Direction and purpose are very interconnected concepts because without purpose, one does not have a reason to set forth in a direction towards that purpose. That is because purpose is synonymous with “goal” or “end” in that it’s the reason for doing something. Direction is what one has to do or feel in order to get to their goal or purpose.
Setting goals and thus dictating purpose and direction is the first step in improving one’s self. If you wan’t to improve your career or personal life you must first set a goal(purpose) and then think of specific tasks to attain your goal(direction). For instance, if your goal is to get a promotion at work, be specific about what you want to be promoted to and then write down the steps it will take to get there. On a personal level, if you are looking to find a significant other than it is best to have an idea of what that person will be like and what you will be to him or her. Then find specific ways to be the best version of yourself and a process for finding that special someone.
As stated previously, when trying to decide purpose and direction, first start with defining a goal and then choose the direction you will head to attain it. To make the task less abstract, be as specific as possible with both purpose and direction. Also, to move along incrementally, find a way to measure your progress and find a way to do something every day that to get your closer to your goal.
This RichardStep Marketing survey was designed to get a better understanding of what really gets under the skin of those folks out there dealing with direction and purpose. Read over the awesome answers below and see how you can tailor your business to address the frustrations of the people most relevant to your business niche market. Want more? Read the 125 other topics in the ‘Frustrations’ survey category by clicking here.
The following list are uncut and raw responses of the things this group found most frustrating in their daily lives.
Direction and Purpose
- Be bored. I suppose I didn’t have to, but sometimes it’s difficult to not be. : P Boredom is the worst feeling on earth. I can process grief, rage, confusion, and all the rest… But boredom? It’s the psychological equivalent of being trapped in a tiny, sweltering hot room , for four hours.
- Don’t know what to do with the rest of my life… it’s as if my whole future is decided by my choice at the momment… I don’t know what I’m good at and not good at… I’m scared that I would fail if I chose wrong… and eveyone around me has already got plan and they are already on their way achieving it while I’m still staying at the same spot, wondering what I’m good at, and losing time. The deadline is coming and I’m scared to death at the momment, I feel like I don’t even have time to contemplate and make the right choice cause that would be too late but if I just make a choice randomly then I would have no motivation to achieve it…so I’m just stuck here , can’t make any decision about my future while my time’s running out .
- Hey :) I’m frustrated with the fact that the world is ticking away, and they try to fit more hours into the day. To the point that I spend my free time breathing deeply and not getting around to things that matter to my soul, or even cleaning my room. Yeah.
- Home: Dealing with people who’ve failed me in the past. I feel I’m surrounded/stuck by mediocrity and that’s all I’ll ever attain to. Work: There’s no challenge for mw there. I feel as if I’m going through the motions of what’s expected of me instead of what I’m capable of. The lack of order there: the scale of fairness, justice etc bothers me to my core. Overall: I feel though I am capable of so much more. Where I want to go will take time… until then, where I need to be will have to be a place that allows me to use my strengths. Thing is, I just don’t know what they are.
- I am getting old and need to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I am having trouble finding my “calling”. Being a mom to a 2 year old teething. I cannot fix the problem and make it all better. Its a situation I really cannot control and lack of control drives me crazy.
- I am not employed and frustrated because of age discrimination, believing that has a bearing on my success in finding work and partnership. I am searching for a new career path and stymied. Wondering what to do with this next stage of my life. It is not that I feel life is out of control, just that I am losing patience in the universe providing me the answers. I do not enjoy criticism. I don’t like Larry’s drinking and drug dependency. It is an abusive situation at times, otherwise, he is 96% perfect for me. I love him.
- I had a meeting with my Spiritual Director and we were wading through our struggles and addictions together. This was difficult/frustrating because I had to focus inwardly, and anytime I attempted to avert attention or redirect a question my Director would shine the light back on what I was attempting to avoid within myself.
- I know what I want but I do not how start doing it, or let’s say I do not have the courage to Start it. I want to make some change in my life, in myself, get rid of this routine in my life. I have taken some few steps to make a change. but It’s not enough. In Addition to that, my last breakup has added to my Frustration and I am feeling like I cannot free myself from some memories…
- I lack confidence in myself and my ability to learn new things. i’m good with my hands but am physically disabled. Sitting on my butt now for 20 years, at fifty years of age. Whats next for me and can I complete it successfully. I’ve never completed anything in my life that really made any difference. Married with two young children, I’m broke and scared. How do I brake this horrible chain.
- I stayed in the place that I know that will eventually kill me. I stayed on it because my parents will be disappointed and if I quit I don’t know where should I go. And if I go, I felt that I will no longer have any income that will sustain me.
