You have been working on your self-development. Things have been going pretty good until you suddenly hit a wall. Now you do not know what you would like to do. We have all been there. It is like we think we must always know what our next should be.
Let us break that stigma right here. We are going figure out your next steps here.
It could be you have hit your professional goals and are ready to make changes there but not sure what you want to do. Maybe you are ready to make a change in some part of your personal life like taking control of your finances, but it scares you. Or perhaps you are stuck trying to figure out what your purpose is now that your kids are grown.
Any of these scenarios and thousands of others can put the brakes on our self-growth. Here are five basic steps to you can use to figure out what you would like to do.
Step 1: Be at peace with where you are right now. It is easy to beat yourself up for past decisions that got you where you are. This keeps you stuck where you are, especially if you think any new decisions are going to be the wrong ones. This is often your ego telling you that taking that step is too scary and you will fail.
Life is about learning and growing. That is what making choices means. Every one of them has been a learning lesson. Recognize the lessons learned and then give yourself permission to be at peace with the past. Then do the work to move forward by deciding.
Step 2: Clear the clutter from your mind. The thing that can keep you from deciding or knowing what to do next can be from having too much jumbled stuff going on in your mind. You probably have hundreds of things going on in your brain that all seem to need attention. This keeps you from thinking clearly.
One way to deal with all these thoughts is to do what is called a brain dump. You need to clear your mind before you attempt to make any kind of decision. Put everything that is floating around in your brain down on a piece of paper. Do not overthink. Just write.
Step 3: Get clarity on every area of life. Take your brain dump and make four lists: What you are good at, what you enjoy, what does not feel right or work now, and what needs you see that you can fulfill. Put all those thoughts into one of the categories and see where there is overlap between them. This can help you get clarity on what direction to go.
Step 4: Determine where to start. Now that you can see where you want to go, you can get clarity on what you want your life to look like and begin mapping out the steps to get there. If you do not know where to start, do some research. For example, maybe you have come to the decision you want to turn your crocheting hobby into a business but have no idea where to start. Begin by talking to others who own their own business. Ask how they got started.
Step 5: Just begin. Start small and implement a little each day. Who can you ask? What habit do you need to start? Where can you find more information? Take it one small step at a time and before you know it, you are where you want to be.
Not knowing what else we want to do or the next phase we want to be in can be scary, especially after we have been working on changes already. These 5 steps might sound too simple, but they have a big impact in giving you an answer. Go ahead and give them a try.