What Would Happen if I Just Never Worked Again in My Life
"Ask the correct questions and the answers volition reveal themselves." —Oprah
Due westhat should I do with my life? That'south a really scary question.
When I started out in my career, I idea I needed a mentor to tell me exactly what to exercise, when to practice it, and how to do it.
I prayed for this fairy godfather to drop down out of Silicon Valley and into my inbox with a complete roadmap for my life.
As it turns out, fairy godfathers don't exist and no mentor—no affair how brilliant—can deliver a complete roadmap to anyone's life.
In the words of Steve Jobs, you can't connect the dots looking frontwards, y'all can just connect them looking backward, and so yous have to trust that the dots volition somehow connect in your hereafter.
Advising y'all to simply trust that the dots will connect later isn't exactly helpful, though. It certainly won't aid sort out your career path or relieve any feet.
I practice know something that will help, though… Asking yourself questions.
"Questions tin be like a lever you utilise to pry open up the stuck hat on a paint can." — Fran Peavy
Whenever I feel overwhelmed or when I don't know the answer to something, before I bother someone smarter than me for the reply, I open up a blank doc, and I start typing out questions. Then I try to answer them. I just type—no editing, no filtering—only me scribbling my thoughts on the folio.
And you know what I've discovered since doing this?
I tin answer nearly all of my questions and feel confident about my answers without ever pinging my imaginary fairy godfather. Including the old favorite, "What do I desire to do with my life?"
Knowing what questions to ask tin can be difficult, and opening a blank Word doc can feel overwhelming, then I'm here to share some idea-provoking questions to jumpstart the procedure for you.
Keep reading for a list of ix questions to respond. They should assist yous discover who you lot actually are, what you truly desire out of life, and how to get it someday.
And trust me, this is the closest thing you'll become to a complete career roadmap. You're welcome.
Look at where y'all are now 
What led me to where I am today?
This question will tell you:
- What you care about and why you care about it (Your purpose, story)
- What you're good at and should explore further (Your skills)
- What you enjoy doing (Your interests)
Begin the milestones, relationships, people, jobs, and experiences that brought you to where y'all are today.
Consider the classes you've taken. Which did you lot excel at? Which were a struggle?
What extracurricular activities are/were you involved in? Did you bask some more than others?
What function-time jobs have you had? What did you love/hate about each of them?
What major events in your life have happened that shaped who you are today?
Consider all of the above when answering this question, so try to connect the dots. Notation patterns, industries, themes, and clues that could inform your next step in life.
Ask yourself: What do I want to go along doing? Do differently? Learn from? What industries or careers popular up that may take been hiding in plainly sight?
Fundamental Takeaway
Take time to reflect on what you've done so far, and develop a salubrious cocky-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses. Utilise your past experiences to make thoughtful choices nearly your time to come.
What take I always thought I'd do for piece of work? Why?
This question will tell yous:
- Why yous're doing what you're doing
- If you should be doing what you lot're doing
What expectations do you have for yourself? What expectations practice others—parents, friends, teachers, etc.—accept of you lot?
Write them down and note why you (and others) have these expectations. Where did they come from?
For example, maybe your dad wants you lot to be a doctor because he thinks it'due south a secure, well-paying job, and he wants you to accept a steady income to support yourself.
It's important to know his underlying reason in example you don't want to be a medico and need to tell your male parent this someday.
I similar this question because a lot of united states, if not all of us, have this petty "should" monster in our heads.
"I should become to law school."
"I should study business."
"I should go a doctor."
The unsafe thing is we never really explore why we think nosotros should practice these things. Not investigating why you're doing something is a sure-fire way to wake up one day in your 40s, miserable, thinking: "I absolutely detest what I practise. WTF."
If you routinely find yourself waging war confronting this lilliputian "should" vocalization, I recommend checking out our guide to mindfulness . Yous'll find tips in there about how to talk back to this voice, which can assist you lot when you find yourself thinking, "I don't know what to do with my life!"
Key Takeaway
Why practice you do what you do? Our motivations matter. Make career choices for the right reasons (so silence the "shoulds" and ignore the haters).
Observe your purpose 
What do I want?
This question volition tell y'all:
- How much money you need to make (bacon)
- Where practise you desire to live?
- What do you want your dwelling house or flat to look similar?