- I was very frustrated and saddened by my failure to secure my graduation this April. It was a great disappointment for me. And it aches me to explain the situation to my family. However, I must not dwell on my frustration and fears. I will continue in pursuing my hope and dreams so that my unfulfilled potential will not go to waste.
- I’m kinda unsure on how I can improve myself and get out of my comfort zone. And whenever you get stuck on that thinking, I tend to ask my self what I can do and compare it to what I really do and as you think and think and continue on thinking, it gets frustrating – internally, since although I know that a certain thing is one of my flaws, I can’t push myself to do something about it. I don’t know where to start.
- I’ve had a lot of internal conflicts on right and wrong behavior, morals, ethics, and religion. It is frustrating how a lot of things I believe in violate other beliefs I have. Self worth and perfectionism have also brought along many conflicts. What is frustrating is that every thought is contradictory to another thought, and that confusion and uncertainty bothers me.
- Management doesn’t allow you to be yourself. The person God created me to be. I give 110% and have never had a problem with management because I wasn’t myself. I went against the grain and changed my personality to suit their expectation of what they thought I should be. And the sad thing about it was that I allowed them to crush my God given spirit and I’m miserable. If you can’t be who God created you to be you begin to internalize negative and hard feeling, My first 10 years there were wonderful and the next 5 years I was staying for the paycheck
- Not knowing which path to take in life. I’m at a fork in the road where one decision will take me to a point where I can never go back and correct it if it was a mistake. Although I’m pretty sure what I want to do in the future, I can’t shake off this feeling of not reaching my full potential behind.
- Past few days my parents are giving me pressure to take Tamil Paper as an additional subject for my SPM on 2015. They are afraid of my results in future. They don’t have trust on my self-confidence. I’ve tried my best to explain them about my situation. I feel so depressed. I need to to do something to make them understand my situation. I don’t have interest to take that paper. And that paper doesn’t make any sense for my passions. My ambition is to become a doctor. I need to know my aptitude and the weakness of myself. :)
- Sitting idle doing nothing was by far the most frustrating thing I had to do . I feel I am an extremely talented and intelligent person who cannot find has just not found her passion. The passion that she can turn into a profession. I have a high IQ and I am pretty good at almost everything I do.
- The most frustrating thing I experience daily is the constant uncertainty of what I should do with my life. I love to make art, write, organize, and help people but I can’t seem to figure out what I should do or how to get started. I’m 25, I should have some general idea but I don’t.
- The most frustrating thing in the past I have is become a change person completely because everyone hated me of who I was and I was bullied from the kids and I wanted to change that but I was to lazy and depressed about it. I felt there is no life for me.
- The most frustrating thing over the past few days is to convince my parents for me to become an entrepreneur. It’s frustrating primarily because of the different perspective we held. I do not believe in company taking care of employee’s well being and thought I should have control of my life. My parents insist on the security provided through employment.
- The most important questions to me is what is the goal of my living on the planet. I used to get confused about that because I am not sure about the future and everything. It is most because I never thought about why I was doing what I was doing before I was admitted into university. I had a good grade in high school, but it was not something I am proud of myself because I didn’t feel happier about that accomplishment. After I got into the university, I felt nobody was pushing me and I started to think about the future, but it was too sudden to me and I couldn’t find the purpose of my life. Then I felt meaningless each day of that period which last for 2 years. I began to transfer my focus onto computer games and wasting time everyday. I didn’t go to the lectures and tutorials because I couldn’t see the point in doing this. Life became an entire mess for me. As a result, my GPA became a joke. And worse, my body became much weaker because of frequent night-drive and masturbation. Now I am almost at the end of my university undergraduate life which incredibly last for 6 years including one year of leave. Now I am much more sure about that life is all about the purpose. You control the purpose, you design it, you approach it and you make it. It’s all about what you want to be , not what you should be— the way in which I was educated before university enrollment. I am still on the way to find what I truly want, which I know I have find my strengths and weaknesses before I proceed on. That’s the most frustrated thing I ever had. Because of that experience with the outcome of extremely low GPA and long duration of study, I am now struggling to find a job. But on the other hand, I fell also lucky, because now the world becomes another landscape where I can see things much more different and much more charming. By the way, I am a PRC citizen, before 19 I studied in mainland, after graduation of high school I had a chance to be selected as a scholar to study in NTU,one of two most reputable universities in Singapore. At the end, Thanks for your test. I love it.
- The questions that comes to my mind often is whether i’m on the right path and how to get better clarity over my life purpose. The most frustrating thing is related to my start up business. I’m frustrated that Things don’t happen how I planned, that I don’t see ways to do things faster and better and that I don’t know when and how to make my product successful.