Life

7 Reasons Why Feeling Lost Can Lead You To Life Success

Published

9 years ago

Feb 6, 2016

Are you feeling lost? Frazzled? Like you have no idea where your life is going or what you want to do with your life? Don’t despair. Feeling lost might be the best possible thing to experience right now.

When you are lost, you can explore your options, get to know yourself, and learn more about what your next steps should be. It’s a time to take stock of your surroundings and reassess the decisions you have made to get to this point.

Here are 7 reasons why feeling lost can be the best thing to happen to you:

1. Feeling lost makes you stop and assess the situation

If you’re going along in life and things seem to be going okay, you might stay in a job you don’t love. You might stay with a partner you aren’t in love with. You might avoid new experiences and challenges because they’re not worth the risk. When you feel lost, none of those things hold you back anymore.

You can really stop and assess every aspect of your life and rebuild it from the ground up. You can take notice of things that you previously brushed under the metaphorical carpet. You have to take ownership for who you are and how you got there. But the great news is that you can also take ownership of where you go from here forward.

“I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” – Vincent Van Gogh

2. Failure and loss are important for your growth

You’ve surely heard the expression “without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” In other words, you would never notice the good things if you didn’t also experience the bad things. Well guess what? Failure and feeling lost are in the “bad things” category.

But that doesn’t mean they are inherently bad. These experiences shape who you are. They lead you to discover parts of yourself you would have otherwise never known about. They are important things to go through. So, embrace them!

3. You have time to explore options you may have ignored

When you feel lost and alone, it’s a wonderful time to try new things. Have you always wanted to take an aerial yoga class? Have you ever wondered if you could make a living as a chef? Why not give it a shot?
Have you always had an itch to travel? Book a flight! This time when you’re spinning and trying to find your center is the perfect time to have fun and see if you find anything that sparks new joy in your life.

4. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain

When you feel like you’re sitting at the bottom of your life pit, it’s time to grab a rope and climb out. This is what feeling lost is like. If you feel that your life is spinning out of control or that you’re not heading in the right direction, you have nothing to lose by changing your path. And you just might find the path to your success!

5. You can get to know yourself and what you really want

This is a great time in your life to get to know yourself. You can do this through meditation, prayer, journaling, hiking, counseling, or just spending some time with yourself. Some people like to dine alone or go to the movies solo. This time you spend getting to know yourself might lead you to discover new goals or things you’d like to pursue.

6. You can volunteer your time and energy

When you feel lost, you might want to come home at the end of the day and watch TV. But a better alternative is to use your free time to help others. When you volunteer, you don’t just improve the lives of others, but you also make a lasting change in your own life.

You learn the value of your time and your energy. Volunteering is also a great way to network and meet people who could lead you down a new path. If you have a particular interest that you volunteer for, it might lead to a career with that organization.

7. You can embrace the freedom

When you don’t know which direction to move, sometimes it’s best to stop worrying about it so much, throw up your hands, and embrace the unknown! This time is really yours to explore, learn, try, travel, and just be. You can blaze your own path. Right now, that path might not lead anywhere special; it might be a path in a circle.x

But the lessons you learn along the way will become a part of you. They’ll guide you to new opportunities. They’ll inspire you to get involved with new people or organizations. They will lead you to success!

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl

Hopefully, you’ve learned that feeling lost is sometimes the first step on the path toward your biggest successes. This notion that you are lost, and therefore you should be sad or helpless, is wrong. Take this time to reassess every area of your life.

Break free of your comfort zone, try new things, meet new people, and welcome the listlessness. These are the moments when you can find your joy and discover the path to success.

So, what will you do next? What great adventure is waiting for you on the other side of the fear? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Julie Petersen

Julie Petersen is a content marketing specialist, a private language tutor and an author of essay writing services reviews at AskPetersen blog. Contact Julie through her LinkedIn.

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Life

How Learning the Skill of Hope Can Change Everything

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life

Published

2 weeks ago

Jan 6, 2025

Daniel Bell

Image Credit: Midjourney

Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s a state of being and a skill that has profound evidence of helping people achieve success in life.

Wishful thinking, on the other hand, is like having dreams in the sky without a ladder to climb, having a destination without a map, or trying to operate a jet-engine airplane without instructions. It sounds nice but is impossible to realize. You don’t have what you need to make it happen!

What Real Hope Is

Real hope is actionable, practical, and realistic. Better yet, it’s feasible and can be learned.

