How To Answer The Big Question: What Should I Do With My Life?
When we were kids adults would ask us what we wanted to be when we grew up. We would answer with certainty “I want to be a…” and they would smile at us, and maybe say something half encouraging like “you can do anything.” But as we got older and we learned more about life our mindset shifted. At some point, we stopped asking ourselves “what do I want to be” and started to ask ourselves “what should I do with my life?”
When adults asked what we wanted to study in college, our answers were very different from the answers we gave as children. We gave logical answers; we told them fields that we thought could lead us to promising futures and jobs that seemed safe. And so with that, we forgot about our childhood dreams and headed into our adult years pursuing careers that we believed we should be doing. Next thing you know years have gone by and we are laying in bed, watching Netflix, while Googling, I’m 30 and don’t know what to do with my life.
If the tale above sounds like you, know that you aren’t alone. A lot of people of all ages feel lost and wonder what they should do with their lives on a daily basis. For years I searched for my purpose. I knew that I felt like I was meant to do something great, but I could never figure out what I should do for a living. I would try new jobs but I always end up feeling out of place and like there was no career I wanted. That was until I decided to turn my hobby blog into a business. It took some solid brainstorm sessions and some trial and error, but eventually, I developed my blog’s mission, helping people love life, and instantly I knew that was my purpose. After discovering my purpose I used it to create my business plan and launch my career as a content creator.
If you feel unsatisfied with your career and you just know that you were meant to do more with your life, I am here to tell you, that there is hope! If you are feeling stuck and are confused in which direction you should go in, I am here to help you start the journey to figure out your life’s purpose and career path. Grab a hot cup of tea or a big glass of wine, and let’s dive into how you can answer the big question: What should I do with my life?
Why Figure Out What You Should Do With Your Life
I think that a big part of loving life is enjoying every aspect of your life, including your career. Most people spend at least 40 hours a week at their job – that’s a crazy amount of time to spend doing something that you do not like doing. I also think that every person on this planet has a purpose and you can use that purpose to figure out what to do with your career. When we get to live our lives pursuing our purpose and working in a career and company that we love, we will appreciate our lives more and we will feel more fulfilled.
5 Ways To Start Answering: What Should I Do With My Life
1. Travel as much as possible
If you are baffled and feeling like you do not know what you want to do with your life, go on a trip. Have your own Eat, Pray, Love. Ok, I know what you are thinking. “Cass, you recommend travelling for everything. How can travelling be the answer to everything?”
Let me explain. Travelling is a great way to help you figure out what you’re destined to do in life because it gives you an opportunity to meet new people, get out of your comfort zone and try new things.
When you are out and about exploring the big ol’ world, you come in contact with people that you probably would never have met before. Mingling with heaps of different people who think differently than you do, is a great way to open your mind and be inspired. When you are travelling you never know who you are going to meet, or what conversations you are going to have, all of which could lead you to find your true purpose.
Getting out of your comfort zone is also a great way to help you discover what your purpose might be because getting out of your comfort zone forces you to grow and lets you discover new things about yourself. Growth and discovering who you are, are two great things that can help push you in the right direction to find your purpose.
Lastly, when we travel we are more likely to try new things, which can allow us to fall in love with new activities that we might be inspired to pursue. It can also help us to eliminate career options by making us realize the things that we hate.
If you are searching for your purpose and haven’t found it in your home town, get out there and see the world.
2. Try new things/learn a new skill or hobby
If you do not know what things to do with your life, a great place to start is to learn a new skill or take up a new hobby. If you are waking up every day and think to yourself “what should I do with my life?” it could be something that you’ve never tried before. Start to figure what career is best for you by trying things and learning. Sign up for a design course, take an art class, learn how to code, pick up a psychology book. Learning a new skill is a great way to help you discover what your next career path should be.
A great way to try new things is to volunteer! There are hundreds of charities that need volunteers. While you are searching for your life’s purpose why not give back to society. Even if you don’t end up pursuing a career related to whatever you are volunteering for, the experience could be life changing. You never know who you are going to meet, or what skills you may develop.
