What to Do When You Dont Know Where Your Life Is Going

i don't know what to do with my life cover

Sometimes in life, you just feel stuck, and you detect yourself saying, "I don't know what to do with my life."

You may be searching for a purpose, a passion that makes you lot feel alive. You are ready to accept action, to make a change, but yous but don't know which direction to go.

These steps will aid you get unstuck and determine the next steps to take when you lot observe yourself in a oestrus. Read on for clear steps to help y'all navigate the path toward a meaningful life.

If you've lost your direction in life, the commencement footstep towards finding your fashion is to start believing in yourself. Endeavor our mini-course Believing in Yourself. Larn four techniques to keep yourself truthful and honest to your ethics.

Investigate: What is your life similar?

"Ask the right questions and the answers will reveal themselves."
Oprah

When yous detect yourself in a rut, it's often unclear what needs to change. You lot may have a good paying job, a loving family unit, and supportive partner. Even when your life looks practiced on paper, you lot still experience unfulfilled. Yous get through the motions, but something is missing.

In some cases, change seems manner likewise overwhelming. One problem piles on top of the next, and it feels similar every day, you constantly take to put out fires. When null goes right, you may feel frozen and scared to brand the adjacent movement.

Wherever yous find yourself, it can feel disruptive to pinpoint where you're at versus where yous want to be. To become a clear idea of how to build a meaningful life, you first need to clarify what exactly needs to change.

Then, what is your life like today?

Ask yourself some difficult-hitting questions to learn where you stand right now—to find out what is working and what needs to change.

ane. What would the "kid y'all" think almost the "current you lot"?

Every child is born like a bare slate. They behave based on their purest instincts with nix workout from exterior influences. Children seem to fearlessly express themselves past playing, laughing, and dancing. They evidence upwards authentically and approach life with a playful attitude; everyday situations go heady and fun!

Your inner child

Deep down inside, that inner kid still exists. It is your authentic self. If you listen to that inner child, you can reconnect with your truest passions that speak to your eye, that you may accept suppressed long agone.

Close your eyes. Try to think back to yourself as a child. What would that child think about the "current yous"? Ask yourself:

What kind of activities did you enjoy?
How did you look at the world?
Can yous call up of whatsoever difficult situations that may take impacted who you are today?
What does the "adult you" want the "kid you" to feel more than of?
Practise you hide parts of your inner child to fit in now?

2. What are the things y'all want to alter or eliminate from your life?

Where practise you stand in your life right now? You may actually accept a lot of things going right, or maybe you lot recognize those things glaring you lot in the face that demand to modify.

Be honest with yourself. Write down a list of all the things that bring you joy and satisfaction. Then brand a separate list of the areas of your life that you need to alter. Consider the following:

Life habits: Do you go enough sleep, eat nutritious foods, and stay agile?
Relationships: Compare people who lift you upwardly versus toxic relationships.
Piece of work or career path: Exercise yous yearn to change jobs or shift your career path entirely?
Routine: Do you spend time doing the things that yous dearest? Do you take on too much?

iii. Who and what are the people you like and admire?

Having function models can inspire your direction to build a meaningful life.

Who are your office models?

Take a moment to write downwards a few names of people you admire. Perhaps they are people you know personally. Mayhap you tin can think of a celebrity or public figure that inspires you.

Listing a few characteristics or achievements that you admire about each individual. This tin can reveal qualities that matter to y'all, and information technology'due south 1 of the ways you can start to uncover your ain core values.

4. What inspires you?

Living a good life ways more than but having your essential needs met. Deep down, we all want to feel inspired. That tin can hateful in the piece of work we practise, the people we assist, the hobbies we pursue.

You may have a ton of ideas, or none at all. When you lot want to know how to discover your passion in life, brand a listing and recollect about:

If yous could accept your dream chore, what would you lot practice?
What adventures and activities intrigue you?
If you had all the time and money at your disposal, what would y'all do?

5. How tin can you serve others?

What makes people happy? A good job, a fancy car, a big house, lots of lavish vacations?

Co-ordinate to science, feeling happy has a lot to exercise with helping others. Professor of psychology, Dr. Laurie Santos, PhD., teaches the most popular course at Yale University called The Science of Well-Being and has spent her career exploring the "recipe" for happiness.

