I still don’t know what I want to do with my life

You’d think you would have sorted out your ‘life’s plan’ long before you entered your 60s, but what happens when what you thought you were going to achieve with your life goes in the complete opposite direction?

Knowing what to do with your life can be the simplest of decisions as well as the most difficult decision. You might think you should know what you want (doesn’t everyone?) but sometimes actually knowing is difficult to achieve because you have lost touch with yourself.

Several questions might enter your mind when you reach this stage:

A couple of years ago researchers claimed that at least one third of people in their 60s had a ‘late in life’ crisis. Reasons cited for this dilemma facing many of your generation included “two or more episodes of loss, such as a bereavement or life-threatening illness suffered by you or a loved one”.

The good news however, is you can emerge from this crisis feeling more positive about things than you did before.

Your desires are important as a means of knowing who you are and what motivates you. For example, if you are feeling thirsty you’ll go in search of a drink.

If you are feeling like you have no direction you need clarity, power and an action plan that comes from knowing what you want in your life and that in all likelihood it will be difficult to create. Everything takes effort, right?

There are a couple of simple steps to knowing and getting what you want. Start small — for example, if you are going to commit to running a marathon, your training program will have you running incrementally until you and your body are ready to achieve the marathon distance. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself what it is you want — right now — each day. Allow yourself time to respond. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it the first time, the important thing is that you don’t give up.

Has your perspective on what you want to achieve in life changed as you’ve got older? What advice do you have for people who are at a crossroads?