With all this extra productivity and success you are – or soon will be – enjoying (as a result of reading this blog and applying these ideas), it makes sense for you to start thinking about how you will make the best use of them.
You can, of course, continue to do what you’re doing – just more of it, and better. But you may also want to think about making a course change toward a direction or destination that would bring you more satisfaction in your work and your life.
Here is a checklist of questions for you to answer in hopes of steering yourself toward a future that feels significantly better:
What Do You Do Well?
All of us have skills, talents, and gifts that make us good at certain activities, tasks, and responsibilities. While you probably have some guesses, wishes, and dreams about what you can do well, it’s important that you have a solid idea of actual, objective reality.
The list could include:
- Tasks and skills you perform well.
- Activities that make you feel good or empowered.
- Responsibilities you enjoy and have successfully fulfilled.
- Anything else about you that other people rely on or respect.
Tasks, activities, and responsibilities you do well form one pillar of a solid foundation from which you can make a course change that will take you to new heights of career and personal satisfaction.
What Are Your Passions?
Regardless of your skills, talents, and gifts, your passions may help to inform a new direction you may decide to take.
You may feel passionate about anything from swimming to journaling, from coaching to designing, from cultivating a friendship to gardening, or from playing an instrument to meditation.
The depth of your passion is just as important as what you’re passionate about. It’s always helpful to find your passion, explore it, and nurture it.
This passion forms a second pillar of the solid foundation from which you may find a trail that leads you to higher levels of satisfaction and fulfillment.
Where Do You See Yourself Going?
In most job interviews, the question comes up: “Where do you see yourself in years to come?” It’s a good question, and it’s one that you ought to answer even if no one else is asking it of you.
Take your time when answering this question. One good way to find the answer is to:
- Check in with your feelings as well as your thoughts.
- Try to get a sense of how happy you will be if you don’t change direction.
- Compare that level of happiness to what your feelings might be if you were to find and follow some new direction that pleases you.
In my experience, anyone who tries can find and follow a pathway that leads to whatever will feel like “the good life.” This “good life” – which no one else can describe for you – will embrace your passion, exhibit a strong sense of purpose, and make you feel your life has meaning. Whatever may turn out to be the “good life” for you, it will honor your personal values and fulfill your personal needs.
Finding and following this new direction may not be easy, but you can be sure you will feel rewarded and happy every day you live this “good life.”
The key to finding and following this new direction is to identify the steps you must take to make real the answer to the question: “Where do you see yourself in years to come?”
Your clear sense of the direction you’d like your life to follow is a third pillar of the foundation from which you can best expand your future productivity and success.
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