It can be all too easy to feel as though life is something you drift though, at the mercy of other people. Too often, you end up doing what other people want you to do instead of what you want to do. You can’t control everything in life, but you can control what you do and whether you are actually on the path that you want to be. The tips below can help you find that path and stay on it.
Table of Contents
Look at Your Past
One way to figure out what you truly want to spend your time on is to go back to your childhood. What did you want to be when you grew up? What kinds of things got you really excited? There’s a good chance that the same things make you happy now even if you have buried those things down deep.
Did you want to be a professional athlete or a famous artist? You can still pick up a ball or a paintbrush and do the thing that you love for fun or even as a career. Maybe you won’t make the Olympics or see your paintings hung in the top galleries in the world, but you could become a personal trainer or an art therapist. If you frequently babysat when you were younger, you can start a babysitting business and have full control over the size and schedule of your home-based business. If you’re struggling to get in touch with the old you, try to talk to family and old friends or journaling.
Dealing With Practical Obstacles
There are basically two kinds of obstacles you will face. Some obstacles are born from a lack of self-belief and too little support from others. The others are more practical in nature. They can seem insurmountable, but these kinds of obstacles usually have a fairly straightforward solution even if it is intimidating at first. Perhaps you have decided to pursue your lifelong dream of becoming a teacher.
First, you need to go to college and get your degree. You may wonder how you will pay for this, but there are many different avenues for funding a college education, including scholarships. In fact, you can get matched through Going Merry scholarships to help you determine which ones are right for you. Whatever the practical obstacles that you are facing, don’t let them discourage you. Look to how others have solved them and find a similar solution for yourself.
A Lack of Support and Belief
There are many different ways to cope with the other type of obstacle, a lack of belief in your own abilities or the lack of belief from others around you, and you can use a combination of methods to deal with them. Positive affirmations can help. When you realize you are thinking things such as “This is too hard, I can’t do it,” change that to “This is challenging, but I can do it.” A therapist, a life coach or a career counselor may help you change direction. You may want to explicitly ask for more support from people around you, or you may want to move away from some of the more negative people in your life.
About Carson Derrow
