While it can be depressing to know that you haven’t found your purpose in life, it’s not the end of everything. The true challenge of life is to find our inner strengths and what each of us excels in. Some of us manage to find the answer sooner while others take a long time to achieve their vision. Nonetheless, it’s never too late to find the answer to “What Should I Do with My Life?”.

Take time and enjoy the moment of not knowing what to do with your life. Think of it as an exciting rollercoaster ride that’s filled with screams and thrills and ultimately, you end up enjoying the adventurous ride with a thumping heart. Your adventure in life is like the roller coaster except you get to be the person to start your own ride.

If you are interested in beginning your very own adrenaline-filled roller coaster ride, it’s time to strap your safety belts and read on.

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF

Before you begin the journey to know what you should do with your life, it’s important to understand your deepest desires. If self-fulfillment is your final goal, then your search ends here and your first step to finding it is in the below-discussed section.

Finding Self-Fulfillment: What Makes Us Want to Smile and Live

The first step to acquiring self-fulfillment is to accept yourself the way you are and to avoid changing yourself due to peer-pressure. Everyone including your parents, boss, friends, family, etc. want to introduce a new characteristic to you by asking for change. It’s important to respect their opinions but also pay attention to your own desires and needs. Only you can truly understand the situation you are in and the emotions you are witnessing.

If there is a specific characteristic that is harmful to everyone then should alter your behavior. For example, you may have issues in managing your anger and every time someone does something you don’t like, your heart begins to race. This type of behavior can be destructive and requires you to enforce ground rules on anger management. Check in to a psychiatrist counseling session and gradually, make a difference.

Self-fulfillment is about evolving yourself into a much better person than you were yesterday. While healthy competition is a good motivator, it’s important to never compete with your colleagues to the point of acquiring selfishness. Be the better man and admit defeat when the situation calls for it. Jealousy can be a major obstacle in the path of self-fulfillment.

Moving On: The Past is the Past, It’s Time to Face the Present

The word “Present” roughly translates to mean “a gift” and hence to remain in the present is a gift to your mental state. Many of us have trouble letting go of the past and hence, directly affect our present while indirectly affecting our future. It’s important to let go of things that occurred in the past and to learn from your mistakes.

“Forgiveness is strength, the strength to move ahead without any resentment” — Lailah Akita

Never carry the burden of a past altercation or conflict that might have occurred in your younger years. Either face the problem head-on or forget and move far away from it — by dragging the issue into your present, you face a consequence of not being able to make decisions based on sound reasoning and instead, end up with more failures.

How to Not Worry About the Outcome of Everything

Are you someone that is worried about the result before you execute your plan? Have you already succumbed to how you are going to fail and that no matter what you do it will only end up embarrassing you? 

Not to worry, a fair amount of the global population is in the same boat as you. While it’s necessary to be ready for any worst-case scenarios, it’s also critical to be practical and stop worrying about a result that hasn’t yet occurred.

In trying to solve the outcome of something you have no control of, you hinder your creative ideas from fully exploring themselves and become someone who is obsessed with the result rather than the plan.

For example, if a doctor were to constantly worry about the patient losing their life on the operating table, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his medical duties while performing the operation and hence, be unable to fulfill his medical responsibilities.

Similarly, it’s important to leave the outcome out of your plan and concentrate on how to best deal with the current project at hand.

For a detailed walkthrough on understanding yourself and to obtain information on self-development. The video by Tony Robbins covers all the important key points.

7 WAYS TO HELP YOU DISCOVER YOURSELF AND GIVE MEANING TO YOUR LIFE

“What Should I Do with My Life?” — The answer to this question can’t be found in a sentence or a statement but requires you to kickstart an ambitious journey within yourself. The famous Steve Jobs found his true calling while traveling around the world and trying to figure out what he wanted to be, he discovered his inner passion for innovation after his friend — Steve Wozniak, showed him his latest invention and thus, history was created.

All successful people go through the initial struggle of finding out what they truly want to be. With the right push you can join the ranks of these successful individuals but first, you need an appetite for accomplishing your goals. The following section goes through many ways in which one can find their inspiration.

