Someone is knocking at the door. Open it.

Have you ever felt that you are in a place that, although it is good and you are doing okay, you just know it is not where you are supposed to be? Not what you were designed for?

Frustrating, is it not? And all the while the clock is ticking, time is passing, you are getting older, and still you have that feeling.

Surely you can figure it out. You are smart. You have got a good handle on life, so why can you not figure it out?

Why is it that although you can see clearly what you are not supposed to be doing, you have no idea what you are destined to do?

What if there were a simpler, more direct way of knowing, that required nothing more than for you to pay attention to two things as you go about your daily routine?

One. Awareness

Thinking is not the answer. If it was, you would have found the solution a long time ago. So avoid spending your time trying to come up with the answer. Just pay attention to what and who shows up in your life with monotonous regularity.

The longer you pay attention the easier it becomes to identify what you should be doing. This is because it has been showing up in your life, most likely for years. However, you have been either setting it aside or dismissing it, because you cannot see how it can be done, how it can make enough money, or maybe you do not have the experience for it.

For example.

• When you are on social media, what stories are you drawn to? What do you read the most? What do you comment on the most?
• What about television? When you are scrolling, which channels do you stop at the most, go back to the most, and watch the most?
• If you go to a bookstore, what sections do you visit the most? What books do you reach out for?
• When you meet people, in person or online, what topics of conversation do you find the most engaging?
• What interviews do you enjoy the most? What podcasts do you find that you relate to?

You will soon identify what it is that draws your attention. You will notice what intrigues, fascinates, or inspires you.

Start taking notes about what continues to show up in your life that you can relate to, or what you keep coming back to.

The penny will drop that these same things have been showing up for years. They have been knocking on your door for a long time.

Make a list of all the topics that show up in your life on a regular basis. Put the most compelling at the top. These are the ones that are knocking at your door and ringing your bell. Maybe it is time to let them in.

Two. Feelings

Next, seek clarity. How do you feel about those topics that show up with regularity?

• What is it about this that gets to me?
• Why does it get to me?
• How long has it been getting to me? Much longer than you thought, right?
• If I got fully engaged in that, how would it make me feel?
• What action can I take right now that would move me closer to that feeling?

Do it, and do it immediately. Make that call, write that email, search for it. Join a forum of like-minded people. Take a step forward, and it will move a step closer to you.

Then do the same with the people you meet, engage with, or listen to. Notice how you feel about your connection with them. If possible, tell them. Ask if you can talk further. Find out what it is that draws you, and write it down, and see what pattern emerges.

You may have a lengthy list of things that move you. But you will soon see that certain items draw more of your attention than others. Those are the ones you should follow up on first. Action is key. Why? Because inaction has been your default for a very long time on some of these most compelling topics, has it not?

Time to change that, and change it today

If you want to cut the fluff, the wasted time, and the wasted energy from your life, repeat this exercise often.

Take action often and you will soon find that everything you think, do, and say will become part of a whole new you.