Note: This article is taken from the writer Shawn Lim, who talks to us about several methods that help us know exactly what we want from life, and guide us on the path to success.
7 strategies for success in life
2. Getting started with the goal in mind
Getting started with the goal in mind means starting with a clear understanding of your destination. You need to know your destination in order to know your current place better and take steps in the right direction. The second strategy is also based on the idea that all things are formed twice.
There is a mental or primary formation and a material or secondary formation. Look at any company: If you want to have a successful project, you must clearly define what you are trying to achieve. How much you care about the end result often determines whether you are able to create a successful project or not.
You now see why it's critical 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—discovering that “something” is your mission.
Ted Leonsis and his “101 Things I Should Do Before I Die” List
Successful entrepreneur Ted Leonsis was on a flight two years ago when the pilot warned the passengers that they had only about 37 minutes left before they would die due to serious trouble with the plane after all attempts to deal with it had failed.
Can you imagine what you would have done if you had been a passenger on that plane? Have you prepared yourself for this moment?
Well, a lot of people will be preparing for death at such a moment and won't be thinking about anything. However, Leonsis prepared himself for survival. He considered what mattered, as well as all the opportunities and tasks he still had to complete, the achievements he still needed to make, and the happiness he still craved.
Fortunately, the plane did not crash. After it landed safely, Leonsis thought about that experience and prepared the list “101 Things I Must Do Before I Die.” So far, Leonsis has completed 74 of the 101 tasks on the list. The most important thing is he is living a successful life that he loves and plans for. You can do the same thing. Set 101 goals or tasks to do before you die.
Who Will Cry When You Die?
You must know the importance of remembering death. Steve Jobs said in his famous speech at Stanford University, “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.” Realizing that everything must come to an end reminds you:
- Never underestimate life.
- That life is short. So, respect every moment, your purpose, your goals, and everything that truly matters to you.
What does discovering what you want to do in life have to do with death?
Well, keeping the ultimate goal in mind from the beginning is a great technique for thinking about your life and what you want from it. If you only have one year left to live, how will you live it? Will you still complain about life and crowding? Will you continue to go to work as usual? Will you spend more time with your partner and family? Will you enjoy every moment?
We, as humans, always underestimate things, especially our lives. We always fall into the trap that there is tomorrow, so we ignore the important and valuable things in our lives, and we spend a lot of time playing games and browsing social media instead of spending precious moments with the people we love and care about.
We also complain about crowding, the weather, our boss, and our colleagues when we go to work, but we do not care about ourselves at all. However, when we think about death, we might learn from Leonsis’ experience or take Robin Sharma’s advice, “Walk around the cemetery, and you will then discover that life is very short, and you will realize that you should not complain about the crowds or blame your colleagues; such things are trivial matters.”
Remembering that you will die and that life is short might be a wake-up call for you to figure out what you want from your life.
3. Writing a personal statement
One of the best strategies for discovering your purpose in life and what you want from it is writing a personal statement. The word “statement” means “a general declaration of policy and goals issued by a political party or candidate before an election." Therefore, while writing a personal statement might seem a little odd, it's not stranger than Robin Sharma's advice to go to a cemetery.
Anyway, writing a personal statement is to help you identify your attitude toward specific concepts, which may help you determine the kind of job or life you want.
A personal statement is a call to action or a declaration of your policy for dealing with things in life.
One author said about creating a personal statement, “Before I go to work each day, I read my statement. It helps me stay focused by reminding me of my priorities as I address things like: How do I want to treat my friends? How do I want to work with integrity and nobility in my job? How do I want to vote? I repeatedly reinforce these values every day. Even though others may not find much value in your statement, you will find support if you present it to them. It is merely a way to bring your future self and your present self into harmony. ”
If you find it difficult to understand a personal statement, just think of it as a life's rule. It is actually like life rules, as it dictates what you should do, how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it.
For example, your statement rules might be as specific as: “I will wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day and exercise for 30 minutes, from 6:00 to 6:30 a.m., every day without exception.”
Furthermore, the statement may be general and ambiguous, such as "No matter what circumstance I encounter in life, no matter how challenging it is, I will face it with strength and always remember my goal. I'll act bravely and with confidence. Most importantly, I will never give up on my dreams.”
You have to understand that these principles or statements help you improve your life and how you live. They are great rules to follow, as they define who you are.
In this case, your statement might help you discover who you are and what you care about in life, tell you how you view others, yourself, and the world around you, and show you how you want to act and where you are headed in life.
I know that having a personal statement might not directly answer the question, “What do you want to do with your life?”, but it is a great way to get started.
Eventually, knowing how you want to live your life gives you a great idea of what you want to do with your life. If you're not sure how to write your statement, follow these suggestions:
- Choose topics.
- Write down your principles.
- Use strong, affirming language.
- Write your statement on paper.
4. Using the “check the pulse” approach
This approach is easy to understand. If you want to know how passionate you are about something, all you have to do is try it. The “check the pulse” approach works in the same way. All you have to do is test the issue before you start practicing it. Therefore, if you do not know what to do in life, it is enough to try. For example, you will not know what a biscuit tastes like and you will not be sure if you will like it unless you eat it.
Author Harv Eker claims that he had no idea what to do when he wanted to launch his own business until the idea of selling pies came to his mind. He wanted to open a pie shop, but starting a traditional shop would cost a lot of money, time, money management, effort, and services. For him, this posed a serious issue, particularly if the work was unsuccessful or if he did not like it in the first place.
So, he decided to check the pulse by working at a pie shop in his neighborhood. Interestingly, he found that he didn't like the idea of selling pies at all after two weeks of learning about how to bake pies, clean the kitchen, run a business, etc. He made the decision to abandon the entire plan. Instead, he chose to work in the fitness industry, where he was quite successful.