1. Inspire Yourself

“The Best Preparation Tomorrow is Doing Your Best Today” — This quote is extremely true when trying to find inspiration within ourselves and when things look down and out. Every human being has certain aspirations that they wish to fulfill, if you haven’t found yours, it’s time to begin a new checklist.

Inspiration is found all around us in the form of biographies, movies, music, and through life experiences. Do understand that no one is born successful, it takes time and commitment to acquire the knowledge that leads to the ladder of success. Give yourself time to get out of your comfort zone and to begin an insightful journey.

Simple changes to your lifestyle can awaken your aspirations, begin by waking up early in the morning and reading an inspirational quote every day, this will allow you to block all negativity and start the day with a positive feeling.

In your personal diary, add a single habit you would like to do for the entire month and focus your mind on achieving it. Let’s say you would like to learn swimming or cycling, ensure you are committed to learning a new skillset after you finish the last one. This will enable your creative side to take over.

2. Socialize

Human interaction is a basic essential need for all humans to thrive and engage in meaningful conversation. Listening to stories of other people and how they achieved their dreams can motivate us to do the same. By socializing, we open ourselves to communication and learning new information.

Avoid socializing on the internet and choose the good old-fashioned way of making friends. Spending too much time on the internet can cause you to lose your cognitive skills and eventually, you are bound to become depressed. By spending time with your real friends, you could plan to enjoy a movie together or indulge in outdoor sports.

Socializing can also open references and interactions that can lead you to land your dream job. Never miss out on the opportunity of meeting your friends or relatives, you never know when an opportunity can come knocking. As an introvert, this can be a hard step to take but opening up to others about your problems can knock a load off of your burden.

3. Get Going and Travel

Constantly being locked in the 4 corners of your room can destroy your mental condition and eventually lead you to a dejected state. Plan a trip with your friends or family and experience the liberating pleasure of being one with nature. By exploring new lands, we absorb knowledge and establish new goals to achieve.

If you’ve never traveled before, try taking your bike or using public transport to head over to a location you’ve never been to in your city. Carry a backpack that carries all your important equipment — phone, water, snacks, money, and other essentials. You are now ready to begin a solo journey to kickstart your very own adventure.

Traveling can relax your mind and allow you to make new friends while also partaking in new cultures around the world. Every trip is magical and holds precious memories that you can bring back home through souvenirs and photographs. Each journey can provide you with enough clarity to answer the question on “What You Should Be Doing with Your Life.”

4. Reward yourself for Failing

We’ve all felt worthless in our lives at one stage or the other. Unfortunately, life isn’t fair, and it can be a struggle to get to the point where we are satisfied with our lives. The journey to success can cause us to feel miserable when we fail, and it makes us want to give up and move on to a boring desk job with a mundane life.

Our mind is instructed to play against us when we fail, and it constantly buries itself in negative emotions. It takes a great amount of willpower to convince it otherwise and to prove that you are a winner. The next time you’ve failed, the trick is to reward yourself for trying and accept failure as a part and parcel of success.

Once you’ve convinced yourself that failure is a part of you just as much as success is, you’ve successfully exorcised the demons in your mind. You are now ready to clearly visualize your goal and focus without any distractions.

For example, think of your ambitions as a football, the goalkeeper being the negativity in your head and the goal being your destination. If the goalkeeper were to block the ball on your first try, it’s important to focus and attempt to kick the football without giving up. Once the ball is inside the goal, you can taste sweet victory due to your steadfast belief in your ability to kick the ball.

Here’s an interactive video by Adam Leipzig on how he found his life purpose and how you can find yours too.

5. Introduce Physical Activity into Your Life

If you haven’t been exercising on a regular basis or if you’ve decided to replace your daily diet with junk, it’s time to take a closer look at what we eat. Our body is like a temple and requires sufficient attention, after all, our physical form is directly linked to our mental state. The more depressed we are, the worse our eating habits become.

Did you know that the food we eat can play an important role in affecting our moods? 

That’s right! What goes into our stomach has a profound effect on the way we feel and behave. Stuffing yourself with sugar-rich foods can make you crave a sugar-heavy diet, this, in turn, causes us to replace our daily nutrients with colas and chips. Without the essential vitamins, our body begins to suffer.