A great, affordable resource to help you learn new skills is Skillshare. They have millions of classes on thousands of different topics. Search for a topic that you are interested in and start an online course today. If you don’t know what new skill you should start, take a minute to browse through Skillshares recommended courses and watch a few course previews. If you start one subject and realize you don’t like it, ditch it and start a new one until you find something that you like.
3. Vision Board
People use vision boards and visualization techniques to help them accomplish goals. I love vision boards so much. I love putting them together, I love looking at them and I love using them to help me create my dream life. I think visualizing is a super useful tool and extremely beneficial and I recommend you use it to help you create your dream life whenever you can.
I also use vision boards to help me get inspired when I am not quite sure which direction I want to go in. I guess I use vision boards as a visual brainstorming session. If you are having a hard time discovering your purpose in life, take some time to brainstorm with photos. Using magazines, scissors, and glue, you can cut out images that you like or that represent what you would want your life to look like and create a collage with them. Ask yourself what do I want, and just start cutting images that feel like something you want. When you are done analyze the photos, and see if you see any common themes and think about possible careers that have to do with those themes.
For example, if you notice that your vision board has a lot of pictures of clothing, start to think of possible careers that have to do with fashion: designer, fashion photographer, start your own clothing company, fashion blogger, personal stylist, retail manager etc. Maybe you also notice that you added a lot of nature photos because you love the environment and are passionate about environmental conservation. Start to think about how you could combine your passion for the environment and fashion together. Maybe you could start a sustainable fashion company, work for a sustainable fashion company, work for a non-profit, work for a sustainable blogger etc.
The point of this exercise is to get you thinking, so don’t be afraid to let your creative juices flow, you never know where they will lead.
Alternatively, you could create a digital vision board on Pinterest, Canva or just screenshot photos and save them on your phone.
4. Journal
Taking some time to journal is a great way to get your mind clear and help you to figure out what you want in life. Grab a piece of paper and pen and go through these questions. Start by taking a few cleansing deep breaths and get your mind focused. Be honest with yourself and see where the answers take you.
- Start by taking an audit of your life right now. What areas of your life do you love? What areas of your life do you want to change?
- What things and activities make you come alive?
- What hobbies do you enjoy?
- What issues are you passionate about?
- How do you want your career to make you feel?
- What do you want your lifestyle to look like?
- If you could do anything in the world right now, what would you do?
- What skills do you have that you love to use?
- List 5 – 10 role models you have. Why do you look up to them? How do they make the world a better place?
- Close your eyes and imagine yourself 5 years from now. Picture yourself receiving an award for your work. What are you being honoured for?
- Close your eyes and imagine someone gave you money to start your own business. What business do you start? Who does your business help?
Look over your answers and see what each answer has in common. Can you find your purpose in these answers? If yes, brainstorm how you can turn it into a career.
5. Think about who you wanted to be when you were a kid
What did you want to be as a kid? What did you want to be before the world told you what you should be? Think back and try to remember what you dreamed of when you were younger. Once you remember what career you used to dream of, ask yourself if you are still interested in doing that? If not, ask yourself what aspects of that career drew you to it.
For example, When I was a kid I wanted to work with animals, more specifically I wanted to be a marine biologist, and travel the world helping animals. As I got older, I learned that I didn’t love dissecting animals and I really didn’t love learning about animal body parts or disease or really anything to do with biology. I learned that I wanted to be a marine biologist because I just loved animals and I want to see them in the wild. I also discovered that I love photography, writing, and creating art. So, instead of pursuing a career in marine biology, I am pursuing a career as a content creator, where I get to travel the world and have many opportunities to photograph animals in the wild.
Final Thoughts
If I could leave you with one final thought, it would be that it is ok to go through periods where you do not know what you want to do with your life. It is ok to be uncertain about the future. It is ok to not have it all together. It’s ok to not know how to figure out what to do next. I know that feeling lost is not the best feeling, but just because it is uncomfortable doesn’t mean that it is wrong. Embrace the uncomfortable. Embrace your current situation – own it! Look yourself in the mirror and say “I don’t know what to do with my life, but that’s ok because I am capable of figuring it out.”
Take the time to use the steps above, and sooner or later you will find your purpose and your passion and you will be able to use them to figure out your answer to the big question: “What should I do with my life?”
I hope you discover your purpose and passion soon,
Xoxo
