how to follow your dream when you dont know what it is

Michelle is an explorer, editor, writer of xv books, and mom of viii. Read full profile

Sometimes in life, we find ourselves at a expressionless cease, or a crossroads, or on a path that seems to go nowhere and say "I don't know what to do with my life…"

No matter what stage you are at in life, if you are unhappy with it, or unsure as to how to proceed, so you lot need to reevaluate.

When I was in high school, I remember thinking that I had to pick a career at which I would be happy for the next 50 or then years of my life. What a daunting task. How do y'all know what's going to make you happy for the residuum of your life, specially if you're simply 16 and you're nevertheless getting a thrill out of watching "The Breakfast Club?"

You can't know. You lot can't know what's going to make you happy even five years from now. But y'all can know what makes you happy now and if you lot're current position — or school track — isn't information technology, then you lot need to move on.

When my oldest children were contemplating their college careers and job prospects, I often told them to just go and take classes or try things they thought might exist interesting and if they didn't like the class or workshop or whatsoever, then cross that off your list. Life is often about trying things and realizing what you don't want to be when you "abound up."

I spent a year substitute teaching in an effort to see if I wanted to become a public school instructor. I enjoyed that twelvemonth immensely, only subsequently talking with teachers and doing some of their job for a year, I realized that was a career that was not for me.

1. It's Okay You Can't Effigy out the Whole Future

Recall, you don't know what's coming next. Life is full of interesting twists and turns, only if nosotros continually pursue things that we enjoy doing whether for a task or hobby, it will make the journey interesting and more fun.

Mayhap you relish making jewelry correct now. Maybe you can sell it. In 5 years, you might be a successful jewelry designer or you might have moved on to another craft. It doesn't thing. You accept the experience of your jewelry blueprint to fall back on and help you with other projects in the future.

2. Try to Be Comfortable with Discomfort

Sometimes, life is uncomfortable. Sometimes, nosotros don't accept enough money to exercise all of the things we want to do. If you have something you really want to pursue, then yous must be able to live with some amount of discomfort in lodge to do that.

For example, I want to mush sled dogs and run the Iditarod. In order to do that, I had to requite upward my corking, tidy suburban domicile and move my family to a cabin in Alaska.

We don't take running h2o or regular electricity and our cabin is much smaller than our old firm, but we don't mind the discomfort of those things considering we live in a beautiful place and I get to pursue my dream.

three. Life Is Uncertain, Go with It

Stuff happens. I idea I had it all. I had a great chore and a great house in the wood. Then I got fired, lost my business firm and turned xl all in the same week. Then I found out I was pregnant. Quite the week.

I laid on the couch for a couple of days, depressed, but then we got it together, made a program and moved to Alaska.

Accept uncertainty and turn it on its caput. Every bad thing is an opportunity to make something good happen.

Besides, it'due south really never too late to modify your life course when something goes wrong!

Don't believe me? Hither's the proof: How to Showtime Over and Reboot Your Life When It Seems Besides Late

4. Overcome Distractions and End Procrastinating

You're non getting younger. Distressing, just it's truthful. If you don't start taking the time to pursue your dreams, you might find yourself at the end of your life with nothing to show for it just a lot of Facebook posts and a agglomeration of TV shows you just had to spotter.

If yous are serious nearly pursuing a dream — whether it's designing jewelry, professional skateboarding or being a rich and famous reckoner guru, you better get on it.

Take those first steps. Turn off your Facebook notifications and go working. You won't go anywhere only thinking nearly how great you could be.

Ameliorate yet, learn these steps to end procrastinating and start to focus on what truly matters: What Is Procrastination (And the Consummate Guide to Finish Procrastinating)

5. Ask Yourself Questions

Have some fourth dimension for yourself. Enquire yourself big questions. And small ones.

Learn nigh yourself. Meditate. Write downward the things that involvement you and things you could see yourself doing if time and money were no object. Dream big. Quiet your heed and actually imagine yourself doing those things.

By asking yourself meaningful questions, you're edifice yourself an invincible Motivation Engine like this and whenever challenges arise, you know how to deal with them.

vi. Volunteer or Shadow Someone

If at that place is a job or hobby y'all are interested in — from preparation dogs to being a zookeeper — volunteer or job shadow and see if it's an occupation you actually want to do.

All the dreaming in the world isn't going to help you if you don't get and become your hands muddy. Sometimes, we think nosotros desire to do something and and so once we attempt it, we realize it might not exist the kind of piece of work we like after all.

Or it might exist more involved than we realized. It's important to become easily-on experience and do a lot of reading past those with starting time-hand experience before we give up our current life to pursue a dream.

seven. Save Upwards

If y'all need to move or go back to school to pursue your new dream, information technology might exist pertinent to get a task doing something — anything — and save up the money to allow you to do it.

I worked for many years to build my writing and editing portfolio and now, I can write and edit manufactures from my wee little cabin, get paid, and use the money to pay for the equipment and food I need to run my dogsled team.

Would I love to be able to make money simply from running dogs? Sure. But it's not possible correct now while I'm building and training my squad.

I don't have a reputation in dog mushing yet, but I do have a reputation in writing. So I do ane job I honey to pay for the other.

8. Answer the Door

Opportunity may exist knocking but, if you don't answer the door, how can you accept reward of information technology? You must accept opportunities when they are presented to you.

Sometimes it's not the correct time, but it doesn't matter. Opportunities happen when they happen. Answer the door or that opportunity might walk on by and knock on someone else's door.

Last Thoughts

The most important thing to recall when trying to figure out what do with your life is that no action is an action in and of itself. You must make decisions and endeavour things — even if you end upwardly hating them or wanting to practice something else.

Remember, information technology's never too late to start again. (Jack's story is an inspiring 1 about rebooting life at a later on stage of life!)

At the finish of your life, you won't regret trying things and failing, merely you volition regret not ever trying at all.

Close that laptop and go get your life.

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com

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Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/you-dont-know-what-with-your-life-read-this.html

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