The first step is to strictly avoid all junk food and replace them with natural foods such as — Oats, Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Wheat Products, Milk, etc. Once you’ve set up a diet plan, it’s time to take it to the next level and give your body some physical exertion. The human body was designed to engage in physical activity and it’s time to visit your ancestral roots.

Join a gym or create an exercise plan with the help of your dietician and commit to at least 45 minutes to an hour of cardiovascular activity. The endorphins released post the workout can help your mind relax and keep you feeling refreshed all day.

6. Spiritual Clarity

In this fast-paced technological world where a single click on your smartphone can make the internet your own personal shopping assistant, we lose grasp of things that are valuable and get used to a prosaic lifestyle. Introducing spirituality into our lives can heal our mental anguish and ground us back to reality.

Do we understand the value of time? 

Do we take the time to fully immerse ourselves in a specific moment?

Are our emotions taken for granted and is there a way to fully experience bliss?

Mediation is the answer to the questions that arise from deep within our mind. Reflecting on our past and changing the future to meet our needs can open the doors to a life of self-fulfillment.

Every day, take the time to spend at least 30 minutes of time for self-preservation and close your eyes while you deeply breathe in and out. The fresh oxygen of the morning air can dispel the negative energy within us and fill us with a full day of positivity.

7. Be Optimistic and Challenge Yourself Constantly

The most important thing is to never stop seeking knowledge and to constantly defy yourself from negativity. Just as a plant needs water and sunlight for nourishment, the human mind requires adequate knowledge and a peaceful existence to grow further. Give yourself time to grow and avoid rushing into things. Life is about accumulating happiness by finding joy in accomplishing your goals one step at a time.

Visit your local community group and take part in community events hosted by them. Events such as helping wounded animals, cleaning the beach, sweeping your neighborhood, and being useful to senior citizens are some activities that can add purpose to your life and give you the self-importance that you deserve.

You could also volunteer to be a part of a mission such as the Red Cross or other NGOs to help abolish poverty or donate a small portion of your earnings to make a difference. By being positive and staying clear of your objectives, you will surely have the answer to “What You Should Be Doing with Your Life”.

CREATE A 5-YEAR PLAN AND BEGIN TO MENTALLY PICTURE YOUR PROGRESS

Take a minute to close your eyes and mentally clear all your obstructions and worries. Now take a white piece of paper and write down all your interests and passions. After you’ve compiled a list, it’s time to rate each interest on a scale of 5 — with 1 being the least favorite and 5 being the most favorite. In this way, you can eliminate all your choices while leaving only the important ones.

Once you have a clear winner among your career choices, it’s time to mentally visualize yourself being a part of this career option. This method allows you to focus your entire brain power onto your passion and allow you to judge whether the career is perfect for you or not. If you strongly believe the career option is what you desire, it’s time to create a 5-year plan and focus on it.

Things are starting to become interesting, you’ve now narrowed down your choice and all that’s left to do is to project this vision into a 5-year goal. It’s necessary to give yourself ample time to absorb the knowledge and be up-to-date with the trends related to your career choice. The first 2 years of your 5-year plan is your learning phase while the last 3 are about executing the knowledge you learned.

Ensure you create a detailed plan to track your progress and to avoid procrastinating your daily goals. Maintain a checklist and break down large goals into mini-goals to create a much more achievable plan. Under no circumstance should you stray from your goals and if you ever decide to, have someone you trust to watch your back to ensure you stay focused.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created your 5-year plan and all that’s left to do is to follow your dreams and you’ve successfully managed to find exactly what you want to do with your life.

CONCLUSION

As a final concluding statement, it’s important to continue growing and be 100% comfortable with yourself. By adopting a positive attitude and converting your goals into an achievable 5-year plan, the only thing that can stop you from reaching success is — Yourself.

Avoid trying to please others and empower yourself by realizing your dreams and not letting external factors extinguish your fiery passion. When things start to get tough, remember, that “The Night is at its Darkest Hour just Before Dawn”.

Comments are closed.