Are you struggling with what direction to take your life in? This is a major problem for so many people. But don’t worry, this is your ultimate step-by-step guide to what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life!
Do you often find yourself saying ‘ I don’t know what to do with my life’?
Navigating the uncertainty of not knowing what to do with your life can be a perplexing and anxiety-inducing experience. However, it’s crucial to recognize that you are not alone in this struggle. Even seemingly successful adults who seem to have it all figured out have faced similar uncertainties at one point or another.
It’s also important to remember that your life is uniquely yours. Often we get caught up playing the comparison game with people which isn’t really fair to you. Everyone has a unique life experience, and no one’s path is the same. So even though taking inspiration is okay, and can even be inspiring, you shouldn’t dwell on feeling behind in life.
So with that being said, if you are feeling a bit lost right now, this article has all of the steps you need to follow to find your answer to what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life! So let’s get into it so you can find your own unique path to your version of success!
This post is all about what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life.
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Your Ultimate Guide To What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do With Your Life
Step 1: Stop and take a break
The first step when trying to figure anything out is to just take a step back for a second. If you are feeling overwhelmed with not knowing what to do with your life, that’s okay. It’s a common feeling that basically everyone has experienced at one time or another.
If you have been pursuing different avenues in your life, and you don’t know your next step then the first thing to do is to take a break. Take a break from chasing new ideas or new endeavors and just simply live your life for a little while.
Figure out what it is you enjoy about life. Take a trip, catch up with friends, do nothing. Learn to just enjoy the moment without constantly chasing a business opportunity or working on improving yourself.
Simply allow yourself to live. Taking the pressure off of yourself for a week or two will help you reset your mindset and hopefully allow you to rest. That way you can come back to being productive with a fresh mindset and new ideas.
Step 2: Create a brainstorm of your passions and ideas
This is the fun part. Grab a pen and paper and brainstorm all of your ideas. The key is to not put any pressure on yourself. Write everything about yourself that comes to mind.
Write down your job, passions, education, family, pets, and anything else you can think of. Once you’re done you can start taking a look at the parallels that you have. Are there areas of your life that intersect? Such as your job and your passions? Or maybe a side hustle you can do?
By putting your ideas on paper without putting any pressure on yourself you will be able to see emerging patterns within yourself. Or if you can’t think of much to write down, it might be a wake-up call to go out and try new things. Either way, this exercise will definitely teach you a lot about yourself.
Step 3: Be honest with your intentions
Throughout the process of figuring yourself out, it’s important to be honest with yourself and your intentions. This may seem like an obvious, but it can be a difficult thing to do.
Ask yourself why you are struggling with what to do in life? Are you currently doing something that isn’t fulfilling? What’s really holding you back, or are you just excuses?
A lot of the time excuses are what may be holding you back. While that’s normal, it also needs to be addressed before you can move on. Try to get to the root of why you are making these excuses.
As an example, I used to always tell myself that when I’m done college and have a stable job with a stable schedule ill go to the gym consistently. It was all just an excuse though. Nothing really stopped me from making time to go to the gym. Turns out, when I did get a stable job with a stable schedule, I still didn’t go to the gym consistently!
Turns out, it was never the lack of a consistent schedule keeping me from being consistent with the gym. I had to do a lot of self-reflection, finding my why and determining my goals but now I am able to stick to a gym routine no matter my schedule.
Step 4: Work backwards. Think about what you want your life to look like at age 60. How will you get there by age 50? 40? 30? Etc.
This is a really powerful reverse-engineering exercise for what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life. Instead of looking into your short-term future, you envision your whole life. Starting at the end. Really sit down and think about what you want in your lifetime.
Do you want a big family filled with grandchildren? Do you want to be on the board of a large company making big decisions? By knowing what you want when you are 60, you can then start planning out what you will need to be doing at 50 to get there. Repeat the same exercise for 40. What do you need to be doing at 40 to reach where you want to be in your 50s?
Of course, by the time you are actually 60, you will have probably changed your plan, and you will have a different understanding of the direction you want your life to go in. But this exercise can set a solid foundation for understanding what’s important to you in the long term. It also allows you to visualize a long life for yourself filled with opportunity. And inspire you to live a long, full life while focusing in on your end goal.
Step 5: Write detailed and actionable goals.
After you have thoroughly reflected on your life and you have a basic idea of the direction you want to go in, it’s time to set some goals!
Setting good, actionable, and well-thought-out goals is a game changer. Think of your life as a road trip. If you don’t have a map or even a rough direction you want to head into, you will never get anywhere. Sure, you may drive around and see something cool here and there. But you won’t get to hit all of the major scenic destinations!
Set long-term goals and then break them up into smaller actionable goals. I know it can sound corny, but follow the SMART goals acronym. Set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound goals. Doing so will ensure a higher likelihood of success.
Step 6: Write down your why
Writing down your why is arguably the most important step when it comes to figuring out what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life! After you have your goals figured out, it’s time to really think about your why.
