The most important thing we should do with our lives is to learn how we can turn them into the experience we want them to be. And this means different things for different people. However, regardless of what we want to experience, our ultimate goal should be to feel satisfied at the end of our journey.
And a prerequisite to feeling satisfied at the end of our lives is to make sure that many, if not most, of the steps along the way, are great, awesome, happy, fun….or in some way satisfying. Because let’s face it, we all know that an unhappy journey will not give a happy ending!
So, in this post, we’ll share some ideas that will help you answer ‘What Should you Do With your Life.’ And- before we begin, I would like to point out that this question may not be as important as you now think it is……
Maybe a better question to reflect on is: “How Can I Turn My Life Into A Wonderful Experience?” I mention this because if we are happy every day, then we will be content and satisfied with our overall journey. However, let’s explore What Should I Do With My Life?
What Should You Do With Your Life?
Many people will happily give us advice as to how we should live our lives. And if we listen to it all, we may learn something that ignites a spark within us and gives us a direction for a while. However, the best advice will always come from within us, because we are the only ones who truly know what is in our hearts. Therefore, we should seek our own answers, and doing this involves some active consideration on our part. Asking ourselves a few questions will reveal what we are passionate about and maybe will reveal the answers we are seeking.
Life is full of possibilities: What are you wanting and willing to do?
We all have different aspirations, goals, dreams, and desires. And we all have different ideas about what we would consider a great life. Because of this, there is no one answer to what we should be doing. And this is a good thing because if we all liked and did the same things, this would be a very boring world.
Luckily, it’s not a boring world at all, and our lives are capable of encompassing a huge range of diverse and awesome possibilities. There are so many things we can enjoy, stress about, be fearful of, love, etc.…. Almost anything and everything is available for those of us who are open to the possibilities. However, we won’t get to do them all, and what we will do, maybe do, and won’t do, is governed by our conditioning- our uniquely programmed mindset.
Some of us may be content to sit on the couch for 4 hours every night after work, binging on TV and watching other people doing the things we only dream of. And others may turn their passion for adventure into their ‘work.’ They can make careers from sponsorships and by posting YouTube videos of them doing awesome stunts in remote places…..
“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” – Hugh Laurie
The possibilities of how we can spend our time continue to multiply as humanity grows and our potentials expand. It seems that someone is always coming up with something new and innovative that pushes the boundaries and gives us new ways of making money and enjoying ourselves.
But, you’re not here to find out about them. You are here to find out how you can have a better life experience for yourself….. Because, at this moment, you may be thinking that you are somehow missing out on something. Maybe you think that this one life is all you get and you want to make sure it is a memorable experience. Ok, so let’s find out how!
Questions to ask yourself if you are serious about upgrading your life.
1) What would your days consist of if you could do anything that you wanted? It’s surprising how few people have a clear vision of what they actually want to be doing if they could choose a ‘perfect life.’
And you know what, you can’t get to where you want to go if you don’t know where you are going! So, the first step is to think about what it is you want to be doing and how you want to be feeling next year, in five years, and in ten years.
If you have a destination in mind, and hold your focus on it, you are very likely to reach your targets….. so much more so than just doing random stuff and hoping for the best! Therefore, spend some time in quiet contemplation, (learning to meditate is great!) without distractions, and write down what it is you would love to be doing.
“Our life’s purpose may be as simple as the meaning we give to it!”
2) What am I good at? It’s likely that the things we are good at are things we have already invested a lot of time into. Therefore, they are likely to be things we are passionate about.
If we had the choice, would we spend more time doing these things? Can we make money from doing these things or are they only ever going to be a hobby? If you’re not sure, do some research, because you may be amazed at how the possibility to monetize almost anything exists these days.
Even this blog! I made the choice several years ago to follow my passion for learning and sharing what I learn about ‘Making My Life Better’ by creating this website. It’s a win-win situation for me, because I get to study what I enjoy, apply it to my life, and then share the ways I have been able to improve my life experience with others through this blog.
Wealthy Affiliate is the platform I used to learn how to live my dream digital nomad lifestyle and make money doing what I enjoy, all the while living at a tropical beach resort! Life is pretty good 🙂
3) What do you spend your spare time researching, viewing, and thinking about? What activities or interests do you get absorbed in? When we are doing things we are passionate about, time loses its meaning.… We somehow become connected to what we are doing, instead of being the doer of the things. These things seem so natural for us because they involve our complete being, body, mind, emotions, and soul…… and it feels wonderful! Why not choose to do more of these things?
“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.” – Albert Einstein
4) Is there something you’ve wanted to do for a while, but have been too afraid to try? Ahhhh, yes…. What are you afraid of? Ask yourself, what is the worst thing that can happen? And then work out how to minimize the risks, and then go and do it!
It will blow your mind when you grow beyond your fears. And when you do something that you have been afraid of, whether you succeed completely or not, you will begin to realize that the worst thing about fear is your thoughts about it!
“Try new things and widen your horizons. Try something you’ve always wanted to but never got around to, something that scares you, something that is very different from what you normally do.” – Can Sar
5) Use your imagination to see and feel your dream life happening from a distance. Imagine watching yourself being happy, feeling fulfilled, and enjoying all the things you have dreamed of. What are you doing each day, and how do you feel? Who is with you and what characteristics do they possess?
Our imaginations, according to Albert Einstein, are a preview of our futures. It’s such an important topic for our health and well-being that I wrote a separate post on it. You can check it out here: Why Is Imagination So Important For Our Well-being?
Your life just keeps moving forward whether you know what you want to do or not!
One thing is for sure: Whether we know what we want to do with our lives or not, the process of life itself seems indifferent to us. Time is never going to wait for us to sort our act out! So, if you are spending your time sitting around waiting for things to magically work out for you, I would like to suggest an alternative……
Life is a participation event. By this I mean the more we throw ourselves into it, the more likely we are to discover what thrills us, excites us, and what we are happy spending our time doing. Therefore, it’s probably a really good idea for you to get off the couch and go and do something.
Just begin experimenting with different stuff instead of moping around wondering what you ‘should’ be doing. And by doing lots of different stuff, we will find some stuff we don’t want to do again, some stuff that was ok, and some stuff that is awesome. And this is how we become winners in the game of our lives. We participate, so that we learn, grow, and become experience-rich…..
And then at the end of our days, we will have something of value to share with our grandkids, and they will have learned, by our example, that life is an adventure worth living!
