We often find ourselves agreeing to this, but what if we lacked such dreams? What if we didn’t have the opportunity to make dreams our master? Also, what do you think the scenario would be, as is the case with many youngsters of our generation, if you were lying wide awake in your bed at night wondering, “I don’t know what to do with my life”? If yes, then follow our article to get a little enlightenment on that domain.
The time between 23 and 30 years is the high time of existential crisis. You seem to follow the lines of the absurdist like Albert Camus and believe that your life doesn’t have any meaning. The path that you are headed on seems endless and directionless. The world narrows down to job findings and materialistic wish fulfillment.
Amidst all of these, you feel stuck in limbo as if the inertia of rest has occupied your entire body and mind.
But, Stanley Kubrick suggested, taking the cue from Camus’ quote, that even if we do not have any ultimate reason in our lives, what’s the harm in trying to be a Sisyphus?
So, always aim to reach the goal of pushing the rock up the hill; maybe someday you may succeed!
Table of Contents
The essential questions one should ask
So, if you want to get an answer to “I don’t know what to do with life” and enroll in the role-play of being Sisyphus, then read this article.
Maybe the sleepless nights won’t be as tricky as they are now.
So, here are some ways in which you can reflect on your life, the way it has been to date, and see what possible changes you might make to get an impressive answer to “I don’t know what to do with my life.”
Make yourself stand in front of a mirror
Imagine you have gone back to your childhood and tried to think about what gave you utmost pleasure. As the famous political philosopher John Locke said, we are born with “Tabula Rasa,” or a blank state of mind. So, try to think about how you wanted to express yourself the most or what excited you.
How do you think you would feel if you met yourself? If you are unhappy with the feeling, try to find out how you can feel good. Once that is done, you take one pointer at a time and work towards the goal.
Elimination
This is the hard part. Say you are a 25-year-old person. For these 25 years you have had lived with certain habits and practices which were not always perfect beneficial practices. However, if you want to make some positive change in your life, then you will have to figure out the biggest hurdle in your life and then get rid of those.
This elimination part can be challenging because parting with age-long habits takes a toll. However, just like the saying goes, “to err is to human” similarly, to make amends is human as well.
The baton for changing your life is right in front of you. Get out of your bed, snatch it and then run. Don’t stop until you reach the finishing line.
Role Models
Often in our life, we don’t get enough push and motivation. Once that is available, stepping into newer stones becomes easier. So, look around you and try to find people whom you admire. That might be a 10-year-old kid living in the streets and still studying in the streets; that can be your next-door neighbor who still follows their passion.
These role models can also be great actors, political persons, or people from your own family. Follow their narrative of life; you might spot some light at the end of the tunnel.
Serving others
Gautama Buddha maintained that morality shouldn’t be a transaction and so should not be a public duty. So, if you don’t find the motivation to live for yourself at any point in time, try to think about how you could be of help to others.
In fact, as per research undertaken by Dr. Laurie Santos at Yale, happier people are the most attentive to people’s needs. If you could help someone without calculating what you would get in return, then that feeling is the best in the world.
You can join some NGO which works with the kids or animals. You will find the reason to live. Your pledge to bring a smile to their face will be the sole reason for you to cling to life.
Call yourself by your calling
Even if this title might remind you of the famous film, call me by your name, but that is not where we are going right now.
Instead, you could try finding your inner calling and responding to its call. Even if that calling is submerged beneath massive glaciers, but dig a little and take a dip in that calling.
Who can say you might come out as a different person altogether.
A bucket list
If you are a person who got inspired after watching “Into the Wild” or “The Bucket list,”’ then this is your chance to grab the day. If you have “miles to go before you sleep,” then count the miles and figure out which miles you want to cover.
Maybe you want to visit the Westminster Abbey before you die, or perhaps you want to sleep under the stars. Put all these “maybe”s in the nearest dustbin you find and pack your rucksack to travel all the miles you want to explore.
The fear element
One of the main hurdles in answering “I don’t know what to do with my life” is to overcome your fears. Humans, by nature, are unwilling to get out of their comfort zone. So, if you want to find meaning in your life, then figure out what seems the scariest to you.
