Keep It Simple

There are lots of reasons why people aren't doing what they want to do. For one thing, many of us don't know what that is. When I was still in real estate, I met with a career counselor. The counselor said, "Why don't you take a year off and figure out what you really want to do?" The suggestion was mind-boggling. My schedule wouldn't let me take a day off - let alone a year! But that suggestion, as crazy as it sounded at first, forced me to ask basic questions about my professional life. In fact, I did spend a year away from my job. And if I hadn't taken that time, I would have been in real estate forever.

If you've spent years not knowing what you want to do - in your career, in your family life, with your civic obligations - it can seem like an impossible challenge to figure it out. For many people, it's easier to keep doing what they know they don't want to do, or what they don't mind doing. Simplifying your life frees up time for you to figure out what really matters.

Michael Warshaw mwarshaw@fastcompany.com is a Fast Company senior editor.