What to Do when Feeling Lost in Life
Long, depressing days... Nights full of distraction, and escape. Feeling unsure of where to turn or who to talk to. Constant worries about your current situation, perhaps coupled with a looming anxiety about the future… Does this ring a bell?
It’s no fun feeling like you have no direction. No purpose in life, except just eating, sleeping and a few other survival instincts. Being in that state, it’s so much easier to distract yourself with alcohol, gambling, social media and other activities that help you escape your current reality. But they don’t make you feel better, except in the very short term. Long term, they’ll just make you feel even more disconnected.
So what are you supposed to do when feeling a bit lost in life? Read on to find out:
Imagine you’re at a literal crossroads, in the middle of nowhere... There are two paths that you can take, but you don’t know which is the right one. You don’t even know if you want to take either road. Maybe the middle of nowhere is fine, for now. Because it’s easy. Because you’re already there. But you know that eventually you’ll have to choose a path, otherwise you’ll get stuck (and maybe starve) there.
So what do you do? You take a step back. You have a look at your options. Once you get your bearings on where you are and where you want to go, you can take the next step, which requires you to be bold and make a choice. Perhaps even getting your bearings of where you are in life is difficult. Which means that your next step is clear — to have a good look in the mirror, and consider your life path.
This step is often the most difficult, as it requires you to be honest with yourself.
You don’t need an actual mirror for this step, but you do need to self-reflect. If that doesn’t sound fun, it’s because it isn’t. Yet it’s necessary. Once you realise where you are — such as “middle-aged manager in a mid-sized company”, or “business owner facing some difficult choices” — it will be much easier to move forward. This identity doesn’t define you. But it’s your starting point. The next step is where to go.
How to know where to go?
Knowing where to go next is less about thinking and more about emotions. Where you are requires mind-power. It’s logical — like coordinates, a compass or a map. Instead, where to go requires you to feel. This is how you know which direction is the right one for you. To help bring these feelings to the surface, ask yourself this:
- A week from now, what would make me happy if I started acting on it today?
- What about a month from now, what would make you feel proud of yourself?
- Then, what about a year from now, what would make you feel truly satisfied?
Visualising these scenarios goes a long way. Imagine being there, a week, a month, a year from now, feeling ecstatic because you finished a cool project. Or moved to a new city. It could be anything really, as long as it makes you feel good when you think about it. Not as an escape, but because it feels right. Like what you’re truly meant to be doing.
In short, it’s about finding your life purpose... Even if it’s just the first step. Once you get started, it will become easier to keep going, like a rolling snowball. This is why it can be so depressing to think about other people being happy, or successful. It just seems so easy for them, it’s almost kind of annoying… Yet, that’s probably because success, like most things in life, becomes much easier once it’s started.
Just knowing where you are and where you want to go is half the battle, basically.
It may be the first phase, and potentially the shortest. But it’s also where most people get stuck for years, or even decades. Until it’s too late. But it’s not too late for you, if you’re reading this right now. Whatever your age or background, you’re only a few steps from feeling a clear life direction, and a greater sense of purpose.
It’s up to you. Because you can stay at the crossroads, until something else comes along and makes the decision for you — like your family, your boss, or your own survival. Or you can take matters into your own hands, and decide to follow your bliss. To be thrilled with your life because you took action, and boldly embraced your purpose.