- What things and experiences practice you think will make you happy?
List everything yous want in life, including material items. Brain dump everything, even your nigh afar dreams and desires.
At this stage, information technology's a good idea to remember about how much coin yous need to make to alive the lifestyle y'all want.
Free resource: Download our unproblematic budgeting spreadsheet hither.
Central Takeaway
Understanding your dreams and goals volition help you make better, more than educated decisions when information technology comes to your career and life. Be honest with yourself and revisit this question over the years, as priorities can (and likely volition) change.
What do I desire to do every day?
This question volition tell you:
- What careers you should consider
- How to savour getting what you want
This question plays a massive function in our overall happiness, but it's often overlooked, if it's fifty-fifty considered at all. It can likewise be a bit vague.
Here'south what I hateful by it.
There's a path—a journeying—to getting what you want. It's not an overnight type of journey either. This path spans your entire life, then you best love whatever it is you take to do to go all the things you lot want in life.
The path y'all choose to walk is the process by which you lot get what you lot want, i.e. your career/job.
Regardless of the path you cull—no matter how glamorous—in that location volition definitely exist struggles and to-dos that you merely don't want to do, but that you take to do, in club to get to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
So a meliorate question might be: What pain can I tolerate in my life? What am I willing to struggle for?
Do you want to have time for family unit and friends?
Do you want to work a lot or a piffling?
How do you want to spend your time?
Do y'all imagine yourself in an role or working from a coffee store?
If you don't reply this question, you'll default to the easiest and most obvious path to get what you want.
For example, if making a lot of coin is important to you, you may study constabulary and become a lawyer. Later in life though, you might take a mid-life crisis, when you realize that yous detest all of the work that comes with existence a successful lawyer .
Central Takeaway
Create a vision of your ideal life. Remember carefully about what brings you joy, what keeps y'all happy and calm, and what makes you lot thrive. Also, remember nearly what things y'all don't want in life, and then yous know what to avert.
What are y'all good at and find interesting?
This question will tell you:
- Your skills (you have or want to acquire)
- Your passions
- A list of careers you lot should test out (freelance projects, internships, jobs yous should try to see if you like)
I declared business organisation as my major immediately upon entering higher. I thought any other degree would be useless in today's professional person landscape.
The thing was, I couldn't pass my business concern classes. Macroeconomics withal gives me nightmares to this day!
Then I noticed something. I was killing my English language classes, scoring 100s left and right on papers.
Because those Every bit felt so good, and because I seriously loved "Sex and the Metropolis" at the time, I began exploring the idea of becoming a writer.
The matter was that information technology simply seemed too damn impractical—totally unrealistic.
How would I ever make coin as a writer when the news industry was crumbling before my eyes? (This was 11 years ago before content marketing was a thing.)
Plus, I wanted to be rich. Writers aren't rich.
It took failing macroeconomics—multiple times—to realize I just wasn't cutting out for numbers, and finally, I practical to the journalism program at my school.
Today, I'm a full-time, well-paid (on-my-way-to-rich) author.
I am where I am today because I tied my skills with my interests, and voila, out popped a phenomenal career that I relish waking up for each day. It as well helped that I trusted that the dots would connect in the future.
If you accept trouble figuring out what you lot're expert at, ask others who know you lot—teachers, advisors, friends, etc.
If you're stuck, here are a few more questions to consider.
- What are your top talents and skills?
- What kind of tasks excite y'all and keep y'all engaged?
- What is your favorite pastime? What do you do when you have no more work to practice?
- What topics of conversation are ever interesting to you? What do you find yourself talking nigh passionately with others?
- What are your strongest beliefs and convictions in life?
- What would your friends and family unit say are your greatest strengths?
- In the jobs you've held, what tasks have been the most satisfying and enjoyable?
Key Takeaway
Accept time to get to know you . Figure out what your passions and skills are, and so you can then make sure you centralize these aspects of yourself front end and center as y'all decide what to do with your life.
Identify your tribe 
Who are your favorite types of people?
This question will tell you lot:
- The type of people yous'll work best with
- The blazon of people y'all shouldn't piece of work with
Think about all the people you've had to work with and then far—teachers, peers, toxic bosses. Who drove you the craziest?
No demand to write names. Instead, item what almost these folks irritated you and so much.
