“I Have No Idea What I’m Doing” – How To Overcome The Feeling & Get Clarity

There will come a time in your life when you have no idea what you want to do with yourself or your life. Experiencing this kind of disorientation and fear is difficult because most of us are used to having our questions answered quickly.

It’s important to remember that you don’t have to let this time weaken your self-confidence or cause you to question your judgment.

If you don’t know what to do, meditate, take a walk, learn new stuff or be creative. However, despite doing all these ideas you still end up in a blank space.

Instead of exhausting yourself, you can accept that there’s nothing you can do and take no action on it. Embrace the emptiness because sometimes we have to feel this blankness. 

In this article, we will inspire and guide you that having no idea of what you’re doing is okay. We will also tackle how to overcome the feeling of blankness. 

How to Overcome The “I Have No Idea What I’m Doing” Feeling

Something about the social pressures of adolescence and the professional pressures of young adulthood squeezes the passion out of us. We’re taught that the only reason to do something is if we’re somehow rewarded for it. And the transactional nature of the world inevitably stifles us and makes us feel lost or stuck.

–Mark Manson

Sometimes you can feel like you’re drifting through life without any idea of where you’re going or what’s going to happen next.

But somewhere out there, waiting for you to find your purpose, you can see the shoreline and it’s beckoning you.

Do not fear, you are not the only one in this situation. Your life is a mess and you don’t know how to get out of it.

You must realize that this is perfectly normal if you don’t know what you’re doing. People aren’t born knowing what their ultimate role in society will be.

But they are born with an infinite number of options from which to choose their path. Despite the vast array of options, making a decision can be exceedingly challenging. In addition, the right decision shifts as your adventure unfold, because life is in constant flux. 

Many of us have experienced the “I have no idea what I’m doing” moment at one point or another. It’s hard to avoid the overwhelming sense that you should have everything under control.

However infrequent, it can result in the kind of crippling self-doubt that can harm your career. Knowing how to deal with it now will save you a lot of headaches down the road when you’re working in a stressful environment. 

Stop Assuming Others Have It Right

It’s hard to work and feel like everyone else knows what they’re doing.

That coworker who always seems to run great meetings, that colleague who is capable of making a decision and gathering support, that coworker who seems to navigate a difficult situation and come out on top.

Yeah, it sometimes feels like everyone is better than you. Confidence is undermined when you compare yourself to others and worry that you don’t measure up.

Find a positive thought that calms your anxious mind.   Find something to stop the downward spiral.

Stop Thinking You Need To Know Everything

Distinctions form. Inspiration abounds. You don’t always hit the mark, but trust yourself with the blank page and let it lead you somewhere. The thing is, knowing what you’re doing isn’t always better than not knowing. 

It’s how you learn and grow that you’re willing to figure things out as you go. That’s how real value is created.

Try These Ideas When You Don’t Know What To Do

There are times when it feels like you’ve lost the ability to make a decision, choose, or take deliberate action.

Choosing any of the alternatives makes you feel like you’re chomping down. Then, you find yourself feeling drained and unmotivated when you begin to take action. 

We’ve all experienced times when the answers to our most pressing questions and issues just don’t appear. On a normal day, everything should be running smoothly until out of nowhere, you’ve morphed into a dry piece of bread.

If you’ve found yourself reading this, you’re probably one of those people. Following these guides will help you find the life goals you’ve been putting off:

1. Take No Action

Embrace the fact that you are having a hazy, undecided, and non-productive day. Your subconscious may know more than you are aware of. It could be that your brain needs a rest.

So, be kind to yourself and acknowledge that our “inner knowing” may be correct on occasion. The more you try to fight it, the more stress and unhappiness you’ll experience.

Take a day off for your well-being. Take a book, sit in the park, watch a film, or have lunch with a friend.

Do not feel guilty or stressed about having fun today. You could also choose to let life take its course without making any decisions. Everything works out for the best in the end when it’s meant to.

2. Take a Walk

Another option is to go for a walk, cycle, or do some light exercise outside. Get your heart pumping, your body moving, and your endorphins soaring.

It’s amazing how much better one feels after spending time outside and getting some exercise. Even if your brain function isn’t restored, you’ll still be able to burn calories and feel better about yourself. That’s a good start.

3. Do Mindless Tasks

To keep your mind occupied, do some mindless tasks. If you’re unable to come up with anything truly productive or important, then simply clear your work area, put the dishes in the dishwasher, clean your yard, or clear out your inbox.

