Figuring out what you want to do in life seems to be one of the most commonly asked questions in the personal development industry. Many people lost themselves and they don’t know what they want out of their lives. Plenty of books have been written about finding our passion and purpose, and there are plenty of self-discovery seminars across the country, but still, a lot of people are still confused with what they want to do in life.
If you’re one of these people and you don’t know what to do in life, don’t worry, because this article may be able to help.
Most people seek success in life, and it is easy to say that we all want to be successful in everything we do, but what does success mean, and how does it look like?
To different people, success can mean different things. This is because we are all wired differently. Some people value safety and security, while others value adventures and creativity.
This is why someone’s wants and desire may not truly reflect yours.
If you want to find out what you want to do out of your life, the first rule you must adhere to is to ignore others’ opinions and don’t compare.
This is your life and you’re the one who’s living it. Thus, you should live your life according to your own terms and conditions, not according to what other people want you to be.
I still remember the time before I got into university. I felt lost and I have no idea what course to pursue or which university I should apply for.
So, what did I do? I followed my parents’ advice and listen to what most of my friends told me. I ended up taking a civil engineering course at a local university, to become an engineer in the future.
Guess what, I chose the course based on my family’s and friends’ influences. By the way, my father is a contractor who works in the construction industry for decades. Ever wonder why I ended up choosing civil engineering now?
I’m not saying that family or peer influence is bad, but when it comes to finding our callings or our purpose or what we want to do in life, we must answer the question from within our hearts.
And to do this, we must not allow others’ opinions to influence us.
By the way, I didn’t practice engineering or take any job in the construction industry. I ended up becoming a blogger and an internet marketer, writing this blog post to you. 🙂
Les Brown, the famous motivational speaker was once labeled as “educable mentally retarded” while in grade school. And because of this, the young Les started his life with low self-esteem and confidence.
People even suggested he work in the post office or join the army because he wasn’t smart enough and he should do something more ‘technical’.
Guess what, Les believed in others’ opinion about him and thought to himself that he was not good enough and he would amount to nothing.
Luckily, his mother encouraged him and he met a teacher that changed his life forever. His teacher told him something that changed the way he thought about his life:
“Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.”
From then on, Les Brown chose to believe in himself and that he could do it in life. He trusted that he could do better in life and he deserved to achieve amazing success like all others. And he did.
Today, Les Brown is a famous motivational speaker and he has been traveling and speaking around the world. His story has touched and inspired millions, including me.
Hence, lesson #1, if you want to find out what you want to do in your life, never listen to others’ opinions of you and don’t compare with others.
Once you understand this basic rule, then, it is time to discover your passion, your calling, and what you want to do out of your life.
There are 7 strategies you can use below. Each of them has its own pros and cons. And you can try out all of them.
Some methods may require more time to implement than others. After all, finding your purpose and what you want to do in life is not a sprint, but a marathon.
So try to put in as much time for each method. What you want is to truly understand yourself, this is not a competition.
My friend, take your time and go slow for each method. You don’t have to rush, and there’s no time limit.
Just enjoy and immerse yourself in the progress of self-discovery. When you found out what you want to do with your life, you’ll become unstoppable.
I learned the concept of “Blue Sky Thinking” from Brian Tracy. I also teach this principle in my course – Goal Setting Formula.
I strongly recommend you take my course: Goal Setting Formula. You will learn how to find out what you want to achieve, take charge of your life, and achieve real success through setting empowering goals.
The Blue Sky Thinking concept is easy to understand. If you check it out in the dictionary, it means, “creative ideas that are not limited by current thinking or beliefs.”
It is thinking where you become limitless and everything is possible. This is a great concept to brainstorm and envision yourself into the far future so that you can discover what you want out of your life.
Too often, people limit themselves with assumptions and their current life circumstances such as:
The above are some of the most common limits that stop us from envisioning the future that we want.
And this is why the Blue Sky Thinking is important. You have to get rid of these assumptions and limits in order to find out what you truly want out of your life.
There are 2 exercises you can do to unleash the power of the blue sky thinking:
Let us look at each of them in detail…
“If you have $100 million dollars in your bank account right now, what will you do?”
This is one of the most powerful questions for self-discovery. Most of our limits and assumptions are due to our financial constraints. And when we take money out of the equation, we allow ourselves to think better without limits.
