5 Signs You’re Not Meant to Do What You’re Doing Right Now

If these indicators resonate with you — then you’re probably not following your life’s true purpose

Personally, I’ve fallen victim to begrudgingly, you know… doing something I don’t want to do or not interested in.

It’s a part of myself I’ve learned to live with.

From the days when I’d throw a tantrum because my logos weren’t “creative enough,” to now, when I nearly gave up on blogging after writing 2–3 blogs because they couldn’t get that many amounts of views as I thought they could — my need to find something I would love to do has been my mentality over the past few months.

But I couldn’t really put my finger on which could be my true calling.

Defining my passion took me a full year to figure out and life has been really good since I’ve been aware of what really excites and motivates me consciously.

“It’s better to be slow and careful in the right direction than to be fast and careless on the wrong path. Be sure that you are on the right path before you begin to take your steps!” ― Israelmore Ayivor

Been both on and off different paths several times in my life — from depressed despair all the way to being motivated— I’ve learned some things that I know are indicators of whether you’re on the right path or not.

So, let’s take a look…

Sign 1: You’ve Lost Interest in Thing You Once Loved

When I first started logo designing. I was very excited.

Yep extremely excited!

Even though I didn't know an “L” of logo designing, but my under knowledge didn’t underestimate my curiousness and excitement, to explore it.

I signed myself up on Design Crowd to participate in logo contests. I was young, naive, and bush-tailed back then. Desperately wanted to do something new and earn money.

One week after I signed up, I designed my first logo and submitted it to the contest — but only end up getting not selected. Things keep going this way.

I designed 20 logos.

30.

40.

60…but still didn’t get chosen.

I was totally frustrated with my design, myself, and everything. I wasn’t the ‘excited’ soul anymore. I started to lose my interest in designing. And as the days passed by designing started becoming a headache, I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I wasn’t loving it anymore.

I felt empty and worn out.

“It is a red flag if you’ve ever felt as if you’ve lost yourself or identity with whatever you’re doing.” — Emily Marquis

See, the thing is: What you love today, you’ll also love tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and so on…You might get a lit bit bored of it, or sometimes you may feel like not doing it at all but that doesn’t mean your love for what you do will decrease or completely vanish away just like that.

“I tell people: ‘Do what you love, but it can also be hard to know what you love early on. But when you think about it and you describe the options, which one gets you a little more excited?’”

— Brad D. Smith

If you feel like your work has lost its meaning, doesn’t interest you, or excites you anymore, then maybe it’s a sign that you have veered away from your true purpose.

Sign 2: You Thirst for Change

When I was trying my luck in logo designing, side-by-side I had this desire to be a good writer too, though I didn’t know what type of writer I wanted to be — a novelist, or a non-fiction writer, or a blogger — I just didn’t know but I wanted to be good at it anyway.

My need to be good at everything has always defined who I am.

From the start, my mentality was like, “I want this. I want to do that too,” and on top of all that I want to be perfect in each one of them. Of course, that wasn’t possible.

“You don’t have to be great at everything, and there’s no point even trying.” — Michael Hyatt

Have you often found yourself craving a change, second-guessing your choices?

Or maybe the things you once loved, doesn’t excite you anymore and as a result, you may start to feel like you need to change things?

We all want to have new experiences. That’s how we humans are. But when you fully live your purpose, you don’t crave something different all the time. When you love what you’re doing, you don’t feel like you need to explore other things, you don’t want to do anything else.

There is a famous Chinese proverb that sums it up the best:

“One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.”

So if you find yourself regularly fantasizing about doing something different, that can be a clear sign that you need to take a step back from your current situation and make a change.

Sign 3: You’re Increasingly Questioning the Meaning of Life

From my childhood, I used to be so jealous of celebrities, movie actors, especially singers because they had it all figured out — you know what they are meant to do, what’s their life purpose.

I envied their life, their luck because they know what they are here for. It wasn’t like that with me or everyone else. I always wondered:

“What on earth I am here for?”

“Why I am even doing what I am doing?”

You might have been feeling the same way…question more about your life’s purpose or maybe feel unsure whether what you might be doing right now is your true call for life or not.

I know that feeling when you do what you do with your blood, sweat, and tears — and then suddenly you stumble upon questioning yourself — Is this what I really want to do?

“Constantly questioning what you’re doing with your life is a tell-tale sign you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere,” says life fulfillment coach Sharon Stokes. “If you’re truly happy and satisfied with your life, these types of questions wouldn’t be constantly flooding your mind.”

Having a feeling that you used to think that what you do is a meaning to your life is a classic sign that you are on the wrong life path.

Sign 4: You Feel Like There’s Something Wrong With You

“Being on the right life path means that you are comfortable and confident with where you are headed” — Steven McDaniels.

I really love the people who wake up motivated to start their day. I really do.

I craved that feeling for so long. You know when I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed while shutting out the crying voice “I want to sleep more” inside my brain — when I just jump out of my bed with so much excitement that I don’t even consider sleeping more.

Well, it isn’t necessary to jump up with intense enthusiasm every day. But we should at least have some sense of satisfaction and excitement.

“If you’re not excited about it, it’s not the right path.” Abraham Hicks

Being on the right life path brings purpose to your life, a purpose for living. And gives you a reason to live beyond your loved ones.

However, when you’re off track, it’s very common that you may feel like something is lacking in your life or emptiness inside you. The longer you stay off track, the more that feeling of ‘something is wrong with you.’

And as time passes and you continue to feel purposeless and miserable — while everyone else seems happy enough — the feeling of emptiness grows and it becomes harder to ignore it.

Sign 5: Your Accomplishments Doesn’t Bring You Satisfaction

“The process to your life’s purpose isn’t always easy but it is doable and you feel a sense of accomplishment with each milestone.” — Steven McDaniels

I still remember the day when my high school result came out, I scored 9.2 CGPA. My family was happy… very happy. They were bragging about my grades to all our relatives, neighbors, telling me how proud they are.

But to be honest, I didn’t felt good.

Obviously, I was happy, I worked so hard — Why wouldn’t I would be happy?

But I wasn’t satisfied because an ‘A’ grade academic result and being a top grader student wasn’t what I always desired. Although good grades are ought to be a part of my journey, they aren’t my destination… they aren’t my life’s purpose.

“Maybe you always dreamed of opening your own local restaurant and you find yourself working for a large engineering firm,” says McDaniels. “Although friends and family will be proud of your success, you may not feel satisfied.”

Let’s be honest, shall we?

If you’re following your true purpose, no matter how small or big your achievement is… you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world.

You will feel satisfied, you’ll feel happy even if everyone else thinks you’re stupid, but at that time what others think wouldn’t matter to you because you know you’ve achieved something you’ve desired for.

“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” — Bob Marley

Think about it: if you always try your hardest, but don’t feel good about the outcome — no matter if it is good or bad — don’t you think it means something is wrong?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain