Have you ever asked yourself what you wanted out of life? What was the answer you got? Was there a clear image of what you wanted to do, be and have that you felt strongly about? Or were there vague ideas that you weren’t sure how you felt about?
It seems that knowing what you want should be easy. I mean, you’re the only one who can really know the answer to this question, so you should be able to answer it, right?
In reality, this is not a question anyone can answer without some thought and without some trial and error. If you want to know what you want you have to go looking for it, it doesn’t just come to you wrapped up in a neat little package.
If you have asked yourself what you want and you truthfully don’t know, don’t worry, you’re just like everyone else, and you can begin to take some steps to figure out what that is.
Start Where You Are Dissatisfied
If you are unsure of what you want, you probably have a good idea of what you don’t want. In what areas of your life are you disatisfied? This is the first “call to action.” Do you hate your job? Are you unsure if the relationship you are in is right for you? Do you not like how far you have to commute? Is the city you live in just not appealing to you? Whatever it is, dissatisfaction is usually not that hard to spot.
Be (brutally) honest with yourself about how you got to this point. What have you done, or not done, that lead you to where you are right now? How did you get here and why did you get here?
Also, what is it about the things you are disatisfied with that you don’t like? Figure that out and then begin to replace these things with what you might like.
What Do You Think You Want?
Now that you’ve taken some time to think about where you are disatisfied in your life, how can you be more satisfied? Use your self awareness to think of some things you might want instead of what you now have. Remember, you won’t know for sure if you really want it until you’ve tried it, but you’ve got to start someplace.
A really good place to begin is simply to ask yourself what you have the most desire to do. Go with what you are drawn to. Even if it doesn’t work out exactly like you thought it would you will probably learn something valuable in the process. You are attracted to certain things for a reason. Go figure out what that reason is. No matter what you find you will learn something about your self.
“It is our business to go as we are impelled.” – D.H. Lawrence
Try Things You Think You Want
You are not going to know what you want for sure until you try it. This is a trial and error process. But you’ll always get something out of it because everything that you learn about yourself can be added to your self awareness. The more knowledge about your self that you have, the better predictions you will make about what you want. Self awareness is a process that you can always refine. Keep track of what you are learning about yourself. This is valuable information.
