Now What? 12 Ways to Answer the Life-Changing Question.
Now what?
If you’re reading this, you probably have asked this question a multitude of times.
It is to be expected. The consequences of COVID have accelerated it.
Being older multiplies it.
Income, lifestyle, purpose, and what to do with the multiple decades ahead leave you seeking answers to:
“What do I do?”
“What do I want to do?”
“What can I do?”
“Are the opportunities for someone my age?”
“Will I still be relevant?”
“Will I be fulfilled?”
“What’s my legacy?”
“Is it just me?”
“Now what?”
One day or day one? -Unknown
Now what? is a life-changing question that can (hopefully) lead to positive if not amazing life-changing results.
The question is asked because change has been thrust upon you (loss of job) or you’ve reached a point by which you realize the need for something very different (move beyond the default life or kids moving away).
Just the fact that you are asking this question of yourself is a major first step and a call to action.
You’re not the only one asking this. In fact, you’re in the majority. The older you are, the more likely you’re asking this. But also, the more likely there are amazing answers and potential for you to live the best years of your life.
The key is to go beyond “Now What” and start asking deeper, more focused questions to get an amazing life-changing answer.
Now What? 12 Ways to Answer the Life-Changing Question
1. Realize and embrace the fact that you are asking this question of yourself. This is a major first step and a call to action. Get crystal clear as to why you’re asking “Now What?” and then change the question to “Now what do I want with my life?” “What’s missing?” “What do I need and want?” “What have I always wished for and wanted?”
2. Where attention goes, energy flows. Ask your questions and expect answers and be open receiving them from your inner self/spirit/soul/subconscious. The answers can range from a major epiphany to something subtle to the sum of many thoughts, observations, and feelings leading you on a path and to answers.
3. Ask and be open to insights and answers. This is not an airy-fairy approach but rather a process proven successful by brain science. tt has been the process that has led to great breakthroughs throughout history and in the lives of those who apply it. Very often contemplation, think-through, and outright answers will occur without effort and while you’re doing the routine and mundane.
4. Read and listen. Whether it’s YouTube, NewWayFWD.com, podcasts, books, articles, or any other media, there is a prolific amount of insight, information, motivation, possibilities, and how-to’s out there. Whatever you’re going through or trying to do, someone else had done it, succeeded and has shared how they did it. Plus, just the simple act of exploration broadens your view of life and possibilities. It gets you thinking and thinking differently (aka getting out of your own way).
5. “It’s my turn!” is a thought-starter for what to do next. Maybe you have done what you were supposed to do all of your life and now is the chance to do what you want to do. As long as you have to “pivot” in order to earn an income for instance, why not pivot in a direction that’s fulfilling, exciting and right for you? Why not have this time be your turn? Shouldn’t your life be like that?
6. “I’ve always had this idea.” Now may very well be the time to pursue it (If not now, when?).
7. “What about my legacy? As you get older it is human nature to ponder this question. So, go ahead and ponder. Go ahead and listen to that ticking clock. Not only will answers avail themselves in the process but you will also be addressing a major issue and need in your heart and soul.
8. “Avoiding the ultimate regret.” Often in their final dying moments, the greatest regret people have is that they didn’t go for it. They had an idea, a challenge or a possibility that, for whatever reason, they put aside. Or they lived the default life or a “safe” life and never went for something better. Imagine yourself in your dying days. What would you regret not doing? In that answer may be the biggest insight (and motivator) of what you want/need/desire to pursue.
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change. -Wayne Dyer
9. I need income now! What about employment? There are more possibilities and ways of making money by working for others than you may imagine. The entire concept of employment or earning an income is radically changing and COVID accelerated it. Gig working, contracting, self-employment, and yes, traditional jobs in workplaces are redefining the very nature of employment. If you are older, yes, ageism is a major problem in our society yet even that is starting to shift for the better and intergenerationalism is already becoming the next hot best practice for business.
10. Have an open mind, a new mindset, and explore. Start searching articles about how to use your age, experience, skills, talents, and desires to your advantage. Seek the new types of opportunities that are out there. Do not think conventionally because convention is a thing of the past. Now more than ever, the velocity of change opens up possibilities that you have never thought of.
11. “What about starting a business?” Never in human history are we as enabled as we are now to start a business and the array of types of business is almost infinite. What’s more, the resources to do this are prolific.
12. “What if I don’t have any ideas?” Serial entrepreneur and “disruptor” Jay Samit offers a great and easy approach to finding a great idea for a business, employment, and ways to earn money. Over the next 30-days before you go to bed write down three problems and needs that you noticed. These can be challenges in everyday life, at work, in the home or whatever. Jay says that inevitably you will hit on something and that idea will take off. Problem>Need>Solution = Opportunity. Your idea can be pursued from your home office to a major startup. Or you can bring your idea to existing businesses.
Look back at these 12 Ways to Answer the Life-Changing Question Now What? What do they all do? They shake you up, remove your blinders, pulls you out of your rut, gets the blood flowing and the synapses firing. It gets you excited.
The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Change is hard. Our minds evolved to resist change for our safety. That’s primitive. Safety, conformity, and a fixed mindset can lead to a lifelong water torture of misery.
Now What? 12 Ways to Answer the Life-Changing Questions and executing them leads to an exciting and ambitious way for yourself. It can be the greatest evolution and life gift you can possibly have and makes the years ahead some of your very best.