How to Know What You Want to Do in Life…

People may want to achieve something in life and they may be aware of what they want to achieve, sometimes they do not even know what they want to achieve. Some people are confused as to what do they want to do in their life and some people do not even have an ambition or purpose in life – they are just existing rather than living up to their full potential.

To become aware of what one wants to become in life, an individual should analyze his strengths and weakness and match it up to his interests and aptitude.

Any individual who follows an education or career according to his aptitude and ability has a much higher chance of becoming successful in life. They are many individuals who are forced into educational courses by their parents and some of them end up leaving the course midway as they are just not able to complete it. Others who manage to complete the course do not find their field interesting and lack the motivation to continue in that field. Even if they take up a job in that field, unless they have an interest in it, they will not be satisfied with the job leading to a feeling to frustration and dissatisfaction. There are also individuals who have changed courses and are still confused about what they want to do. This leads to a waste of time, effort and money.

To prevent this from happening, an individual from childhood must be allowed to express his interests rather than forced to do what his parents want or succumb to peer pressure. When the parents are supportive, the individual may feel comfortable to express his interests and take the help of career counselors and aptitude tests to help him/her in selecting the most appropriate field of education / career in which he can excel. They will also be a lifetime of satisfaction involved.

It is never too late to do what an individual has a passion for. These days even working professionals are looking for job/career change  to do what they want to do after consulting career coaches/counselors. This applies not only to the educational or career field but also in the personal life. Individuals may have always wanted to do something which they have never done before such as learning a new skill, art, swimming, volunteering or anything else that they wanted to do. It takes some motivation, some effort to find the required details and doing it! These days internet is accessible to most people and it can be utilized for this purpose.

Once an individual finds out what he wants to do in life, he can divide his goals into long term and short term goals. Short term goals are those which are to be achieved in the next one year and long term goals are the ones that an individual wants to achieve in the next ten to twenty years. Short term goals are to be planned in such a way that they are taking the individual towards his long term goals.

Sometimes there may be obstacles or hindrances to achieve these goals. These may be considered as the bumps on the road, the vehicle may slow down for a while but the vehicle does not stop and it continues towards the destination.

Similarly, an individual may be slowed down due to obstacles in his life but he must not allow these obstacles to stop him. He should continue, even if at a slow speed towards his goal. Each day making efforts will help the individual reach his destination. While the individual is on the journey towards his destination, he can enjoy the journey too!