When You Don’t Know What’s Next

“When you’ve exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.” – Thomas Edison

Sometimes, it’s easy to know what the first step of an endeavor is. If you want to write a book, start writing. If you want to improve your health, go to the gym. If you want a promotion, apply for it. But, what happens when you get writer’s block while writing the book? Or, when you aren’t seeing the improvements you were hoping for even though you’re working out regularly? Or, when you find out you aren’t getting the promotion? What do you do next?

Maybe take a nap? That’s often been my solution, although it’s never actually done much for me besides making me more rested. But, here are a few ideas I can offer that may actually be helpful when you don’t know what’s next:

Surround yourself with people who lift you up, like a Way Back tribe. We come from tribes – it’s how we’re meant to live! But, so often we suffer in isolation and stay stuck in our own head. Having an encouraging circle of people can sometimes make all the difference. Others in your circle may have been exactly where you are and can share some insight about what helped them. But, if you don’t connect with others and share what you’re experiencing, they can’t help.

Get silent and give yourself some space. Our intuition is often trying to speak to us, but we’re so distracted by all of the busyness we’re surrounded with that it’s hard to hear. Some answers do not come from your mind. Instead, they rise up out of the stillness in a soft whisper. The only way to hear this inner wisdom is to get quiet. When I first started meditating, I was lucky if I could stay still for just one minute. That’s ok! Do what you can do. You’ve got to start somewhere.

Focus on just one step you can take today. Don’t worry about where you’ll be a week, month, or year from now. Maybe you can try writing from a coffee shop rather than your normal space, or learn one new exercise you can try out in the gym, or setup a meeting with your manager to discuss what you can do to improve and work toward the next promotion. Remember, just one step here – don’t get overwhelmed by fast forwarding to all of the potential subsequent steps.

No matter what, when you feel stuck, know that you’ll figure it out. As Edison said, you haven’t exhausted all possibilities.

TODAY’S PROMPT:

Is there an area of your life where you don’t know what’s next? Or, have you experienced a time where you didn’t know what’s next and come through it? If so, share what worked for you to get you to the other side.