How to Change Your Life Path

Do you feel dissatisfied with your current state of life? Often, there comes a point in our lives (or several points, as a matter of fact) when we reflect upon where life is taking us. Even those caught up in busy corporate jobs sometimes come to a halt and re-evaluate their lives. If you haven't been feeling motivated at work, and have been experiencing difficulty getting up in the morning in order to face the day, then something is not right with your life. You should bounce out of bed with enthusiasm, respond with alacrity and feel good about what the day will bring you. Why should you have to live with a sense of dread? Only you can change your life.

I know of a man who had renounced religion and had meandered through life as an agnostic. He said that he was never really satisfied and never felt truly secure as the years went by. He couldn't really pin down what it was that was bothering him, and he reluctantly attributed it to low-grade depression. Then one day, it hit him: He didn't really believe in anything. He was getting older, and the prospect of his impending mortality frightened him dearly, as he didn't have anything to set his faith in. He decided to study theology and was eventually ordained as a pastor. His life completely turned around, and he isn't the same jittery, irritable and uncertain person that he once was.

There are many cases of people with seemingly perfect jobs that pay well and offer security, but those same people are often plagued by a sense of incompleteness. After much contemplation, those people decide to cut back on the demands at work, and to devote their time to go help the homeless, or work towards the HIV/AIDS cause, or save animals from cruelty.

If a sense of dissatisfaction has been harassing you, then consider these ideas.

1. Listen to your gut. Have you been living a life that has been in conflict with your deepest values? Have you always wanted to improve the health of people but do not see any elements of this in your daily life? Even if you feel moved to change your career to an unconventional line of work, don't let society's views on it restrain you. There must be something about this that really inspires you.

2. Think about it deeply. Meditate about it, look for answers about it in your dreams, write about it in your journal. Allow for enough time for reflection, as this isn't something you would want to jump into immediately. Try to understand what it is about your dream career that appeals to you and fascinates you.

3. Dabble in it at first. If you have always wanted to help people, join a volunteer group that requires minimal commitment. Just in case you decide that the whole idea was better in fantasy than in reality, you can slip out of your commitment to it. On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to confirm your passion and interest. You may end up loving it more than you had ever expected.

4. Don't let others hinder you. Once you have made a decision, don't let the comments from others get in your way. Your friends may joke about your sudden change and your family may express concern about it. If your family has reason to be worried (i.e. you have a history of making extreme life changes or suffer from bipolar disorder), then by all means take their advice to heart. However, if you feel that they shouldn't be worried, then assuage their fears by telling them that this is something that you truly believe in. Most of all, don't let yourself get in your way. Humans (especially women) have a tendency to censor themselves by thinking limiting thoughts about their capabilities. Those are just residual habits from the past. You're getting prepared for a new era. Stop being your harshest critic. Now is the time to establish faith in yourself.

5. Now dive in. You may find that problems that seemed minor before are rectifying themselves naturally. Were you experiencing sleeping problems in the past? Feelings of malaise? I know someone who had felt as if she'd held herself back in entire life and that affected her assertiveness. Her restrained assertiveness also affected the way she felt about her power in relation to others, and this caused her unnecessary stress and anxiety. Since starting her own business, she became her own boss, and felt more powerful. Even her shyness dissipated and she seemed to stand up taller and prouder. She swears that her panic attacks have ceased since she's taken life by its horns.

Why would you want to go through life dissatisfied and feeling unappreciated? If you have long suspected that you belong in another line of work, make assessments of where you are and where you would like to go, and at least try. If you don't try, how will you ever know what your true calling is?