Dr. Santos' research has found that happier people tend to pay attending to the needs of others. They ofttimes participate in service-oriented activities, like giving to clemency and volunteering.

How much fourth dimension do you spend helping others?

Consider some ways you can participate in a cause greater than yourself. Await for something that resonates with you personally.

Whether that means supporting your community, adopting an animal, conserving the environs. These activities tin bring you lot more purpose through serving others.

6. What have you always thought you'd practice with your life?

You may already have an idea, deep down inside, of your calling. Did you have a passion that fell to the wayside because of other responsibilities? You lot may need to reconnect with that part of yourself in society to feel whole over again.

Permit's explore this question a bit more. Recall about your current work situation. Ask yourself:

Why are yous doing what you lot're doing?
Does this job experience more like a calling or a fashion to pay the bills?
When you lot close your optics, tin y'all imagine a dream task that calls to you?

Everyone needs to find a way to bring dwelling house the bacon. Only life is too short to be stuck in a job that you hate.

You can notice meaning and enjoyment in the work that y'all do. But information technology may mean taking risks and asking the correct questions to move frontward.

7. What do you want to do every day?

Consistency + Fourth dimension = Results

You lot build a meaningful life based on your consistent, day-to-day habits. Consider the big dreams that you lot have in your center. Now, call back nearly what kind of daily habits will pb y'all to that goal.

They can even mean small things, similar writing xx minutes a day, practicing guitar, or going for a walk. Those seemingly small things can atomic number 82 to big changes over time.

8. What do you want to do before you lot die?

Shut your eyes and imagine the things you've always wanted to do in your life. Have some time to brainstorm those center dreams and write them downwards.

Your list could include big goals like starting your own concern, starting a family, or moving to a new metropolis. Yous may consider taking on a challenge like learning a foreign language or participating in a marathon.

Your list may also include pocket-sized things that yous neglect for yourself. You may need to reignite your sense of adventure with a trivial vacation, a night out, or a alter in routine.

When you don't know how to figure out what you desire in life, sometimes a uncomplicated reset tin give y'all the answers yous need.

9. What scares you?

"I don't know what to practise with my life," can sometimes mean, "I've been afraid to get after what I really want."

Everyone faces fear. Fear has its purpose. It protects us from dangerous situations. Only fears can also result from limiting thinking that starts at a immature age.

A controlling parent may yell at yous too often, or a nifty at school makes yous feel unworthy. These fears create negative thought patterns that we carry with us through the rest of our lives. They forestall us from taking risks and living a life exterior of our comfort zones.

Understanding your fears helps differentiate between rational fears and limiting beliefs. Y'all'll acquire what scares you (and for proficient reason).

You'll also recognize what you've been avoiding and why.

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Figure out what to practise side by side with your life

When yous yearn to notice direction and purpose, you may feel overwhelmed with options and dislocated about which path to accept.

First, acquire how to deal with feeling overwhelmed and railroad train your trunk and heed to react properly to stress.

Then, accept these steps to figure out what to exercise with your life and observe what you're actually meant to do.

1. Examine your purpose in life

Find your purpose

Each of us has a purpose, unique gifts that only y'all tin can bring to the table, and no one else. But many people move through life without thinking nigh their purpose.

Some follow the prescribed path— to go adept grades, get into a skilful school, become a good job, buy a firm and get-go a family. Others confront life circumstances and responsibilities that go far much harder to go afterwards a big dream.

Any is property you back, you tin't find yourself by post-obit a set of external expectations. When you lot desire to know how to find your purpose in life, you have to wait inwards.

That means tapping into your unique gifts, your mindset, and what you can offer in service of others for the greater good. You'll find your purpose at the intersection between what you honey to practise and what other people need.

2. Evaluate your life values

Your cadre values provide the foundation for building a meaningful life. When you identify what matters to you, your decisions and actions tend to marshal with those values. Some examples of core values include:

Connectedness
Family
Career
Status
Freedom
Creativity
Beauty
Service

Make a list of values and beliefs. Then try to narrow down that list to 3-5 cadre values. How does your mean solar day to twenty-four hours life reflect those values?

Yous may recognize areas of your life, like relationships, lifestyle choices, or work, that conflict with your values and need to alter.

