Finding Your Bliss: A Quick Strategy

A major source of discontent in many people’s lives not knowing what they truly want. Yes, that mansion, beautiful spouse and two kids sound great, but that’s not what I’m talking about. This has been said before, so I’ll let the philosophers speak for me:

Everything–a horse, a vine–is created for some duty… For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.

Marcus Aurelias

Every man has a purpose, something special that he can do better than anyone else. Your work is to discover this, then give yourself to it. The extent to which you use your skills to add to the world determines your happiness.

Deepak Chopra

What do you want out of this whole “life” thing?

This is one of the hardest questions for people to answer and yet it’s probably the most important question to know the answer to! Many will say it can’t be answered or that they’ll figure it out later. Well I disagree. This is something that can be answered at any age. Your answer will grow and evolve as you, yourself grow, but you can at least start working towards your current goal.

Here’s a great exercise that I’ve found really helpful in determining your bliss:

1) Think of the what you want right at this moment. Considering you do not know what you ultimately want yet, it’s probably something simple like that girl from work, that new BMW and the ability to travel around the world.

2) Fast-forward to when you have all of that. Immerse yourself in that moment and decide what you will want then. You already have all that you currently want, so what will your new desires be?

3) Repeat this process a few times and eventually you will come to the point where you have every earthly possession and the world is at your fingertips. So what then? You can’t just stay stagnant because you have everything, that would be extremely boring. What would you do with your life if you could do anything?

Now what?

If this experiment worked for you…

Why not skip to pursuing your bliss now? As you have just imagined in the previously described process, even when you have everything, you will still be wanting something more. That’s just the nature of man. We’re always just content. We get bored with what we previously thought would be the ultimate source of happiness. This is something that just needs to be accepted.

Following your bliss is the ONLY thing that is going to keep you in a constant state of…well…bliss. Not early retirement. Not the vacation condo in Tahiti. Nothing besides your passion, your calling, your bliss.

And the best part of your bliss is that it’s something that you will be amazing at. Sounds pretty cool, huh?

Or if you’re still not clear on your bliss…

Don’t worry, most people are in this boat with you. I want you to keep this question on your mind in the coming week. Constantly search for things that you would love to do. Become border-line obsessive about this.

One you solidify this intention, the answer will come. It may take a day, a week or a month, but rest assured it will come. Be patient — there is nothing more worth waiting for.

Good luck!