Most of us have thought of having so many different careers over the course of our lives, that sometimes it seems scary to sit where we are.
As per research conducted, 85% of the people in this world are doing a job they don’t like.
That’s a scary number.
No wonder we are always surrounded by some grumpy, sullen fellow who is trying to match his dreams with the reality he has because a very few of us have the courage to match our reality with our dreams.
And a bigger problem than that is that a lot of us don’t know what our dream is.
While growing up we want to become a dancer, a singer, a cricketer, a policeman and what not.
When we grow up, we are told the options we have in front of us; Doctor, engineer, scientist, a well-paid government servant or something like that.
At least this is what our parent expects us to have & do and most of us do that as well because we don’t know what we want from our life.
Society knows it better. Our family knows it better. Our parents know it better.
So we settle into a career, somebody else said would be good for us.
We start earning money, get respected in the society, get married, have children and repeat the cycle so many out there is repeating.
But every now and then, we see somebody doing something which pinches us, and somebody sitting deep inside tells us- ‘wish we could do that!’
And then the next day, we see something else and the inner voice delivers the same message.
And like that we feel so overwhelmed by the things we are doing and things others are doing that we don’t even know what is best for us.
This confusion of not knowing what is to be done to have a life we want to have is the biggest enemy we have in our lives.
It brings more tension, more work, stressed relationships and a tattered self-image.
But once we learn how to have clarity on what we want from our lives and in our life, it’s a smooth ride thereon.
1) Know yourself
“Be yourself — not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be”- Henry David Thoreau
Any destination can only be decided when you know what you like, what you enjoy and that you will know only when you know yourself.
Whatever likes, dislikes you have in your life are based on the inputs you have got from your family, friends, spouse and surroundings around you; so to build a life that you would love, dare to think for yourself and create an idea of what you want to be, not what others want you to be.
When you know what is that you expect from your life, you won’t envy every other guy on the street, you will feel more confident about yourself & your destination.
This is a journey where you are the driver & you are the main passenger and if the destination is not going to be of your liking, the full journey will be a waste of time.
And I don’t think anyone of us wants to reach the end of our lives and think, what a waste of time.
2) Set your goals
“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that steps you take are always in the right direction”- Stephen R. Covey
Once you know yourself, the next step is to decide what is that you want to have in your life.
What kind of relationships do you want?
What kind of house and city you want to live in?
What kind of friends do you want to have?
What kind of work you want to do?
There are so many things which you can decide and once you’ve done that, you can decide the path you are going to take to achieve them.
Having a clear cut idea of what you want and what are the means to get there will not only give you more clarity of the journey and destination, it will also bring a sense of calmness in your life.
3) Saying NO to everything that doesn’t take you to your goal
“Say NO to distraction so you can say YES to the destiny”- Thema Davis.
All of us have the same 24 hours in a day but some of us accomplish more in those same 24 hours and the trick is the focus on the activities which align with their goals.
With our lives today filled with so many distractions all around, it’s easy to fall prey to them and lose our way.
That’s what most of us are doing but if you want your life to be the way you want, you need to say No to anything & everything which is taking you away from your goal.
Sure there will be people asking for your time & your attention, do that according to your schedule not according to theirs.
Once you learn to do that, there will be a few tasks in the day leaving you enough time for the stuff important to you.
Conclusion
While all of us can have the life we want to have, a few of us actually work for that because we don’t know what exactly we want.
News, media, internet, everything has brought so much confusion in our already confused lives that it becomes difficult to think rationally for anybody.
There are millions of signs around us impacting our thought pattern, our habits, our likes, dislikes without our knowing it.
And all of this leads to the chaos in our lives and unknowingly we give the steering wheel of our lives to someone else.
But once we have clarity about our lives, our goals, all of that doesn’t matter as if it doesn’t exist at all.
And there is no better feeling than knowing what we are working for, where we are going, and how we are going to achieve that.
The calm mind, smooth heartbeat and relaxed soul will bless you once you tell them clearly what’s in it for them on the ride.