So what will you do if you have $100 million dollars in your bank account right now?
These are just some of the questions to spark your creativity.
Now, take this exercise seriously. If you truly want to find out what you want to do in life, you must be serious about it.
Take out a pen and paper, and write down your thoughts. What will you do if you have $100 million in your bank account right now?
Stop telling yourself that this is not going to happen to you or this is not real, the $100 million is just a thought that is used to take your financial limit out of this exercise.
I believe that all of us have limits and financial commitments in life. And due to these constraints, we often become too ‘realistic’.
We tell ourselves that visiting Hawaii is not possible because we don’t have the budget or we don’t have the time because the HR will never approve our leaves.
Forget all these constraints or limits that are stopping you. Now that you already have $100 million in your bank, you can live your life according to your own terms and conditions.
Are you going to wake up at 6AM each morning or sleep until you wake up automatically? Are you going to live a lavish lifestyle or do you prefer a frugal lifestyle?
Think about it.
My friend, just imagine that you have $100 million and money is not a problem at all, the question is, what will you do?
Be serious, write down your answers. Let your brain come out with the answers that have been stored deep inside you.
The 5 years exercise is simple and easy to understand. You just need to answer this question:
“Where and what you will be doing in the next 5 years?”
Lifehacker also has an article published about this exercise. You can read it here.
The reason why 5 years is because the 5-year timeframe is not too long and not too short either, it is just nice to describe what and where we want to go in the future.
If you try to imagine where you will be in the next 20 years, the answer may be too vague and you may lose direction of where to start.
And if you imagine where you will be in the next year or 2, the answer may not truly reflect what you want, instead, it will be based on your current life circumstances because the timeframe is too short.
Therefore, 5 years is a nice timeframe to begin with.
Do this exercise like the $100 million dollar question, write down your thoughts.
It doesn’t matter if your answers are too realistic or unrealistic, the key is to do the exercise so that you will find out an idea of what you want to do with your life.
What you want is to find out your destination. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to get there. The “how” isn’t the main issue here. The key you should focus on is the “where”. Where do you want to get to in 5 years?
You want an idea, a draft, and a vision of what your life will be in the future, not a vivid or a detailed plan to achieve what you want.
So, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
If you read the best-selling book by Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you will understand that one of the principles is to begin with the end in mind.
So what does it mean to “begin with the end in mind”? I believe this article from FranklinCovey explains it best:
Begin With the End in Mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. You need to know where you are going in order to better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.
The article also says why it is important to have a mission in life, or having ‘an end’ in your head:
Habit 2 (Begin with the End in Mind) is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental, or first creation, and a physical or second creation. Look at a business: If you want to have a successful enterprise, you must clearly define what you’re trying to accomplish. The extent to which you begin with the end in mind often determines whether or not you are able to create a successful enterprise.
Now, you understand why it is important to begin with the end in mind.
In order to achieve something, you have to understand what that ‘something’ is before you can achieve it, right? And finding out that ‘something’ is your mission here.
Ted Leonsis is a successful entrepreneur, a former senior executive with AOL, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and also the Vice-Chairman of Groupon.
A couple of years ago, Leonsis was on a near-death flight when the pilot announced that the plane he was in was in serious trouble, all the recovery measures have failed, and the passengers onboard have only about 37 minutes left to live.
Can you imagine what will you do if you’re one of the passengers on that flight? Have you prepared?
Well, at this moment, many will prepare to die and think of nothing, but not Leonsis. He prepared to live.
He reflected on what truly mattered and all the potential and things he still had left to do, achievements he still had to experience, and also the joys and happiness he had still left to taste.
Luckily, the plane did not crash. And after it landed safely, Leonsis reflect on the experience and came up with his “101 Things to Do Before I Die” List.
The story of Ted Leonsis’ near-death experience in the plane crash that led to his awakening and reckoning was covered in this article by the Washington Business Journal.
So far, Leonsis has accomplished and checked off 74 out of his 101 to-dos on the list. The key is that he is living a successful life that he loves, and a life that he “engineered”.
Therefore, you can do the same. Come up with your 101 goals or target or to-do’s before you die.
I bet that you must be eager to find out what are the 101 items on Ted Leonsis’ list. It’s your lucky day, Leonsis did share his list with the world. You can check it out here.
I know this sound awkward, but watch this video:
Robin Sharma is one of the most respected success gurus out there. He is my idol and I love his way of teachings.