One popular approach is Hope Theory. This concept is used by colleges to study how hope impacts students’ academic performance. Researchers found that students with high levels of hope achieve better grades and are more likely to graduate compared to those with less hope.

Hope can be broken down into two components:

Pathways – The “how to” of hope. This is where people think of and establish plans for achieving their goals.
Agency – The “I can” of hope. This is the belief that the person can accomplish their goals.

Does Hope Really Work?

According to Webster’s Dictionary, hope as a noun is defined as: “desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment.”

As humans, we are wired to crave fulfillment. We have the ability to envision it and, through hope, make it a reality.

My Experience with Hope

For 13 years, I was a hopeless human. During my time working at a luxury hotel as a front desk agent earning $11.42 per hour, I felt the sting of hopelessness the most.

The regret of feeling my time was being stolen from me lingered every time I clocked in. Eventually, I decided to do something about it.

I gave myself permission to hope for something better. I began establishing pathways to success and regained agency by learning from self-help books and seeking mentorship.

Because I took action toward something I desired, I now feel more hope and joy than I ever felt hopelessness. Hope changed me.

Hope Actually Improves Your Life

Wishful thinking doesn’t work, and false hope is equally ineffective. Real hope, however, is directly tied to success in all areas of life.

Studies show that hopeful people tend to:

Demonstrate better problem-solving skills
Cultivate healthier relationships
Maintain stronger motivation to achieve goals
Exhibit better work ethic
Have a positive outlook on life

These benefits can impact work life, family life, habit-building, mental health, physical health, and spiritual practice. Imagine how much better your life could be by applying real hope to all these areas.

How to Develop the Skill to Hope

As acclaimed French writer Jean Giono wrote in The Man Who Planted Trees:
“There are also times in life when a person has to rush off in pursuit of hopefulness.”

If you are at one of those times, here are ways to develop the skill to hope:

1. Dream Again

To cultivate hope, you need to believe in its possibility. Start by:

Reflecting on what you’re passionate about, your values, and what you want to achieve.
Writing your dreams down, sharing them with someone encouraging, or saying them out loud.
Creating a vision board to make your dreams feel more tangible.

Dreams are the foundation of hope—they give you something meaningful to aspire toward.

2. Create an Environment of Hope

Set Goals: Write down your goals and create a plan to achieve them.
Visualize Success: Use inspirational quotes, photos, or tools like dumbbells or canvases to remind yourself of your goals.
Build a Resource Library: Collect books, eBooks, or audiobooks about hope and success to inspire you.

An environment that fosters hope will keep you motivated, resilient, and focused.

3. Face the Challenges

Don’t avoid challenges—overcoming them builds confidence. Participating in challenging activities, like strategic games, can enhance your problem-solving skills and reinforce hope.

4. Commit to Wisdom

Seek wisdom from those who have achieved what you aspire to. Whether through books, blogs, or social media platforms, learn from their journeys. Wisdom provides the foundation for real, actionable hope.

5. Take Note of Small Wins

Reflecting on past victories can fuel your hope for the future. Ask yourself:

What challenges have I already overcome?
How did I feel when I succeeded?

By remembering those feelings of happiness, relief, or satisfaction, your brain will naturally adopt a more hopeful mindset.

Conclusion

Hope is more than wishful thinking—it’s a powerful skill that can transform your life. By dreaming again, creating a hopeful environment, facing challenges, seeking wisdom, and celebrating small wins, you can develop the real hope necessary for success in all aspects of life.

Let hope guide you toward a brighter, more fulfilling future.

Life

The 5 Stages of a Quarter-Life Crisis & What You Can Do

A quarter-life crisis isn’t a sign you’ve lost your way; it’s a sign you’re fighting for a life that’s truly yours.

Published

4 weeks ago

Dec 27, 2024

CT Dool

Image Credit: Midjourney

The quarter-life crisis is a well-defined set of stages—Trapped, Checking Out, Separation, Exploration, Rebuilding—one goes through in breaking free from feelings of meaninglessness, lack of fulfillment, and misalignment with purpose. I detail the stages and interweave my story below. (more…)

Life

Here’s The Thing About Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning

Stop hoarding and start sharing your knowledge and wealth for the benefit of humankind

Published

2 months ago

Nov 21, 2024

M.S. Rao

Image Credit: Midjourney

Few people have the habit of hoarding their wealth without spending. However, it limits their motivation as they tend to get into their comfort zones. When people start spending money, then there will be depletion in their coffers. (more…)