3. Analyze your strengths

Observe strength

When you lot know your strengths, yous volition attract opportunities where you tin can really shine (and boy, does that feel good!). I define strengths every bit those aspects of yourself that aid to reach your fullest potential.

Consider the things you practise well naturally but that you lot can also improve through exercise. Strengths can hateful a skill that you lot often receive praise for doing. Think of those activities where you lose track of fourth dimension. You can use tools similar the DISC profile assessment to commencement uncovering your strengths and build upon them.

4. Examine your career choices and designation

Every bit you explore your values and strengths, you'll begin to point your compass toward possible new directions. You lot may notice some obvious side by side steps. For example, if you value creativity and freedom, peradventure y'all want to find a more flexible job or commencement your own business.

Depict a Venn diagram and identify some of your top values, interests, and strengths. Try to list five options in the eye of the Venn that relate to those aspects of yourself. Tin can you point out career paths or activities that might brand you feel more than fulfilled?

five. Assess your opportunities

Finding your why might hateful a big change, like starting a new career path. Before you quit your job, do some enquiry. Instead of jumping caput offset, take calculated risks and plan alee. Await for potential career opportunities that relate to your interests. Then appraise the current marketplace.

Pay attention to the following:

If it's a saturated market with a lot of competition, what would information technology take to stand up out?
Identify niche industries where you can succeed.
Ask yourself: What kind of didactics or training volition you lot need to authorize?
Exercise you know anyone currently working in that field who can guide you?
What'southward the payoff? How much would it cost to become the grooming to authorize versus the average pay for that line of work?

6. Explore your hobbies and passions

When you find yourself maxim things like, "I don't know what to do with my life", yous may immediately think of something drastic, like changing careers. But sometimes you tin discover a way to experience more fulfilled by incorporating hobbies and passions into your life.

What are your hobbies?

Hobbies tin can enrich your life and allow you to fulfill your passions. Yous increase your knowledge and skills through exercise. You build self-esteem and confidence equally you improve. Y'all tin can besides meet new people, depending on the activeness.

All-time of all, hobbies don't require a dramatic life change, similar quitting your chore. Information technology might just mean an 60 minutes a week to join a martial arts class, cooking a new recipe, or surfing. Adding a hobby or two could be the simple spark of inspiration you need.

7. Take field trips and detect other people

Sometimes finding inspiration means stepping outside of your bubble. Go explore, whether it means getting more than involved in your community, attention new events, or taking a trip to a new city.

Have field trips to discover what other people practise for fun. For example, did you know y'all tin now enter into competitive lightsaber fights? Or, how about the Mongol Derby, a long-altitude horse race originally created by Genghis Khan in 1224? An American age 72 won a recent competition. Spice things up with new possibilities past watching what others do.

viii. Read, learn, and get inspired

Today, nosotros accept so much information at our disposal—podcasts, books, TedTalks. These resources out there tin open your mind to the many opportunities just waiting for yous to discover. They can give you ideas for how to find your purpose.

Joey Reiman's book Thinking for a Living actually inspired me during a career change. I as well recommend The $100 Dollar Start-upwards by Chris Guillebeau, a volume full of examples of how to reinvent yourself.

ix. Experiment

Discovering the purpose of life is non an like shooting fish in a barrel question, and each person has their own unique path. Y'all probably take many gifts to offer the world that bring you joy. Plus, your purpose can change during different phases of life.

The answer to "I don't know what to practice with my life," might be an idea you haven't tried still.

Take a playful, open up-minded approach in how to figure out what to do with your life. Become comfy with the uncomfortable. You'll become more adaptive and invite new opportunities in your life to abound, expand, and fulfill your purpose.

Discover through experimentation

Experiment to discover what makes you feel inspired. Allow go of the need to be perfect and simply attempt something new, even if you're lousy at outset. Recognize when a path only doesn't experience correct anymore, and don't feel bad if y'all need to walk abroad.

Even so not sure where to begin? When y'all don't know how to figure out what you want in life, consider working with someone to guide you.

Our online Have Command of Your Life program gives yous footstep-by-step guidance toward navigating change and finding your purpose. We'll help you make sense of the confusion and discover the path frontwards toward edifice a better futurity.

Are You Ready to Learn the Art of Career Reinvention?