Maybe they were bossy and always telling you how to practise your task. Or maybe they slacked off and never held their own in the group.
Every career has a characteristic "people environs." These different environments have been divided into six groups, in what is known as the "Holland Lawmaking." Having a skilful agreement of the groups and how they're unlike tin can guide y'all toward choosing jobs and a career path that will connect yous with like-minded people you enjoy working with.
(2nd ed.) Odessa, FL.: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
Understanding which people surroundings you prefer tin can help you cull a fulfilling career.
This infographic showcases the vi general people environments.
According to the theory, each of us has three preferred people environments from the vi above.
While yous tin can take a test to find your precise three, Richard Bolles of "What Color is Your Parachute?" recommends a faster route.
Pretend you lot're at a party where people with the same interests are gathered in the same corner of the room, and that's truthful for all six corners.
Each corner is composed of people who fit into one of the half-dozen categories above: C, R, I, E, South, A.
Ask yourself:
- Which corner of the room are you instinctively drawn to? This is the grouping y'all'd most enjoy being with for the longest period of time. Write the letter of the alphabet for that group.
- Afterwards 15 minutes, everyone in the corner you chose leaves for another party, except you. Of the remaining groups, which corner/group are you virtually drawn to as the group you'd well-nigh enjoy being with for the longest menstruum of time? Write the letter for that group.
- Afterwards another 15 minutes, this group leaves too, except you. Of the corners that remain, which would yous most relish being with for the longest time? Write the letter for that group.
The iii letters you chose are your "Holland Code," which tells you your preferred types of co-workers. When thinking about what you desire to exercise with your life in terms of a career, think almost jobs that are probable to attract these types of people.
For example, if your Kingdom of the netherlands Code includes Realistic, Enterprising, and Social groups, you might consider a job in the nonprofit sector. If y'all are looking for Investigative, Conventional groups, you might desire a job in the sciences.
Central Takeaway
The people y'all environment yourself with volition shape the life y'all lead. Request this question allows you to know what kinds of friends and colleagues you should seek to build a happy life.
What do you value? In what order?
This question will tell you:
- Where you should work (the type of work civilization you'll thrive in)
When yous start making career decisions, deciding what's most important is a must.
Peradventure you lot've dreamed of working at a startup. Allow's say you get a job offer and the salary is lower than what you were hoping for. Simply the entrepreneur in you is hungry for the responsibility and autonomy you'd gain in this role. Exercise you value experience over coin?
Or you could be deciding between two jobs. Ane is the perfect fit—exactly what you lot've been looking for, merely volition likely be long hours. The other is slightly dissimilar/less ideal, simply offers a great deal of flexibility and work/life residuum. What exercise you value nigh?
In that location's no right or wrong reply, though maxim "yep" to one thing might mean saying "no" to another . Life and business organization coach Marie Forleo shares a major turning point in her life when she chose to follow her passion over financial and career security :
One 24-hour interval I got a call from the HR department at Faddy magazine, and they offered me a promotion. And so it was an opportunity non only for a better job, more money, and the top way magazine in the world.
So I had this fork-in-the-road moment. I was like, 'Either I'k going to do this and take this promotion and have the steady paycheck, have the health benefits.' People understand what yous do when you say you piece of work in magazine. Or I'thousand going to quit and do this weird coaching thing, which I have no thought what the hell I'1000 doing. I have never started a business organisation. I had no money. I'm in debt. But God this feels right in my bones. And so I turned down that promotion, and I quit my full-time job and I went back to what I was doing in college, which was bartending and waiting tables.
The point is: not simply must you recognize what y'all believe in, but likewise, in what gild you believe information technology, so when it comes time to make the hard decisions, you can brand them and feel confident well-nigh them even when the overwhelming majority is trying to convince you that you're a flaming idiot.
Once y'all sort out your values, you'll know the blazon of piece of work culture yous'll thrive in someday.
Cardinal Takeaway
If you're like virtually people, you'll spend a significant portion of your life at work. When yous enjoy the working environment yous're in, it becomes much easier to find fulfillment.
Imagine your hereafter 
What do I want to do before I die?
This question volition tell y'all:
- What you desire to achieve in life (large motion picture)
- How you can start ticking things off your bucket list
What would make you say at the cease of your life, "I went all in"?