It might so happen that even if you know what you want to do, you are scared to follow that path.
You want to reach the mountain for the breathtaking views you have seen in pictures, but you are afraid to step into the forest that comes in your path. But then you will have to create your fate and at least work towards achieving what you want.
So, you should always fight tough battles; those boost confidence!
These are some of the pointers that might help you introspect about yourself and the decisions you are going to take. If you follow these and ask yourself these questions daily at night then maybe, the thought “I don’t know what to do with my life” might be solved.
I don’t know what to do with my life career
Finding meaning in life often coincides with what you want to do in your professional life. Often, passion and profession are different, while at times, they are similar. But whatever be the case, you need first to figure out your choice.
In this article, you will find some hacks to open the key to your life’s mystery.
The purpose
Finding a purpose in life often leads you to a perfect career path. In a general situation, you might not know what you want to pursue as your career, but the search becomes more manageable if you find your passion.
Buddha’s life changed when he saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a renunciant. He renounced his princely life and became a preacher who served humanity.
Similarly, if you want to treat ailing people, you might be a doctor if you empathize with them. If you have a knack for listening to people’s stories and documenting them, you can be an oral history researcher. If you want to weave your own story out of them, you can be a filmmaker.
You see, you don’t always have to follow the conventional path. Instead, spend your time listening to what your heart says; that will lay the way before you.
Life values
You can make decisions based on what your life values are. That is why we say that our school is our second home. This is where you spend most of your adolescent and childhood times. So, figure out what matters to you the most.
Here we have listed some core values, which include-
- Family
- Career
- Freedom
- Creativity
- Connection
- Service
- Beauty
- Status
In this way, you can jot down the values that matter to you the most. After that, try to figure out if your life at all reflects the values. If not, then find ways to improve that relationship between you and your life.
Strengths
Before any company startles you by asking about your strength and weaknesses, deal with them yourself first. The famous book, The Secret says, you attract stuff that you want to avoid. So, it is wise if you work towards your goal without fearing it. For that, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses.
However, the definition of strength can be relative. But, mostly, it is that aspect in which you reach the fullest potential of your abilities. Once you figure that out, you will attract opportunities that best suit your criterion.
Weaknesses
Did you know accepting faults is one of the essential leadership traits? No human is born perfect. They strive to be perfect, but that road is not easy. Unless you find out your flaws, you will not be able to reach perfection.
So, if you are wondering what to do with your life, then appeasing your flaws is what you can choose as a starting point.
Career choices
I don’t know what to do with my life career is not a very hard nut to crack if you know the right place to hit. To do that:
- Take a pen and paper.
- Write down the possible career choices that you can see in front of you.
- Systematically, note down the pros and cons.
In the process of doing so, you will know what beckons you the most.
After that, sit with yourself and think if you wanted to do that or it was just a decision in fluke. If your heart calls out loud, then follow that line and never look back in disappointment.
Opportunities
Devote some time to scour the earth for whatever opportunities that might cross your way. Don’t let homesickness or any other malice pull you down from your goal. Even if you feel lost and don’t find something worth your attention, then take a break. Give yourself some time; eventually, you will find something.
However, you will have to take calculated risks. The next step is assessing the market, and then you should identify your niche. In this way, you can get your answer to your thought, “I don’t know what to do with my life.”
Also, be aware of modern slavery. In most sophisticated industries in the market, you will get excellent posts, but the wage in return for your working hours is even below basics.
Hobbies
Have you ever thought that you might have to change your career to find a response to the thought “I don’t know what I want to do with my life”? Often we end up in a job due to some compelling circumstances, and that job becomes our physical comfort zone. But, mentally, we suffer a lot.
If that is the case with you, then try exploring your hobbies. Maybe you will find some other dark corners of your life that will brighten up if you sit there.
Final Thoughts
If you are spending your nights in a deep existential crisis, try and look at this article. Maybe you will find some hidden answers. In that way, things will become easier for you to sort.