After you watched the video, you will understand why sometimes, it is crucial to remember the end.
It is just like what Steve Jobs said in his famous Stanford speech:
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
When you understand that things will somehow come to an end, it reminds you:
So, what does finding out what you want to do in life have something to do with dying?
Well, start with the end in mind.
It is a great technique to reflect on your life and about what you want out of life. When you have only a year left to live, how will you live it?
Will you still complain about life and the traffic? Will you still go to work as usual? Will you spend more time with your spouse and family? Are you going to enjoy each moment?
You see, as human beings, we take things for granted, especially our lives. We fall into the trap that there is always a tomorrow, and hence, we ignore the important and truly valuable things in our lives.
We spend too much time playing games and checking updates on social media rather than having precious moments with the people we love and care about.
We complain about the traffic, the weather, our boss, and our colleagues when we get to work, but we never look at ourselves at all.
However, when you think about death, it can be an experience like what Ted Leonsis went through or like what Robin Sharma suggested, take a walk in the cemetery, you will then discover that life is too short.
And suddenly, you realized that you shouldn’t complain about the traffic or blame your colleagues because these are puny matters.
Remembering your death and that life is short can serve as a great awakening to finding out what you truly want from your lives.
Another great strategy to discover your life purpose and what you want out of your life is by creating a personal manifesto.
If you search it on Google, the word, “manifesto” means “a public declaration of policy and aims, especially one issued before an election by a political party or candidate.”
It may sound a little odd to create a personal manifesto, but nothing sounds more awkward than visiting the cemetery like Robin Sharma suggested, right?
Anyway, creating your own personal manifesto is an idea that if you figure out where you stand on certain ideas, you may be able to craft out a possible career or life that you want.
Just take it as your call to action, or your policy when it comes to how you want to deal with things in life.
There is an interesting article on creating manifesto by Art of Manliness, you can check it out here. The writer of the article says:
“I read my manifesto every day, before I start my job. It focuses my mind by reminding me of my priorities. I deal with topics like how I want to treat my girlfriend, how I want to work honorably at my job, how I want to vote, and every day I am reinforcing those values. Over and over and over again.
So your manifesto isn’t so much for you to show people, although, if you want to, I know that there are some people out there it could help. It’s more of a medium through which your present self can correspond with your future self.”
If it is hard for you to understand what a personal manifesto is, just take it as a list of life’s rules.
Yes, your personal manifesto is like life’s rules. What should you do, how should you do, when, and where to do it.
For instance, one of the rules in your manifesto can be something specific like:
“I’m going to wake up at 5:30AM each morning and exercise for 30 minutes, from 6:00AM to 6:30AM, every single day without exception.”
Or, the manifesto can be something more vague general such as:
“No matter what situation I face in my life, regardless of how tough the situation may be, I will stand strong and always remember my purpose. I will act confidently and courageously, and more importantly, I will never give up on my dreams.”
You have to understand that these principles or manifestos are there to help you shape your life and the way you live.
They are great rules that you want to follow because they define who you are.
And in this case, your personal manifesto can help you discover who you really are and what you care about in life. It tells you how you perceive others, yourself, and the world around you. It shows you how you want to act and where are you moving toward in life.
I know that having a personal manifesto may not directly give you the answer to what you want to do out of your life, but it is a great way to start.
After all, finding out how you want to live your life gives you a great idea of what you want to do with your life, isn’t it?
If you’re not sure how to write your manifesto, follow the detailed suggestions from the article on Art of Manliness. Here are the breakdowns:
The “Test the Water” approach is easy to understand.
Well, how do you know if you are passionate about something? Just do it, and you will have the answer.
The “Test the Water” approach works the same. You test out something to see if you really love doing it.
So if you don’t know what to do in life, just test out things.
You will never know how the cookies taste and you’re not sure if you’re going to like them, the only way to find out is to test it out. Eat it, and you will know.
This is common sense. I first learn about it from Harv Eker, the best-selling author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. By the way, this is a great book that I suggest you read. If you want to build a millionaire mindset and manage your finance in a better way, read the book.
According to Harv Eker, when he wanted to start his own business, he has no idea what to do, but suddenly, an idea hit him, “selling pies”. Thus, he wanted to open a pie shop.