Determining your why is going to be the driving force for anything you do going forward. Having a clear, written down understanding of why you want to achieve your goals will forever push you forward.
Having your why written down is honestly the biggest hack for staying on track. Because even if you fall off course and go back to your old habits, you won’t be able to stop thinking about your why. Trust me, it works!
Detail why you want to achieve your goals. Why are they important to you? Why do you want success, why do you really want extra money? The more detailed and honest you are with yourself the more impactful this will be. And the less likely it is that you will fall off track.
It’s a very powerful exercise and a crucial step to figuring out what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life.
Step 7: Pay attention to your habits
Habits make up your days which make up your years which make up your life! While setting goals is important, setting habits is arguably even more crucial to your success! Because if you have poor daily habits, no amount of goal setting will get you anywhere.
If you are looking to learn and improve upon your habits, a great book to read is Atomic Habits. There’s a reason it’s become so popular in recent years. James Clear approaches the topic in an easy-to-understand way.
My personal favorite way to build new habits is using habit stacking. Basically, if you want to incorporate a new good habit, stack it with a habit you already do daily. I personally used this trick to make journaling a consistent part of my life. Every single day I have my morning coffee at the same time. So i stacked journaling with my morning coffee, which means now I journal every day as I drink it.
Habit stacking makes it easy to incorporate those good habits into your life. If you want to know more, check out Atomic Habits as it goes much deeper into the topic and gives other creative and proven solutions to building good habits. It’s a book I have highly recommended to my friends, and they all loved it so it’s definitely worth a try!
Step 8: Get out of your comfort zone
The world is a big place with a lot to learn and explore. If you are feeling stuck, trying out something new and getting out of your comfort zone is just the thing you need when you are figuring out what to do when you don’t know what to do with your life.
Getting out of your comfort zone allows you to take a step out of your daily sphere of experiences that you are accustomed to. When you are actively trying out new things you will see how much you are able to grow and learn from those experiences.
The world starts to feel like a bigger place with more opportunities. This may just be what you need to start changing your mindset and finding what really suits you in life.
Growth happens at the end of your comfort zone. The more you push yourself, the more experiences you will have in your lifetime. You will fall in love with life and start to see opportunity everywhere. Trying out new things is truly the quietest way to growth.
Step 9: Make journaling and reflecting a habit
Journaling and reflecting shouldn’t just be something you do when you feel lost in life. You should try to make it a habit to do it every few months. Not only will it help you track your progress, but having these conversations with yourself will help you come up with new ideas and a plan for your life.
Journaling gives you guidance and allows you a place to think through your life experiences. Get a cute notebook and try turning journaling into a habit. You can do it daily, or set a schedule to check in with yourself every few months. Or you can take a more relaxed approach and journal whenever you are in the mood for it.
You can either reflect by answering deep questions, or you can just write whatever comes to mind. There’s really no wrong way to do it. If you are not sure where to start, check out these simple journal prompts to reset your life. These provide an excellent starting point for you to start doing a deep dive into your current situation.
Step 10: Network with others
You may have heard the saying that you become the average of the five people you surround yourself with. And it’s true, usually, you do become like the people you spend the most time around. So it’s important to take a look and see if those people align with the direction you want your life to go in.
Now, I’m not saying you need to be cutting off your friends and family. But if you are not happy with the direction your life is going in, and you want to change things up, you should be networking.
Networking and getting to know other people is a great way to expand your circle of influence. Through meeting new people you can form new ideas, have new experiences and maybe even build a career. It also becomes easier to seek guidance and mentorship from others who have been where you are currently.
So take a look at the people who surround you and ask yourself if they are challenging you. Or if you often feel drained, bored, or uninspired by them. Start getting to know people you want to be more like. And watch your life transform.
Step 11: Take breaks and incorporate self-care
Remember that taking breaks and prioritizing yourself is equally beneficial to your success as you work. Without taking proper breaks it’s easy to become overwhelmed, burnt out, and fall back into old bad habits.
Take the time to set healthy boundaries. Learn to prioritize self-care and do things that you truly enjoy and find restful. This will help you create a healthy balance within yourself.
Success is a journey and doesn’t happen right away. Sometimes it’s easy to convince yourself that work is a priority and rest can happen once success is reached. This is not a healthy mindset because, like it or not, life is happening now too. Not only once success is reached.
This is why it’s super beneficial to carve out time every day, and extra time on weekends to prioritize your well being. Focus on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, maintain proper nutrition, and practice mindfulness. Doing so regularly will guarantee a perfect balance within your life.
Final thoughts regarding what to do when you don't know what to do with your life
It’s totally normal to feel stuck, uninspired or confused. But the most important thing to remember is to keep pursuing action in your life.
Nothing is truly guaranteed, and you will probably end up changing your mind a million times along the way. But the important thing is to keep pursuing your goals, making mistakes, and learning.
Just remember to keep taking action, and eventually, everything will more often than not work itself out. Being confused is natural, so don’t worry too much about it.
Now get out there and follow the steps to create an exciting life you are proud of!
