I Don’t Know What I Want to Do 

As a Career Coach, people frequently report to me (with great distress) that they “don’t know what they want to do” or they “don’t know what they should do next.”  These anguished assertions are stated as clear evidence that they are indeed completely stuck and beyond help and should therefore immediately go into hiding. 

But embedded in this assertion is a significant thought-error.  Underneath this statement is the belief that you SHOULD know what you want to do.  And the fact that you don’t know creates all kinds of pain  

for you! 

But WHAT IF you actually shouldn’t know what you want to do?   

What if this just isn’t how the process works?   

The truth is that your next steps, let alone your final destination, are almost never known or clear until you get there. 

So, how do you move forward when you don’t know what you want to do?  

STEP 1:  Realize that nothing has gone wrong.  You’re not supposed to know…at least not right now…and not at this stage. 

STEP 2:  Follow your breadcrumbs. Get an insight, take some action on that insight, and repeat this process over and over again.  This is how you figure out what you want to do, learn about new opportunities, and build clarity in your direction. 

Take a lesson from Hansel & Gretel.  If you know the German fairy tale, you know that the children dropped breadcrumbs to find their way back out of the forest.   

The way to move forward when you feel stuck, anxious, or paralyzed is to go on a hunt for the breadcrumbs in your life.  

Breadcrumbs are the places where your interest, energy, joy, or engagement peak.   

Breadcrumbs are your guide out of the confusion, one small insight at a time. 

This is how it’s SUPPOSED to work. 

Here are some questions to get you hunting: 

• What classes or projects have you enjoyed and why?   
• Even if you hated your last job, were there any parts of it you enjoyed?   
• What parts of your current role energize you MOST? 
• When do you find yourself loosing all track of time?  What are you doing? 

As you list things out, are you seeing any themes?  How could you move in the direction of where your interest, energy or engagement are strongest?  Small steps count!  Who could you talk to? How could you do more of these things?  How could you strengthen these interests, skills, or connections? Remember, it’s always better to focus your energy on strengthening a strength as opposed to shoring up weaknesses!   

Each small awareness of where you come most alive is a breadcrumb leading you in the direction of the work you’re meant to do.  It’s a circuitous, messy route out of the fog, and you get there by following one small breadcrumb at a time!  

Need some help working on all this?  Feeling stuck?  Ready to up your game and accomplish more than you ever thought possible? Reach out at [email protected] and let's get started!