Now that you know the "check the pulse" approach, all you have to do is test things to know what to do in life.
Practice Leads to Knowledge
I've heard a lot of people say that they have no idea what they want to do in life. Most of them want to start a business, but they don't know what kind of business they want to do. Some people want to start a blog like mine, but they have no idea where to start or how to do it.
If you are facing this dilemma, I suggest that you do anything. Many people choose to brainstorm and think about what they really want to do in life. However, if you spend your time thinking about what you want to do with your life, you will never come up with an answer because your knowledge won't change if you sit and think about it for a week without doing anything.
Since e-commerce is so popular right now, you might want to start one but don't know what to sell and you decide to spend a month brainstorming before deciding what to sell. By the end of the month, you probably won't have any idea. Taking action is the only way to expand your knowledge. You won't gain much from reading a book because you will learn about other people's desires rather than your own.
It's true that you might feel very motivated and inspired to start an online business after reading a book about how someone went from rags to riches by building a business that sells shoes online, but that's them, not you. They might like selling shoes, but you don't. It is the reason that merely thinking and reading is not enough.
You will never discover what you want to do just by thinking about it; you have to take action. Just start working and you will know what suits you and what does not suit you.
In the end, your choices, decisions, and life events will lead you to your destination after you discover your mission in life and know what you really want to do in it. So, stop thinking and start acting.
5. Self-assessment test
Self-assessment is another great way to find out what you want from your life. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu put it best when he said, “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.”
Through self-assessment exercises, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself. You will know what you want to do with your life when you have a solid understanding of yourself.
If you love helping others, perhaps you could join a non-profit organization to learn more about your interests. Establishing an online business could be a good start to discovering your purpose if you enjoy technology and the Internet.
There are plenty of self-assessment tests and exercises you can take online to discover your strengths, weaknesses, and personality. Some of them even give you an idea of what you want to do with your life. The issue is that most of these tests and exercises demand payment or registration, which is annoying.
6. Asking self-discovery questions
Asking questions is a very effective way, and we all know that. Whatever questions you have, your mind will search for answers to them. So, if you ask the wrong question, you'll get the wrong answer. If you ask the right question, you'll get the right answer. It is that simple.
Try asking yourself this question: “Why do bad things always happen to me?”
What is your answer? What does your mind tell you? What thoughts do you have? I bet your answer is not positive. Asking yourself such a question will cause your mind to go through all the reasons it believes you are always unlucky and will eventually persuade you of that. However, if you inquire, "Why am I so fortunate? Why do wonderful things always happen to me?”, you will find positive and encouraging answers. Our brain automatically makes suggestions, and we can control our thoughts by asking questions. When we ask, our minds automatically search for answers.
Our brain works in the same way as Google. It all depends on what you type in the search bar. You can search for positive things or negative things; the choice is yours.
So, what kind of self-discovery questions can you ask to learn more about yourself and understand the kind of life you want to live?
Here are some self-discovery questions you should ask yourself:
- What are the biggest successes I am proud of in my life?
- If I entered a large library, which section would I visit and spend the most time in?
- What would I do and how would I like my life to be if everything were possible?
- Who are the 3 people I respect and love the most? And why?
- What are the things I hate doing?
- What has to happen in order for me to feel fulfilled and content with my life?
- How can I make the most of my talents and experience a sense of fulfillment in my life?
Asking questions is easy, but the difficult part is answering the questions in writing. So, write down your thoughts. It is better to keep a personal diary to write down all these answers, record your thoughts, and also write down your goals.
Trying to answer these questions verbally will not have much of an impact, but putting them in writing communicates to yourself that you are serious about discovering yourself and that you are dedicated to identifying your life's goals. Take a few minutes, or even several hours, to do this. Make sure to plan your schedule and allot the necessary amount of time.
7. Noticing hints and signals in your daily life
Finally, you can always learn from your everyday life when you're lost and don't know what you want to do with your life or what career you want to pursue.
Examine your decision-making, task-completion, and time-management techniques.
You'll get cues from life about what you want. You might have a talent for baking and cooking. You might enjoy interacting with others and making new friends. You might be skilled in sports like tennis. It's possible that someone mentioned to you that your patience makes you good at teaching and sharing your knowledge with others. It's possible that someone suggested you pursue a career in interior design because you have design skills.
Well, these are some hints that life gives you, so pay attention to them. Then, try to see if these hints will help you discover yourself.
People usually figure out what they want to do when they have free time. What kind of side projects would you like to work on when you have some free time? What do you do most of your free time?
- Are you learning how to create your own website?
- Are you reading cooking books and learning how to bake a chocolate cake?
- Do you enjoy taking walks outdoors?
- Do you watch YouTube videos about organic farming?
Focus on your hobbies, interests, and things you enjoy. Be curious about everything you encounter in your life, just as successful author and blogger Scott Young said, “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.”
One of the most famous quotes of Steve Jobs is, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Never let go of your appetite to go after new ideas, new experiences, and new adventures.” This is exactly what you have to do to learn more about yourself, your life, and your purpose in life. Remember that you must pay attention to everything around you and what life offers you of hints and signals.
In Conclusion
When you don't know what to do in life and don't know where you are going, remember these seven strategies:
- Applying the blue sky thinking technique.
- Asking the question, "In the next five years, where will you be and what will you do?"
- Writing a personal statement.
- Checking the pulse and trying everything.
- Applying self-assessment tests.
- Asking poignant questions about self-discovery.
- Noticing the hints and signals in your life.
Finding your purpose is not a short walk; it is a long journey. So, be patient and do not despair if you feel lost or have no idea what you want to do in life. Eventually, life is the process of discovering what you want to do in life.
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