Not knowing what you want to do in life can be scary and depressing. But in my earlier post, I had written why this frustration of not knowing what you want to do in life could be the best thing to happen to you (if you let it)
Often we are only complaining, overthinking and panicking about what we should do in life.
But only complaining, “I don’t know what to do in life” only reinforces our mistaken belief that we don’t have anything to do and offer in this life instead of seeking to find out what.
The truth is, you KNOW what you want to do in life, but it just hasn’t come out on the surface.
You know and your heart knows, but you’re not listening.
For this, you have to start asking the right questions if you want to know what your truest answers are.
So in this post, I want to share with you 13 questions, or rather journal prompts that will help you figure out what to do in life when you don’t know what to do.
I hope you take your time answering them and write them in a journal or in your diary.
If you think you’ll just think it over and not write your answers down, you’ll be making a mistake and you will be missing out your the truest answers that can come from your heart.
So I would really recommend you to sit down, relax and take your time answering these 13 questions. It’s important that you answer all 13 of them and go serially.
However, you can choose your own pace by answering 1 or 2 or 3 of them every day until you complete them.
You can copy these questions in your diary, or you can get these questions to your inbox in a printable form.
So here are the questions to answer when you don’t know what you want to do in life.

1. What would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
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When we are confused and don’t know what to do in life, most of the time we don’t realize, but it is because we feel that every option we would take would be unsuccessful and so we give up that option without even trying and we feel that we have nothing left to do.
But really, what would you attempt to do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
This question will help you know what things you want to do deep inside your heart but have doubt in, and where you are not daring.
For me, the answer would be that I would attempt to get back at my podcasting which I have been neglecting lately.
I would attempt to post every day on Instagram and grow my page.
I would attempt to quit my job and pursue writing full-time and also start a business.
What about you?
Once we know our answers, could we go about with the mindset of knowing we can’t fail?
Ultimately, success hinges on such a mindset.
- P.S 8 Mindset shifts that will change your life
- 5 Money mindset shifts you need to make
- Abundance Vs. Lack Mindset
2. What would you do if you knew that you could fail, but you would do it anyway?
This question will help you answer where your joy, passion and purpose live.
This is something you would do despite everything. You wouldn’t mind the critics, you wouldn’t mind looking foolish, you wouldn’t mind what people are going to say, you’ll just be happy that you got it done.
The outcome matters, but the reason why you’re doing it matters more.
P.S how to change your beliefs and stick to your goals for good
3. If broadly, the way you lived this week of your life was how you were going to live every week of your life, would you consider that life well lived?
For this question, also write down in detail how you have lived this week of your life so far. What are the things you did and didn’t do?
A week after a week after a week is our life. Our weeks and our days are our mini-life. Our Life is here in our weeks and days, and sooner or later it won’t be.
Then after you have written the details of your current week down, write down what would you consider a week that is well lived.
Include the things that you can do to turn it into a life well-lived.
It can be to work every day, spend more time with family, stop stressing about work so much, start better habits, cut off social media, and meditate every day.
The answer is, how can you start including them in your week?
Can we live our weeks such that we will feel a sense of happiness and satisfaction about what we’re doing?
We can if we try.
- P.S How to create a simple daily routine that works
- 5 sacred Morning Routine ingredients
- How to make time for everything without stress
- Why you should make time for hobbies as an adult
4. What is something temporary you can try that can be a stepping stone to reach where you want to go?
Often we think of the big stuff right away. If we don’t get that big thing, or think of a big stuff, we think we are a failure.
But success is largely achieved by climbing stairs and starting from the bottom while knowing all along that it is temporary and that it is only our stepping stone to reach where we want to reach.
When you don’t know what you want to do in life, it’s mostly because you are thinking too big and discarding the humble thing right in front of you.
And while I am all in for thinking big and having big dreams, we don’t always get to the big stuff right away.
Edwin C. Barnes decided he wanted to be a business associate with Thomas A. Edison. But he had, no knowledge, no qualifications and no money.
He just knew he wanted to do business with Edison so he set out to New Jersey where Thomas Edison worked.
