What do you want?

Think about the last time you felt burnt out in your career. You started to talk to friends and colleagues about it. Searching for answers.

Then they looked you straight in the eyes, telepathically grabbing you by the collar and asked that bone-chilling question.

“Well, what do you want?”

And they call themselves friends.

It’s well meaning and yet – most people who come to me can’t answer that question.

They meet that question with the blank mind of someone who’s never had a thought before.

Empty. Void. Creativity has officially left the building.

Now, if this is you…let me swaddle you in a warm blanket of, “It’s ok.”

You don’t need an answer to this question right away.
In fact, you’ll never be as certain as you want to be about the answer.

On a quest for the certainty about the right next thing, many searchers claim the answers other people tell them they should want. I urge you to avoid falling into this trap. It will leave you hollow and unfulfilled.

Instead - acknowledge you don’t know what’s next. To your people, and most importantly, to yourself.

Not knowing doesn’t make you lazy, unambitious or unintelligent.

It simply means, right now you don’t know. But, when you begin to trust your intuition and you experiment with the clues it’s sending you – you will get closer and closer to your answers.

It will not hit you like a lightning bolt. It’s more of a slow burn. A building of momentum.

So the next time someone asks you, “What do you want?”

Have compassion for them.

And practice saying, “I don’t know yet. But I’m having a lot of fun figuring it out.”