3 Easy Tips to Get Unstuck and Follow your Passion

Hey Queens! Today’s topic of conversation will resonate with you if you are multi-passionate and determined, but you still don’t know what to do with your life, how to follow your passions or get unstuck.

Help! I don’t know what to do with my life.

This familiar anxiety has penetrated my mind countless times. It became overwhelming when I was about to graduate from college in 2015 and persisted up until this year.

Constantly questioning and stressing about finding my purpose launched me further into what felt like a merciless black hole. I was indeed feeling stuck.

Now, I’m sorry to say that I don’t have the one tried and true formula for getting unstuck. It simply doesn’t exist! But if I can break free from a vicious downward spiral, you can too.

Here are a few ways to start:

First, reconnect with your hobbies.

While living abroad, I’ve learned how crucial it is to keep your mind active and engaged in at least one hobby. Then, when the homesickness kicks in, you’ll at least have something to look forward to and get your mind off the increasing FOMO. 

Furthermore, maintaining hobbies helps balance out the 9 to 5 workweek, daily stress, and deadlines (whether you’re living abroad or not).

During the slower months at my first teaching job in Tokyo, days would drag on and on. All I could think about was fleeing school as soon as the 5 o’clock bell rang.

When I found things to keep me busy, like joining my students’ volleyball practice or painting in the art room, I was reminded of the things that bring me joy and fulfillment.

Pay attention to what hobbies you’ve sustained. You can use them as a compass.

Next up: Reframe your failures.

In order to learn, you must live. Living involves:

• Getting out of your comfort zone.
• Welcoming change.
• Failing (lots of it).

Failure is a learning opportunity in disguise; It absolutely sucks when you’re in the midst of it, but there’s always something you can glean from it. 

I’ve felt like a failure in many different ways in the past few years…

• I fell in love with the idea of becoming a photographer. I didn’t get very far, though, mainly because I didn’t invest myself fully into the craft.
• I volunteered for a startup supporting women in business but couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced work and realized I didn’t want to manage people.
• Likewise, every teaching job I’ve landed has reinforced my intention to leave education once and for all.
• And finally, my husband and I recently decided to take a break from our podcast and joint blog. It was an emotional decision, but like the other experiences I had “failed” at, it’s helped me arrive at the place I am today.

Last but not least, choose your commitments wisely.

If you’re like me, you’re a dreamer. Starting new projects or hobbies thrills you! The problem is that it’s SO hard to stick with them. 

I’ve realized that my lack of consistency stems from my tendency to take on too much at once.

Even if I’m doing the thing I’m most passionate about, I lose focus if my time is divided between that and four other commitments. I certainly couldn’t produce my best paintings amid transitioning jobs, devoting my free time to volunteering while figuring out the marriage process in Japan.

I thought that having more to do meant that I was getting more done.

Reality check: I wasn’t getting much done of anything simply because I had bitten off more than I could chew.

Inevitably, life forces us to juggle multiple things at once. But as for your hobbies and passions, you don’t have to spread yourself thin.

And if you ARE the type of person who can take on several projects at once, good for you! I genuinely envy your superpowers.

But for the more easily overwhelmed crowd, pouring your energy into one thing at a time can help you master a skillset faster and with fewer distractions. 

Don’t forget to look within. 

Getting unstuck and finding your purpose takes time. If there was a magic potion to reveal your life’s direction, I would have gulped that sh*t down 10 years ago. And I probably would have regretted it because I would have missed out on all the growth experiences leading up to this point. 

After a lot of reflection, rich experiences, and failure, I’ve finally realized that what I wanted to do with my life and what I had to offer was within me all along. So, I spent some time reflecting on the following questions:

• What have I always enjoyed doing?
• What is it that I DON’T want to do?
• What are my strengths?
• Who do I want to help/connect with?

And with these questions in mind, I created a blog. It has enabled me to:

• Create and express myself.
• Become my own boss. 
• Share my writing, design, and photography.
• Connect with people like me who have ADHD and share similar struggles.

I hope you can use these questions as a guide for getting in tune with yourself and taking that next step. Be sure to let me know what resonates with you. What additional advice do YOU have for getting unstuck?

See you next Sunday!