5 Things To Do When You’re Feeling Lost In Life

Are you feeling lost in life? Bored from life? The topic of “being lost” is one that many have struggled to find an answer to, and to come to terms with.

What exactly does it mean to not feel lost? Philosophers have had their own theories, such as Aristotle, who believed our sole purpose is to achieve happiness, and to exercise virtue.

In this article, I would like to dive more into this realm, and help you ask the right questions so that you can rid of those hard-to-explain concerns of feeling stuck in life.

Let’s begin.

Here are 5 things to do when you’re feeling lost in life:

1. Do what makes you creative

I, like many others, have had my fair share of pondering on the burning questions of the universe. I’ve asked myself many times what the point of life is. Why am I here, what am I supposed to do, and where am I to go?

There are tons of resources that introspect on and highlight these answers, like YouTube videos, this TED episode, philanthropists and influencers like Tony Robbins, talks on the Joe Rogan Experience, and many more.

The interesting thing about life, is that being famous is not a prerequisite for having answers. Being well known certainly helps to build a leadership platform, and to surround oneself on a large scale with likeminded people. But it doesn’t mean answers come easier. It simply means you have more variables to test your thoughts against.

Take Einstein. He figured things out in the midst of solitary work. He was mostly alone in his problem solving. Or how about Siddhārtha Gautama? He sat, undisturbed under a tree for about 49 days, so history tells.

Even current day figures, like Elon Musk, was alone in his thinking growing up. And I would say by keeping up with him and his work, that he still does most of his critical thinking and rational, individually. You know, those late nights, staying up until 3 a.m. because something is burning in your mind. And then the epiphany hits you!

So, the idea is that, finding answers when you’re feeling lost in life isn’t necessarily about being alone, rather it’s what happens WHEN you’re alone.

Being alone lets you become creative.

Creativity allows you to focus intensely, and to enter the flow state where true breakthroughs can occur.

Maybe if you give it a shot—becoming creative through means such as deep introspection and logical analyses, or even growth from pursuing a hobby, then you can find the answers you are looking for.

What’s the takeaway?

If you feel stuck in life, perhaps it’s time you put more energy into analyzing this dilemma. This could mean figuring out where you stand in society, and what makes you thrive on a day-to-day basis, so that you can be productive and innovative.

Open your mind, truly nail down the specific questions you want to ask. Because only then will your specific answers be capable of actualizing.

2. Pursue a job that makes you happy

What do you do for a living? Do you do it for the money, or for the glory and personal satisfaction?

I’d like to say there is one right answer. Hint: not doing it for the money. However, the satisfaction of your job and what you’re looking to achieve professionally is totally unique to you. No one can tell you what you want is wrong. It might not be moral, but it’s not wrong.

Some people aim for the money, but get burnt out in the process. Because let’s face it. Getting money is hard. And getting a LOT of money is nearly impossible. The “rat race” is designed to keep you in it. That is, to keep you in the race, and not watching it from the sidelines.

So if the idea of having financial freedom is what’s driving your professional endeavors, you need to stay motivated. Because it’s a rough journey. It’s certainly not fun.

You know what makes it even less fun, than not fun? Trying to put up with the journey to utopia under shitty management, or a manager who doesn’t like you.

Let’s wind back to the point: finding happiness in life through your work.

If there are people who you don’t get along with at your job, you’ve got to mend things. It’s bad for your mental health, and these disputes distract you from the real goal. That is, to find yourself.

Being unhappy at work can make you feel displaced, professionally. And being displaced professionally can make you feel lost in life. Because, if you aren’t feeling invigorated and enriched, with passion and purpose at your job, then what are you really doing in life?

I’d like you to reflect on these five questions regarding your job:

1. Do you fit into your role?
2. Are you making the money you desire?
3. Is your impact to the world big enough?
4. Do you thrive in your environment?
5. Are you proud of what you are doing?

If you answered no to any of these, you should definitely do some introspection to see if you belong in your job.

What’s the takeaway?

If you’re bored from life and wondering if your job has something to do with it, it’s worth the analyses. Maybe you’re at your dream job. If so, great! You can cross this section off your board. However, if you feel stuck at work, and wondering if your job has something to do with you feeling lost in life, it could be the cause. It might be time for you to change careers.

3. Take a break and introspect

I mentioned Buddha earlier, and how he sat under a tree for over a month. So, I’m not saying you need to sit and listen to leaves fall all day. But let’s play with this idea.

There’s something to be said about slowing down, taking breaks, and introspecting on progress. We do it in sports (halftime), our vehicles (filling our gas tanks), and plenty of other scenarios.

It boils down to using resources to maintain a healthy pathway for success. When this pathway is regarding the non-empirical aspects of our lives, it’s important to stop and measure our current success.

What do you define as success?

Is it having fancy cars? Do you feel that rolling down Broadway in a Lamborghini will prevent you from getting bored in life? If so, what about when you get home from that ride? Will the high of your trip have lasting effects on you? Or will you need to do it again soon to maintain that feeling?

In other words, do you value more intrinsic things or extrinsic things? Do you find happiness in things that build you as a person, your individualism and drive in life? Or are you content with who you are and what you’re doing—that you only need material things to take off the edge?

