When You Change Your Mind

When You Change Your Mind

One of the best parts of journaling is using it to get clear about what you want from your life and in your life. Journaling has helped more people discover what they want to do and go for it than most other self-help methods put together.

 

That is great and helpful as far as it goes, but what happens when you change your mind or discover that something you did want is not so great and you no longer want it? Does that make you a failure? Does it mean that you will never figure out this thing called life and are doomed to drift forever?

 

Of course not! Nothing could be further from the truth. For one thing, it means that you actually went after your dreams, which is more than most people ever do. The vast majority of people never get beyond daydreaming. They do that their entire lives and spend their final days regretting what never was and what could have been.

 

Changing your mind or finding out you do not like something you went after and got does not make you a failure. It means you tried and that is something few people will ever be able to say.

 

There is also nothing wrong with changing your mind. People do it all the time with smaller things. Hate your new haircut? Get a different one next time. Do not like your house? Move. It is only in this one area -dreams, often translating to your career -that society deems those who change their mind to be failures. The real failure would be continuing down a track you have realized is not for you.

 

So, what should you do if you find yourself in this situation? You probably will, at least once, whether it is for something small (discovering mountain biking is not for you) or something large (changing your mind about your career). Regardless, the way forward is the same.

 

Decide what you want to do next. That is it. Use your journal to figure it out if you do not already know. If you do know, come up with a new action plan and start working towards your new goal. Whatever it is, you can get there, just as you did the last time.

 

What is the best part about changing your mind? It means you get to dream again. You get to have brand new dreams and make them come true. And this a very rare thing indeed.