The problem was that to open a brick-and-mortar shop requires a lot of capital, time, management, effort, and logistic. It won’t be an easy thing to do.
And what if the business did not work out in the end? What if Harv did not like pies after all?
Hence, he decided to test out the water. He decided to learn about the business by working in a pie shop in his neighborhood. Clever, huh?
Guess what, after 2 weeks of having a glimpse of learning how to bake the pies, cleaning the kitchen, running the business, etc., Harv found out that he did not like the idea of selling pies at all.
In the end, he decided to ditch the idea of opening a pie shop, instead, he chose to go into the fitness industry, which led him to a big business success.
I believe you know how the “Test the Water” approach function.
Don’t know what to do in life? Just test things out.
Just test things out.
I have heard many people saying that they have no idea what they want to do in life. Most want to start a business, but they have no idea what business to go into. Some want to build a blog like mine, but they have no idea what niche to start or how to do it.
If you are having this dilemma, my suggestion to you is this: Just do it, do something, anything.
A lot of people choose to brainstorm and think about what they really want to do in life.
Let me tell you something. If you’re going to just sit there and think about what you want to do in life, you will never find the answer.
The reason is simple, if you sit down and think for a week without doing anything, what you know right now and what you know a week ago is the same. Do you get me?
If you want to start an e-commerce business because it is such a hot trend right now, but you have no idea what to sell and you decide to spend a month thinking about what to sell, highly likely, by the end of the month, you will still have no idea what to sell.
Look at this picture below:
The only way to expand what you know is by doing it. Even if you choose to read a book, you’re going to discover OTHER PEOPLE’S DESIRE, not yours.
You can feel extremely motivated and inspired to start an online business after reading a book about how someone who went from rags to riches by building an e-commerce business selling shoes, but that’s him, not you.
Perhaps, he loves shoes, but you don’t. This is why merely thinking and reading are not enough.
You will never discover what you want to do by just thinking about it. You need action. You need to do something, anything.
And as you do, things will come to you. You will understand what work and what doesn’t work.
Eventually, your choices, your decisions, and your life events will lead you to the place that you want to go. That’s when you have discovered your calling.
By then, you will have discovered what you truly want to do in your life.
So stop thinking, and start doing.
Self-assessment is another great method to find out what you want out of your life.
Lao Tzu said it best:
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
You can understand yourself better by going through self-assessment exercise.
When you know yourself better, it gives you an idea of what you want to do with your life.
If you love helping others, perhaps, you can join a non-profit organization to find out more about your interest.
If you love technology and internet, then maybe starting an online business can be a good place to start discovering your calling.
There are plenty of self-assessment tests and quizzes you can take online to find out your strengths, your weaknesses, your personalities, and some even give you an idea about what you want to do out of your life.
The problem is that most of the tests and quizzes require you to pay or opt-in your email to do it. And I don’t like that.
However, don’t worry, because I have found out some great and free ones for you to try out. Here are 3 self-assessments tests you can try out:
1. My Life Assessment by MyMindset.com
The assessment takes about 3-4 minutes and covers the major areas of your life. And upon completion, you will receive a personalized assessment of your life.
2. The “Who Am I Meant to be” Quiz by Oprah.com
I like this quiz. It is created based on personality science according to 7 “striving styles,” modes of thought and behavior that direct us to seek satisfaction in different ways.
3. The Wheel of Life Interactive Assessment by Noomii.com
Noomii.com is the web’s largest directory of life coaches and business coaches. And the wheel of life assessment provided allows you to see the performance in all areas of your life. You can improve where you’re weak, and you can continue to work on areas where you’re strong too.
This wheel of life assessment may not give you a direct answer of what you want to do in your life, but it does give you an overview of where you are right now and where you should improve in the future.
By the way, I’m also a guest blogger on Noomii.com. You can read the article I contributed and if you like it, do remember to share it with others:
Top 5 Champion Mindsets To Win Big in Your Life and Career
4. The Clean Sweep Program by BetterMe.org
This is actually a checklist in which when completed, will give you complete personal freedom. There are 100 items grouped into 4 categories, physical environment, wellbeing, money, and relationships.
Your aim is to score as high as possible. This assessment is easy to do and straight to the point. I love it because the items on the checklist give you an idea of how you are living your life right now. I want to show you some examples, but the best is still for you to go through the assessment to experience it by yourself.