He didn’t get what he wanted right away, but he did get a chance to work in Mr. Edisons’ office and do very menial and unimportant tasks.
However, to him, that work was important because he got the opportunity to be around the corner of where Mr. Edison was and show his ‘merchandise’.
Months passed by and nothing happened. But he didn’t get disheartened.
He had a desire and a purpose that he wanted to become a business associate with Edison and nothing would deter him.
And then finally opportunity came, but in a different form.
Mr. Edison had built a new office device, known as the Edison Dictating Machine (now the Ediphone). However, his salesmen did not believe that the device could be sold easily and weren’t very enthusiastic about it.
It is here that Barnes saw the opportunity and decided to grab it.
He knew he could sell the Edison Dictating Machine and suggested it to Edison.
Ultimately he did sell the machine and sold it so successfully that Edison gave him a contract to do business with him all over the nation. It is out of this, that the slogan, “Made by Edison and installed by Barnes” Grew
So what I want to say is that you won’t get where you want to get right away, so allow yourself to do what you can, even if it is not the dream thing you had originally hoped for.
As long as you don’t forget your big dreams and be completely determined that these are only your stepping stones, you will ultimately reach where you hope for.
And even if you don’t know where you want to go next, just do what you can in the present and do the best there while you are there. That itself will open up wonderful opportunities in the future and you will know what road to take next.
5. What is a dream that you have deep inside your heart? What are the first three action steps you need to take towards it?
I don’t believe that you don’t have a dream inside your heart. We all have it. We just have to dig deeper and get rid of all the practicality and logic that we have been taught and fed by society.
Forget logic and forget being practical. What is a dream that you have?
It might be that you secretly want to do a PhD, become an actress, write a book, start making music, become a pilot or anything.
Whatever it is, what are the first three action steps that you need to take?
If it is to do a PhD, then the first three action steps would be to:
- Search for Universities you want to apply
- Find out your research interest
- Write down your research proposal
If it is to write a book the the first three action steps would be to:
- Figure out what book you want to write
- Do the research and collect ideas
- Write the book
What is it that you want to try or do that has been pending for a long time?
Write down exactly what 3 action steps you need to take to get ahead with it.
6. What would happen if for a moment you stopped focusing so much on what you should do and instead focused on how you wanted to be?
I also want to emphasise the fact that life is not only about doing, but more about being.
By focusing too much and panicking over not knowing what we want to do in life, we miss out on what we truly want to be.
Let the mantra be: Being first, Doing Second.
What would happen if you stopped focusing so much on what you should do and instead focused on how you wanted to be?
I believe we would be much lighter, relaxed and elevated and then what we truly wanted to do would slowly become much clearer.
But I want you to answer this question from your own heart.
What would happen? How do you truly want to be?
P.S. On Doing Vs. Being: Why being is more important than doing.
7. What are you procrastinating in the present worrying about the past and future?
When we don’t know what we want to do in life, all our energy gets spent thinking and worrying about the past and the future.
We might be scared about our future, but really, there is no need to get scared.
The future is safe because it hasn’t come yet.
Your future is made up of nows. How you spend your present is what makes your future.
Are your present habits and actions aligned with your future outcome?
It’s easy to keep on going on the loop of past and future, but you need to break it by coming back and focusing on what you can do in the present.
The chances are that there IS always something that you have to do in the present that you are neglecting.
What is that?
What are you procrastinating in the present worrying about the past and future?
Start giving your time and focus to the present and the future will take care of its own.
8. Imagine you’re not born yet and God decided to send you to Earth, what are the things you would do and how would you be on his behalf?
Many people have done horrible things, believing God wanted them to do it.
But many have used this belief to also do wonderful things on Earth on God’s behalf.
God here can be a creator, universe, higher power, mystic law, whatever you name it.
I believe we are truly here to do God’s work on his behalf.
So what would you do and how would you be on his behalf?
It’s not only about being able to do big things but also small things with great love.
