone else decides what needs to be done and I get to figure out a suitable way to do it. Of course I get to choose whether to take on that particular project or even work for that particular person (and if I do, to negotiate satisfactory terms and conditions).

If I'm helping to carry out someone else's plan (whether or not it's meant for my personal benefit) and I trust them, that tends to make it very easy for me. What I hate most is someone telling me what I should do (or even worse, what I should have done) but never bothering to check afterwards on how their suggestions work(ed) for me. Trivial example: when I was in my teens I had an acne problem. My father was firmly convinced that it was because I wasn't washing my face often enough. It didn't seem to matter to him that when I'd try washing it three times a day for a while, my acne would stay the same or even get a little worse. He took credit for having known what I should do and having told me to do it; I got the blame for (obviously) not having done it, whether I actually had or not.

A few years later, when it wasn't about trivial stuff like acne but about what I should do about school, my mental health and my life, he still seemed to be following the same model. I found I preferred to avoid him, his advice, and whatever I saw as the principles he was trying to teach me. I remember thinking quite a few times that if I were to flunk out of school, joining the marines or killing myself felt like better options than living at home and having to put up with more of his guidance.

In your example, I'm sure it would make a huge difference whether I trusted the program I was in and the people running it.