So did you manage to go through some of these quizzes and assessments?
These tests may not give you a clear-cut idea of what you want out of your life. In fact, I believe that no one and no program or assessment can help you discover what you want to do in your life, including me and this article.
You can only discover what you truly out to do in life on your own. What I can do is to provide you the guidance. The same goes for quizzes and tests.
This article and all the information I shared here are only guidelines and they work as a lighthouse to show you the way, but the one who takes on the road will be you, and none others.
Only you will know what you want to do in your life.
Questions are powerful. And we all know that. Whatever you ask in your head, your brain will search for the answers.
Therefore, if you ask the wrong question, you will get the wrong answer. On the contrary, when you ask the right question, you will get the right answer. As simple as that.
Try to ask yourself this question:
“Why do bad things always happen to me?”
So, what answers do you have? What did your mind tell you? What are the thoughts that come to you?
I bet they are not positive. When you ask this question, your brain will search for all the reasons why you think you’re always bad luck and show them to you.
On the other hand, if you ask:
“Why am I so lucky and great things always happen to me?”
You will find all the positive and encouraging answers. Our brain is an auto-suggestion machine. And we can take control of our thoughts by asking questions. When we ask, our minds automatically search for the answers.
It works exactly like how Google works. And it all depends on what you key in to the search bar. You can search for positive things, and you can also search for negative things. The choice is yours.
So, what kind of self-discovery questions can you ask to find out more about yourself and understanding what kind of life you want to have?
Read this article: How to Know What You Want From Life
This is an article from More-Selfesteem.com and in my opinion, the article gives a great insight into asking some powerful questions that spark your imagination and creativity to find out more about yourself.
Here are some of the self-discovery questions you should ask yourself:
You can also find your one thing by asking the focusing question. Read this article to find out how to do so:
The Focusing Question: How to Find Your ONE Thing
Asking questions is easy, the difficult part is in answering the questions in written form. Yes, take out a pen and paper, and jot down your thoughts.
The best is to keep a personal journal to write down all these answers, record your thoughts, and also write down your goals.
The impact will be small when you just try to answer those questions in your head. But when you write them down, you are telling yourself that you are serious about finding yourself; you are committed to discovering what you want in your life.
Thus, spend a few minutes or even hours to do this. You can do it Starbucks if you want to. Make sure you schedule and block your time to do this.
Finally, when you have no idea what you want to do in life, what career you want to be in, and feel directionless, you can always learn from your daily life.
Look closely at how you make decisions, how you do things, and what you do most of the time.
Life will give you hints and signs about what you want.
Maybe you’re good at cooking and baking. Or perhaps you love talking to people and you love to meet new people. Can it be that you’re good in sports, like in tennis?
Or have someone told you that you’re good in teachings and sharing your knowledge with others because you’re patience? Did someone tell you that you have skills in designs and suggests that you should go into interior design?
Well, these are some of the hints that life have shown you. Listen to them, and then evaluate if these signs are going to be helpful in finding yourself.
In many cases, people found out what they want to do from their free time. When you’re free, what kind of side projects you’re interested in? And what do you do most of your free time?
Pay attention to your hobby and things that you enjoy doing. What are your passions?
By the way, if you want to discover your passion, read one of my best posts below:
7 Clear Signs That You Have Discovered Your Passion in Life
One more thing, be curious about everything that comes to you in life. Just like what the successful writer and blogger, Scott Young says:
“Instead of making definite decisions about a career path, I believe you should get curious. Get curious about the way the world works. Notice your own interests and find small ways you can exercise passion in something. Even if you can’t find a way to make money off of it yet.
The bridge from passion to money-maker can’t be made hastily. Interests often get discarded because they cannot be immediately relayed into a source of income. And therefore aren’t as important as work that does.”
Steve Jobs famously said:
“Stay foolish, stay hungry”.
That’s exactly what you need to do to learn about yourself, your life, and of course, to find out your calling in life.
Remember, pay attention to your surroundings. Listen to what life is telling you.
When you don’t know what to do in life and have no clear direction of where to go, remember these 7 methods.
Finding your calling is not a destination, but a process. Thus, have patience. It is alright that you feel lost and have no idea what you want to do in life.
After all, life is a process of finding out what you want to do, in life.
Let me know what you think about this article. Do you think that these 7 methods are helpful?
Share your opinion in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.
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