Raising good kids, being a good daughter, creating a happy and harmonious family, being a kind friend, giving food to stray dogs, working at your present job sincerely, cooking food lovingly, volunteering at a place your heart calls out for, writing a book people need, painting a piece that brings peace to your heart, or anything.
If you do anything with love, you will always be working on God’s behalf.
So what are the things you would do and how would you be?
9. Is life really bad or is it just my habits that are making my life bad?
When we say our life sucks or our life is bad, we fail to analyze if it’s really our life that is bad, or if is it our habits that are making our life seem bad.
What is making life so hard? Is it life or is it your habits and your mindset?
If you say you have nothing to do in life or that life is full of boredom and meaninglessness, do an audit of your habits and how you are spending your time.
Write down the habits that are hindering your future progress and the things that you are wasting your time on.
Life won’t always be smooth, but bad habits and a negative mindset make it harder to sail.
- P.S 10 toxic habits to get rid of
- How I simplified my life in 20 ways
- Tiny habits that improved my mental health
10. If you knew you were going to die one year from today, what would you do and how would you want to be remembered?
The only certain thing about life is that we’re all going to die.
The thing that you’re stressing about won’t matter.
People will forget the things you said and what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
Thinking about our death can be scary, but it’s not negative.
It helps us bring things in perspective and allows us to positively reassess what kind of life we really want to live.
What do we want to leave back?
What do we want to give back as a return gift of our life?
What stories do we want people to say about us after we die?
How would you want to be remembered?
Let us live in such a way that when we die, we can say to ourselves, “Oh! What a thrilling and wonderful life I have lived. I wouldn’t mind doing it all over again!”
That should be our true purpose and goal- to not only live well, but also to die well.
How wonderful would that be!
11. If you could spend 30 minutes today creating something, what would you create?
We say we don’t have time, but we can all carve out an extra 30 minutes of time in our day by cutting down social media, TV and any other random stuff that we do to create something that we love or do something that is important for us.
Devoting just 30 minutes a day might sound very insignificant, but 30 minutes a day for 365 days equals 182.5 hours, which is 22 full 8-hour work days!
22 days of doing something that is just for you. Imagine how much of your project, work or learning can move forward in this time!
You can just spend 30 minutes a day creating something and you can be successful.
Something is better than nothing.
So what would you create by carving out just 30 minutes in your day?
12. If you could use a prayer, what prayer would you say?
Accept prayer as a tool in your life to guide you and a source of wisdom in times of confusion and darkness.
There is nothing that a sincere and true prayer cannot transform.
A true prayer is one that goes inward and asks for strength, wisdom and courage to be manifested that is already within you.
Prayer helps us manifest that which we already have and are.
Ask for guidance, ask for strength, ask for courage, ask for clarity and ask for your purpose.
Then have faith that the God/universe/higher power/infinite intelligence will guide you.
If you are lacking in belief and faith, then ask for faith.
Start using the power of prayer in your life and see how your life changes.
Go to the source inside you when there are storms and ask for it to be calm.
I urge you to write your own prayer.
Just be simple, sincere and true to yourself as you write and write whatever comes to your heart at the moment.
P.S why I pray and how to pray
13. If you saw yourself as a loving friend, what kind of things would you say to yourself in this phase of your life?
We are kind to everyone else but ourselves. If we stopped being so critical of ourselves and instead acted as our loving friends, how would things change?
Wouldn’t life be so much easier?
But we often forget it and are the harshest critics of ourselves when we deserve our most love.
When you don’t know what to do in life, you might that you are no good and start saying unkind things to yourself without realizing it.
You need to start becoming aware of what words you are saying to yourself because you are always listening. You are always feeling.
Choose to be kind to yourself and see yourself as a loving friend.
So for once, write down, what would you say to yourself if you saw yourself as a loving friend in this phase of your life.

So these were the 13 questions that I want you to answer. I hope you try them and are curious enough to write down the answers that come from your heart.
You might also like:
- “I don’t know what to do with my life”- what to know and do
- Allow yourself to get discouraged
- The power of accepting off-track moments
- 3 Tips to build self-discipline
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