How To Know What You Want

Do you see those people in life who are living their passion full out? They know what they want, they go after it, and they execute actions with passion.

In this article I’m going to share with you how to figure out what you want in life. First, I’m going to share with you some misconceptions about desires and wants, secondly I’m going to share with you the nature of our environment that affects our brain and how we determine what we want, and finally I share with you some exercises that can help guide you into that space.

Firstly, there are some misconceptions that I want to clear. Just because those people who are taking serious action towards what they want to create doesn’t mean that they don’t have doubts, worries, and fears. We like to think of people who create their life the way they want to as these solo-entrepreneurs who always know that they’re heading in the right direction. This is far from the case.

Whenever you start something new you take a plunge into the unknown. You open up a box and then you realize that there are seven other boxes within that box. It gets scary and confusing and frankly overwhelming. Being an entrepreneur in any industry means you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into and to expect the unexpected is the only guaranteed outcome. Adaptability becomes your new philosophy.

Those iconic heroes that we look up to on the outside who our innovators go through times where nothing makes sense, they feel confused and lost, and uncertain about many things. The only difference between them and you is that they realize that this is inevitable, they accept it, and they move on. Creating anything means taking risk, accepting uncertainty, and experiencing anxiety. It’s the very nature of creation.

Secondly, we live in a world that is full of possibility. If anything we live in a world that has too much possibility. We’re bombarded with everything. Messages, advertisements. We have unlimited opportunity here in the US. No matter what you want if you really want to go for it you can make it happen. Everything is only a mouse-click away. There are colleges, scholarships, payment plans, loans. The world really is our oyster. If you want something bad enough you can make it happen.

My point is that if your asking yourself what you really want your asking yourself the wrong question. You really need to be asking yourself how do you want to live and at what pace. Everyone wants happiness and has different ideas of happiness. To some it’s a great relationship and owning their own business. Having the freedom to live a certain way. To others it’s being a monk and meditating on top of a mountain and achieving union with god. We’ve been programmed to believe that happiness and contentment and living a joyful life revolves around what you have and what you can achieve. It’s not. Happiness and contentment and fulfillment are internal feeling states of being.

They aren’t given to us by anything external. Now, we can accomplish certain things in the external world and they will give us that internal feeling but please see that any internal state you have is temporary. Just like a drug. So if you’re asking yourself, “What will make me happy?” and you have some internal image that your mind is projecting realize that it is an illusion. You can go after that thing and achieve it but it may take many moments of anxiety and worry to get it. Then once you get it you have a temporary feeling of satisfaction but then your being goes back to feeling anxious and worried because that is the way you live.

Life isn’t about what you have or what you’ve accomplished it’s about how you live. If you want to be peaceful then live peacefully. If you want to be joyful then live joyfully. Set yourself up and your life to revolve around living these ways. Now I’m not saying don’t making external goals and have ambitions. I consider myself incredibly ambitious. What I’m saying is realize that much of what you feel on the inside has to do with how you live on the outside. It’s not the outside world that dictates how you feel internally.

Thirdly, you can ask yourself a set of questions that will allow your mind to focus on what it is that you truly want. Many of us have a million ideas that we want to pursue and that we think will make us happy. I’m firmly believe that we can do anything that we want but I also believe that we can’t do everything that we want. And that’s really key to understand. Because what we want changes because we’re changing. And in the fast moving world today we are changing ever so quickly that we can barely keep up.

#1 Stop randomly taking in information. We live in information overload and information gives us new ideas. If you’re confused about what you want it’s probably because you’re taking in too much information. Only intake information that is directly applicable to what you want to achieve. This is incredibly important.

#2 State your goals specifically and then get the information you need to achieve those goals. For instance, you want x outcome then you need y information and z actions to achieve. That’s the simple formula. Don’t deviate from it.

#3 Ask yourself this one question, “What little action can I take right now that will bring me closer to achieving my goals.” Visions and companies are built by everyday small little actions. Focus on the next small step you can take to bring you close to your goal.

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