What If Feeling Lost In Life Just Makes You An Explorer?
Feeling lost in life is a feeling I know well. Literally, creatively, professionally…personally. But I always believed that future me would somehow have it all figured it out. So I didn’t stress too much.
But then one day, without warning, I got older.
ish.
And I still felt the same…a bit aimless and waiting for tomorrow.
Worse yet, I felt bad about feeling lost. Which made me feel even more lost.
The past 5 or 6 years have been a trip for me. It’s been…fun. Learned lots about myself and had some pretty cool breakthroughs.
And at some point, I found myself feeling a little less lost, or at least less worried about it. And I think I pinpointed what caused this shift.
It was a couple things.
And they gave me a sense of control and excitement.
This is how to turn your lostlessness (yep, made that word up, super proud of it) into a sense of adventure.
What Feeling Lost In Life Feels Like
Feeling lost isn’t necessarily a constant feeling. Well, it wasn’t for me.
I wasn’t perpetually in a state of bewilderment or feeling like the human equivalent of misplaced. It would come and go. Some days, I knew exactly where I was and what I was going for.
Other days, not so much.
And that [ebb and flow] describes pretty much everything in life. Everything changes. The trick isn’t to fight that change, but to surf it. Ride the wave.
Befriend it.
The point isn’t to get rid of feeling lost, it’s to become friends with it.
(which ironically makes it sort of go away)
A good reframe helps here.
I started seeing lostlessness through an adventurist mindset. I was simply on an unknown trail exploring a certain path.
Suddenly, I felt like a traveler, eager to see how this path would unfold.
What If Lost Was…Good?
We have every map, every answer and every path to every goal, readily available, sitting in our pocket.
In such conditions, being on a slower, unknown trail full of wandering is almost punk…it’s almost mad.
[“…but all the best ones are.”]
To take back control (like you chose this road) is simple.
Annoyingly simple. Here it is:
Do something.
But be sure to make it low-effort and dumb.
The biggest hurdle to starting is usually perfectionism or some fear (failure, success, being seen, and so on). So the greatest strategy (to finding your way or reaching a goal) is just taking that one tiny low-effort small step.
And then another.
And another.
Never try to go for the big vision on day one.
I’ve made that mistake time and time again…
But as soon as I focused on tiny low-effort ugly movements, everything shifted. And pretty fast too.
But there is one final bonus piece to this puzzle.
If you miss this, all the tiny low-effort steps in the world won’t matter.
You gotta take your steps with passion and curiosity and lightness.
Not fear or impatience. Those emotions are fine (I’m not saying get rid of them somehow…which is impossible, we’re not robots). I’m saying believe in your path. Trust the unknown. Pursue things based on intuition, passion and alignment.
Put another way, have fun. Take breaks when you need. Enjoy the ride.
Now take your step.
BUT!! Remember…
Please, make it bad.
Make it wrong. Make it weird.
And for someone’s sake, please delete the damn plan, it’s getting in the way.
Trust me, I’ve spent years scheming to perfection, mapping out exactly what I’d do once I started…and once I did finally start, 96% of those perfect plans flew out the window…and quickly.
If you’re lost and you’ve been meandering for a quite while, another plan won’t help. Another post with a strategy won’t do the trick.
Those details come later, after some momentum, clarity and a bit of confidence.
And what’s the reward for taking this unknown journey? Is is truly better than a sense of assurance or security?
Answering those questions is exact the art of getting a little lost (on purpose).
Getting lost…just to see.
To see what’s beyond the trees.
To discover something.
Maybe.
It’s unwrapping a mini mystery everyday——to find out what happens if you just wander a little bit more, if you take just one more tiny step…to see what’s around that next bend.
What you find is always a surprise.
It might be related to your original idea…or not at all. But rest assured, there’ll be lots of unexpected turns.
That’s the good stuff. Don’t miss it.
Again, it just takes a little momentum. Tiny steps, daily.
Most of my clarity and growth in life have come (rather quickly) after stepping into some unknown, not from trying to plan for it.
Unexpected turns that turned out better.
Chance encounters.
Experiences that make stories worth telling.
Clarity.
New habits and facing fears, stepping outta the dang comfort zone.
Damn, I mean…serendipities.
Just a dumb eagerness to…
see what happens.
Curiosity mixed with confidence; it’s a stiff drink, but tasty.
I propose a new philosophy:
There’s more value than not
in letting ourselves get a little lost sometimes.
Open to not having (or even wanting to have) it all figured out.
Letting yourself feel stupid. Lost.
This is my new map:
Explore the random interests
Try the different paths
Create without a plan or robots taking my hand
Listen to your gut, and switch things up
Follow the thread of curiosity
Feel stupid more often (and with great excitement)
Waste time, tinker on hobbies, let things fail
Wander the city and travel without an itinerary
Stumble with a smile
And whatever you do, DO NOT try to do any of it perfectly.
For once, let yourself wander without judgment or anxiety.
Greet the unknown with a handshake or a hug.
If you follow the random thread and listen to your gut…you really never know who—or what—you might stumble into.
And isn’t it much better not to wonder?
Later ✌️