Simple tasks that don’t necessitate making difficult decisions or spending a lot of time thinking are best. Even if you don’t do or decide on the big thing you think you should, you’ll still accomplish something.

4. Learn New Stuff

Learn something new or improve your skills with the help of a blog post, a book, or an audio or video podcast.

Don’t put yourself under any unnecessary stress by trying to master something that seems insurmountable. But don’t worry too much about what you’re reading or listening to.

The thing you are interested in learning might help open your mind about what you are unsure of. Some doors may open, and you may find the answer you’ve been searching for.

5. Meditate

For 10-15 minutes, sit quietly and observe your breath. Stop judging your thoughts and let them pass through you. Keep your attention on your breathing and gently dismiss any distracting thoughts that may arise.

Meditation can help you relax and recenter yourself, allowing you to focus and function more effectively. Clearing your mind allows you to come up with more creative solutions.

6. Be Creative

To achieve clarity and insight, you need to be in the flow. Do something creative for an hour, something that you’re interested in, or do one of your hobbies. Draw, cook, paint, play an instrument, dance, write a poem, anything that allows you to be in a creative flow.

7. Make A To-Do List

It can be helpful to write down your thoughts when you’re feeling hazy and disoriented. Make a list of all the decisions, options, and actions you’re considering.

You can better manage your thoughts by putting them in order on paper. You can’t take action right now, but at least you’ll have the list when your brain starts working again.

8. Accept Discomfort To Be Happy

Since life isn’t always easy, you’ll have to deal with a lot of pain. You just have to accept that knocks and bumps can’t always be avoided.

Each time you feel this way, you will learn a little more about yourself and what you want for the future. 

You will learn what you can and can’t stand, and this will help you find better places to stop on your trip. You’ve been through a lot of pain, but you’ve learned where your limits are when it comes to pushing your mind and body.

9. Stop Being Distracted And Delaying

Always keep in mind that time moves on. You may want to find and pursue a dream, but you won’t be able to if you keep putting off what must happen.

Do something new with the time you would have wasted if you wanted to keep doing what you liked to do. It’s not easy to figure out what your ideal path in life is. Make your mind, body, and time work.

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing, and That’s Fine!

At a certain age, you don’t know what you should be doing. There is a trapdoor under your feet that opens when you think you’re getting a better idea of what that is. 

The moment you start flailing your arms, you’re back where you started.  As time goes on, you rise to your feet and start the long climb toward adulthood, only to fall back into the abyss.

In times when there is a lot of uncertainty, people’s mental health can get worse as they try to figure out how to get to a better place. You haven’t done anything because you were afraid you would make a mistake.

When you’ve not done anything, you’ve often been in a self-reinforcing phase of anxiety. Denial is a state of mind in which you pretend that everything is fine or that you are fine when, in fact, the opposite is true.

Most of us realize what we must do to start cutting the vicious circle, but we don’t have the encouragement or are too scared to move on our own.

Rock bottom is a great place to start because it provides a solid foundation. Every emotional breakdown into the abyss forces you to stop and think about how you might begin to recover from a mental health crisis, even if it results in brokenness. 

Often, the things that make you happy aren’t what you “should” be doing in the first place. Ideally, we would all be able to align our happiness with our beliefs, but this isn’t always the case.

No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to align what you “should” be doing with what makes you happy and what helps you effectively manage your mental health. 

Everything you do seems to be under attack from daily existential crises, and you come to realize that nothing you do is adequate.

Nothing you do, no matter how hard you try, will ever be enough. But it doesn’t rule out the possibility of taking small steps toward becoming a better person. Individuals who are seeking stability should set small, manageable goals instead of striving for some grandiose ideal.

Conclusion

Many of us can’t just go and do what we want when we want. Involvement of time and money is often required. In the end, there is no “should.” And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s often how life goes.

You can both go with the flow and plan where you want to go. It’s sometimes better to prepare to be surprised than to prepare to plan.

In reality, “I have no idea what I’m doing” isn’t very useful. What others think or say is irrelevant. Your faith and conviction will help you overcome obstacles if you are leading a team or starting a business for the first time.

It’s okay to make mistakes and you will, because mistakes are part of life.

Worrying about the outcome isn’t important; what matters is giving it your all, learning from the mistakes, and moving on. It’s all about doing your best. This will help you overcome your fear of making a wrong turn.