I wish I could sell those AHA! moments, I could make millions of people happy, what a rewarding job that would be!
Here is the problem: Lacking a sense of what you would like to do is ultimately a lack of connection to oneself.
There are many reasons for this to happen. Some of you grew up in settings where you were never asked – what you want. If you were not asked about small things, then you would eventually lack understanding and confidence in big things.
Some of you were pressured with the parental and societal expectations telling you – what is that you should do or want. So you suppressed your true desires and adopted the desires from external sources.
Checking inside.
If that is your case then here is a tip # 1: start asking yourself what you want all the time – what would you like to eat, what would you like to wear, how would you like to spend your time, etc. Practice it for 21 days. Ask yourself what you want in small things and act on them. Gradually you will get more and more connected with yourself and you will start feeling not only small things, but bigger and bigger items of your life that are not in alignment with your deeper nature.
Checking outside.
One more reason why you may need significant time to understand what you want to do in life and what to be is that the activity that suits you has not come into reality yet. It is sort of like you were born before your form of profession arrived into the reality. In this case you may be a one who is here to invent things or you may be a one who needs to wait till it gets developed somewhere by somebody else. Once it becomes developed and widespread you will know – it is for you.
The vivid examples of those who invented their professions, and, in fact, themselves, are Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Grace Hopper. Because of them, we have electricity, cars, talk shows, and computer programming. They were the flagmen and flagwomen of the new areas of businesses and professions. But after they brought to the world these wonderful things others picked it up and developed it further.
And here I offer you tip # 2: research about new professions, inventions, new cool things. Try them and, if they don’t feel right, drop them off and move on.
I am writing this in 2019. In the last years we have new professions arrived: data science, artificial intelligence, solar power specialists, professional networkers, public speakers, customer journey designers, blockchain developers, environmental engineers, online educators. And many others. All those professions became possible because there were the first ones who went after their calling, and, then, it was picked up and developed by new people who felt they belong to this line of work.
If this speaks to you, you may be the one who searches amongst existing and known professions. You may want to become curious about the new and emerging, I inspire you to go and explore. You may be the next talented digital educator or the most brilliant blockchain developer.
Whether you:
1. Always knew what you are here to do, you knew it since your childhood and you just went there
2. Never paid special attention to it, just happened to move into a profession through your studies and it happened to be the right choice for you
3. Coming from a troubled background where you were never asked or never had a chance to even look towards it a there were other important things (like an active war zone or child abuse)
4. Went on the discovery journey and discovered your place (even if it happened in decades)
5. Went on the discovery journey and have not discovered it yet
- know that it takes time and effort, but it is worth it. If you can spend even a little bit of your life doing even a tiny bit of what you enjoy, you will get in touch with that innate joy and happiness that was always there inside you.
Checking inside again!
Tip # 3: ‘knowing’ is a feeling. It is a feeling of being whole, complete, and sure. When you hit your answer, you will have a moment when you feel very aligned and complete within yourself. It may go away, but it is there in that initial moment. When you practice your passion it will return or stay with you for longer.
Knowing where your place in the world contributes to the feeling of belonging, feeling of being useful, self-realization, and daily happiness. It gives a great feeling of liberation and a sense of fulfillment when you discover your true passion. I know you want things right away. They will come. They require time and work.
I know, at the back of your mind there is a question popping up sometimes that starts with ‘What if…’, then know that the ‘What if..’ is only possible if you act on it.
Discovery may take time. Once discovered, you may want it all right here right now, you may need to work on moving it forward. You may also know what your passion is, but deny it and also can be a piece of work.
I would like to say that many people do not even embark on the journey of self-discovery. If you spent five, ten, twenty years figuring out what is that you want to do and you finally got it – stop there, for just a moment. Enjoy that moment as you were waiting for it for all this long time.
Wishing you to find your passion, to believe in it and to enjoy it.