Listing absolutely everything yous want to reach before you die. It doesn't affair why. In that location could exist 100 items on the listing. The number is irrelevant—just brain dump.
Once yous've spent a decent corporeality of time brainstorming and developing a solid bucket list, split information technology upwards into three categories:
- Things I demand skills for
- Things I can do immediately
- Things that I need time for
First, go through the skills category and list the skills you'll demand to achieve each bullet indicate. Then lay out the action plan to acquire each skill y'all need.
Side by side, option something on your firsthand listing to tick off directly abroad so you gain some momentum and motivation to keep going.
Finally, which items on the third list would yous feel the worst about not accomplishing at the cease of your life? Reply that, and you accept your priorities.
Key Takeaway
The sooner yous get started on your bucket list, the sooner you can start ticking things off. Have care of the large-moving-picture show stuff, and you'll one day wait dorsum on the life you lot led and grinning.
Where do I derive my inspiration?
This question will tell you:
- Who you can look to for guidance and mentorship
- What you want to show others about yourself
If you've done a lot of the exercises in this article and you lot're still finding yourself thinking, "What practice I do with my life?" and then it may be time to look at some people you lot find inspiring.
Make a list of people whom you await up to. These can be people yous know—parents, friends, colleagues, etc.—or they can be people you've never met, like social justice advocates, celebrities, or politicians.
For each person you come up with, list out the attributes, behaviors, and events that take fabricated them then inspirational to you lot.
Finally, do a petty research into the people on your list. If it's someone you know, simply inquire them if you tin selection their encephalon near their journey. If information technology'south someone y'all don't know, head over to Wikipedia or selection upwards a biography. Learn about what they went through to become where they are, what they wish they could exercise differently, and what choices they made to find success.
While your journey in life will be completely unique, hearing from people who take done what you desire to practise tin guide you every bit you carve your own path.
Key Takeaway
Finding people who have lived a life similar to the one yous want for yourself can give you a roadmap for your future. You lot may also want to consider getting a mentor to make this experience more than personalized.
Bring it all together to create a roadmap
Retrieve at the beginning of this article, when I said no one was going to come along and mitt you a roadmap for life?
Well, I have some good news: If you've taken the time to reply all the questions here, then you've already got the foundation for your roadmap.
Now, you know what actually matters to you lot in life, what stands in your way of getting what you want, and what areas yous need to focus on to make it all happen.
Accept some time away from your answers to let them settle—you may discover every bit you lot ruminate on information technology over the next few days, y'all want to add some new reflections to flesh out and refine your answers.
When it'south been a few days, come back to information technology and effort turning your thoughts into an actionable plan. Start with the big tasks you want to achieve, and break those up into smaller steps.
For example, maybe y'all've decided that yous really want a career that allows you to enjoy the groovy outdoors. You lot might create steps like this to achieve that goal:
- Research average bacon for national park workers
- Look into survival training course at community college
- Visit local nature reserve and interview an employee at that place
- Program a month-long camping ground trip to run into how I similar information technology
In one case you have these achievable steps planned out, you'll be well on your way to answering that devious question, "What practice I desire to do with my life?"
Free resource: Download your own Roadmap Journal hither.
Trust that the dots will connect
"I saw my life branching out before me similar the light-green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat imperial fig, a wonderful futurity beckoned and winked. 1 fig was a husband and a happy domicile and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a vivid professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and higher up these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to expiry, just considering I couldn't brand up my heed which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, simply choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sabbatum there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, 1 past one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." — Sylvia Plath
Growing up is overwhelming, to say the very least.
I wasn't exactly looking forward to my 30s, but worse is the idea of being eighteen again.
I don't miss the figuring yourself out part at all considering information technology's really freakin' difficult and scary. In fact, in farthermost cases, information technology can lead to a quarter-life crisis.
I hateful, what if you make the wrong decision?! Are you lot screwed?
Non AT ALL.
You Will endeavor things you don't like and work with people you tin't stand, but as long as you learn from it, you're moving forward. And that'southward all life is about—getting 1 percent better every twenty-four hours.
Likewise, don't forget to trust… Trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, any. Like Jobs, this approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my career.
Information technology volition make all the difference in yours as well… if you allow it.
Source: https://www.thevectorimpact.com/what-should-i-do-with-my-life/
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