An effective way of challenging your place is to think back on when you were a child. What did you enjoy doing the most? What were your childhood dreams?

These are all questions to help guide you on your path to finding purpose. They are questions rather than statements because YOU have the answers. You are the one who must answer these questions. My purpose here is only to provide you with the right questions.

What’s the takeaway?

If you’re feeling like you don’t know what to do in this life, and maybe you’re frequently misunderstood, it may help to introspect on the things you value most.

What is it that you value? And why? Think about what you can do to bring those values to life, and to allow them to invigorate you in the highest and purest way possible.

4. Enrich your life with new experiences

What’s the key to conquering boredom? Many would agree that it’s to enrich our lives.

Enrichment is a simplistic idea that resolves around our ability to find satisfaction of new experiences in day-to-day activities. Living an enriching life could be visiting other countries and tasting different cuisine from their culture.

It could also be defined as having experiences that bring you joy and laughter, and that are clearly distinctive than other experiences you’ve had.

Let’s consider these two scenarios:

1. You wake up, drive to work, do your duties, go home, rest, go to bed.
2. You wake up, plan your goals, take a bus to your job, make new suggestions at work, drive a different way home, execute your goals, go to bed.

Both scenarios are similar, but they are fundamentally different in how you experienced your day. I think you’d agree that option two is more enriching.

It’s good to break up your routine because it impedes that mindset of permanence.

Switching things up reminds you that you’re human. That you are growing, thriving, and an ever-changing individual with goals to build healthy relationships, and with hopes of impacting society.

For instance, I read something new and exciting every day. And I’m not referring to the news channel. I am speaking of inspirational materials that help me realize my potential, and to grow.

What is it that you want most in life? When is the last time you’ve taken a vacation or experienced something that made you feel alive? Perhaps you should step outside your comfort zone and try something new.

What’s the takeaway?

Feeling lost can often be a result of living a life that’s lacking enriching experiences. Finding enrichment is a great way to meet new people, learn new hobbies, and create diversity in your routines that will positively affect you.

5. Take action and make a change

This last step is imperative to ridding of those feelings of being lost. Taking action is important because if you don’t do it then change will be nearly impossible.

I like to think of Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

So, what kind of change in life are we actually looking for? Well, we want the type of change that will make us feel more grounded, both mentally and spiritually.

Being grounded is our goal. It allows us to determine in which direction will we fluctuate.

Feeling so bored in life that we don’t know what to do with ourselves is a result of not being grounded. When we aren’t grounded, we dread change, and we become immobilized by our fears.

There’s this acronym called RUFA I’ve previously coined that helps to overcome fear:

1. Realize that you have a fear (or a phobia).
2. Understand why you have the fear.
3. Familiarize yourself with the fear.
4. Accept the fear, or abolish it.

Feeling bored in life, and lost, can mean that we fear who we are not, and what we don’t want to be.

It would be easier if we feared ourselves, because then we could keep our flaws in plain sight and conquer them. But since the fear is of something external that we may not understand (why we are here, where we are going), then it’s harder to conceptualize.

Think of it this way. Is it easier to conceptualize an algebraic equation called AB, when you know algebra? Or is it easier to conceptualize algebra when you know an algebraic equation called AB?

In other words, you may figure out the solution to a problem (your problem) by thinking about it hard enough. But knowing the foundation of the groundwork of the problem makes solving the problem, and others like it, easier.

So, you need to take action and learn the foundations of where your questions are stemming from. If you’re asking what your purpose in life is, then you need to first understand what it means to have purpose.

What’s the takeaway?

It’s easy enough to spew off heavy questions about our place in this world. But simple answers are not always easy to find. To have any chance of finding the answers you are looking for, you’ve got to understand deeply what exactly your question is asking.

And the only way to understand what type of information your question seeks is to understand the question itself.

Take action and learn everything you can about the nature of your questions.

Conclusion

Feeling lost and empty in life is common, but it’s not always common to find the answers we’re looking for. Why is this? Because the questions which require deep philosophical answers don’t always have direct answers that are the same for everyone.

What one person finds to be a solution, might be a failure to someone else. If you’re feeling lost and having trouble finding your purpose, you’ve got to ask the right questions that are relevant to you and your experiences. This means that no one is capable of answering your questions.

However, what people can provide are clues on how they’re attempting to answer their own. This is one of the greatest benefits of reading. The internet is a vast place of information, and if AI was a person with human emotion and goals, they might have all the answers.

But for now, we must rely on each other. More so, we must rely on our own individual drive to ask the right questions, and to get answers that satisfy them. Answers that satisfy us.

I hope this article helps you. Be patient, and good luck to you.

Here’s a quick recap of 5 things to do when you’re feeling lost in life:

1. Do what makes you creative.
2. Pursue a job that makes you happy.
3. Take a break and introspect.
4. Enrich your life with new experiences.
5. Take action and make a change.

That’s all folks! Thanks for reading.

Feel free to comment below if you liked this article on 5 things to do when you’re feeling lost in life. I’d love to take questions or suggestions on other content you’d like to see on eHowdy!