Answer These Questions to Determine What You Want in Life
While friends and former partners are marrying and/or starting families, I’ve been busy riding roller coasters and pretending to be a T-rex at a Polish supermarket appropriately named “Dino”. For anyone who was wondering, it was a scavenger hunt put together for a friend’s birthday weekend, and boy was it fun. Turns out you don’t need to birth children to partake in ridiculous affairs.
Next year - the fun doesn’t stop. In January I have plans to surf in Morocco, hike the Pyrenees, and start exploring the South of Spain in my minivan.
As exciting as my life is, every now and then doubt creeps in, usually after seeing a cute photo of a friend’s baby swaddled like a sausage on Instagram. Or when another friend sends me a photo of the king-size bed she and her partner just purchased. “Cozy,” I respond. Deep down I’m thinking “Sure beats the 70 euro piece of foam I just purchased for my van on Amazon.”
Am I really where I want to be?
Am I really creating the life of my dreams and enjoying the unfolding of it all?
Am I laying the groundwork for who I want to be in five years?
Before I completed the exercise I will soon share below, I wasn’t sure what I wanted from life. Sometimes I felt like living an adventurous life for the rest of my life and sometimes it sounds nice to settle down, raise a little family, and sleep in a ridiculously giant bed with animals snuggled around. What was I to do? Well, I did what anyone going through an existential crisis might do and I enlisted the help of the internet. I Googled something like, “how to know what you want in life”.
That’s when I found a list of questions and spent some time answering them thoughtfully. Afterward, I understood that yes, I am headed in a good direction. I am excited about life on the road and spending time in a climate where the sun is not an anomaly. The exercise helped me get clear about the kind of life I want for myself and validated some of the recent actions I’ve taken to achieve those things. In other words, I am indeed laying the groundwork for a more fulfilled future me. Yippee!
If you have been comparing yourself to others, feeling stuck in life, or unsure about what you want to prioritize in the new year, I highly recommend taking some time for yourself to answer the following questions. Not only will it help you figure out what you want in life but it will also help you determine whether or not your current habits are supporting your ideal future you.
Questions to Determine What You Want In Life
What makes me happy?
What are my needs? Physical, emotional, financial
What are my personal values? Factor in money, travel, hobbies/interests, animals, mental and physical health, time allocation, consistency, communication style
What gives me purpose?
What activities put me in a flow state?
What would I do if there were no limits? Think about the following…
What would I rather be doing?
Who do I want to spend my time with?
Who do I want to help?
Am I in the right location to do what I want to do?
What am I willing to sacrifice to achieve my goal?
How do I define a “good life?”
Who do I admire or get jealous of?
How do I envision the patterns of my life?
What don’t I want?
What drains me mentally and emotionally
What makes me sad
What causes me pain
What are my greatest accomplishments in life?
Since I’ve answered these questions, I’ve also started creating secret boards on Pinterest of homes, clothes, and places labeled “future me”. It’s a virtual vision board that will help me visualize and hopefully manifest some of the goals I’ve yet to attain. If you are serious about making the most out of life, I HIGHLY recommend you do the same!
