 So there are phases of your life where you're not really sure what to do next. You're not sure if you could go back to the last thing that's comfortable and stable or if you should move forward to something new that you've never done before. But I think in these phases of life, there are four essential questions that you can ask yourself that are not simple journaling exercises but are really fundamentally important inner growth exercises to help you understand what to do next. What's up you guys? Alex Hein, author of the book Master of the Day on Habits. Before we jump into this video today, I have a goal setting worksheet right below this video. If you want this year to be the best year ever of your life, the worksheet down below can help you figure out how to make that happen and set those daily rituals. So check it out right below this video here. So the first question to get back on track is when was the last time I felt excited? And I don't mean logically excited but physiologically, somatically, in your body excited. You know, the last time I had this really profound feeling of excitement was when I went back to school to do my doctorate in Chinese medicine. And this experience was so just primal because of the fact that I had not felt like that in so many years that the day when I had booked a flight to go look at all these Chinese medicine schools, when I figured, you know what? Fuck it, I'm just gonna do whatever I wanna do. I made it to 29. My work and career is really not that exciting. So what have I always wanted to do? I decided I was just gonna do it. And let's just see what happens in the future. So I booked this flight out west to California. I looked at all the major Chinese medicine schools because I knew that was something really exciting to me. And I remember the feeling of I rented a car and the morning drive where I was gonna interview at these schools just that child-like Christmas feeling of excitement. And it really solidified for me, you know, as I'm reading the course catalogs, the nerdiest thing ever, and I'm reading like the beginner classes, the intermediate classes and what I was gonna learn, just that feeling of excitement that you feel on Christmas morning, that you cannot wait to do this thing. You know that there is something there for you. And even though you don't know where it's gonna go, that feeling of excitement is the main barometer to look out for. So when was the last time you felt super excited? The second question is, when was the last time I felt on track and I felt peace? So again, I don't want this video to be a bunch of these, you know, simple logical journaling exercises. 10 pros and cons of my career, right? I don't think life is that simple and it's not also logical like that. But for me, the big thing was, when did I feel on track? And I think one of the main ways you can track the feeling of feeling on track is you feel peace, right? When you're dating someone where you know it's right, you feel peace. You don't feel like there's something bothering you. You're not having weird dreams. You're not talking to your friends all the time. You feel at peace. When you're in the right career, you feel that restlessness goes away. And you don't feel like you're waiting for the next thing or working for the next project. You're engaged and you're present. So I think the second question is, when was the last time I really felt peace in my life? Often we feel peace when we are on track doing the things that we actually want to be doing. The things that really feel aligned with our interests and our passions and our hobbies. So when was the last time I felt excited? But also, when was the last time, despite logical rational ideations, I actually just felt on track? Now the third question is, even if this is not my dream, what is the best next step? I've shared this idea of the drunken staircase analogy of life in my second book, Milk the Pigeon, where finding your work and kind of your quote purpose is a lot like when you're coming home from the bar at 3 a.m., you're hammered drunk and you're using your iPhone flashlight to try to get that first step and not eat it. You shine the flashlight, you're stumbling, you just have to get that first step because you know if you're gonna get that first step, you're not gonna face plan and hit the stairs. But once you find the first step, then you can easily reach the second step. And once you find the second step, you can go to the third. So sometimes if you feel off track, you don't have to figure out the next five year life plan. You just have to figure out what's gonna be the best thing right now. And for me, that next step was years ago, I got this job as a personal trainer. And even though I knew that personal training was not my passion and a year into it, I knew I would be bored and frustrated and I knew it wasn't the end goal, but I knew that it was at least the next step and it would give me key skills for the next phase of my life. But being a personal trainer led to me creating this website called Modern Health Monk, which was originally about wellness. And then that website evolved to this YouTube channel and that evolved to doing more content that I'm really more passionate about, which is really self growth and reaching your potential and getting better. And so everything is this progressive evolution. And in the same way that five years ago, I never thought I would have any books written and I never thought I would have a YouTube channel and I didn't even consume YouTube content. The first step will often lead you to 10 different doors that you cannot see right now. Now the last question that can help you get back on track is what do I actually wanna be doing? I had this conversation with a friend recently because I posted this meme from Instagram and it said, you know, for the travelers, like what we all wanna be doing and it shows this girl looking out the plane window in Paris and she sees the Eiffel Tower and then it said, what we can all do right now and it shows this girl looking into the laundry spinning and it's a circular window just like the airplane. And it was kind of like a quarantine joke but I texted my friend that and he didn't even laugh and he just said, dude, what are you doing? You're self employed and you can literally book a trip to Paris tonight if you want to. And actually I can in terms of finances in terms of my timing because I work for myself. And it made me realize that a lot of the limitations that we impose on ourselves are really invented. Just like being a self employed person, I can fly pretty much anywhere that's not off limits due to quarantine right now. And why haven't I? I honestly don't really know, you know, I was like, I'm envying this Instagram meme and I could have actually just bought a flight to Paris in the same amount of time. A lot of the things that we think are impossible or we think are off the table are actually invented or they're the words of other people. You know, your friends, I hate to say it, they often don't want to see you be really successful because they are not really successful. And so they project this kind of invisible ceiling, this glass ceiling on you that becomes almost a self fulfilling prophecy where in the same way, 10 years ago, I said, why don't I go to China on a one way ticket and become a monk? I literally did it. Who the hell does that, right? Technically anyone could if they're willing to drop everything and go and a lot of people could, but I did it. Who says, you know, writing a book. So many people want to write a book at some point in their life, but that story that comes after that sentence, like who am I? I'm not a writer, I'm not an author, how do I market it? All that BS is really invented because when you talk to people who are really successful authors, their first book did not just come out of them effortlessly, right? They had to sit down and write it. What do you actually want to be doing is often a very unlimited kind of question that can help you get back on track. One final story here that can help you is a great story in Martha Beck's book Finding Your Own North Star. She talks about an anecdote where she asked this guy that was in a very safe secure job. You know, he was, I think an accountant and she asked, you know, your unlimited financial freedom, what do you want to do every day? And he was like, oh yeah, I'd like to get like a new car, like a new Honda Accord and pay off my mortgage and maybe get a nice dinner every night. And she was like, you get unlimited cash and you want to get a fucking Honda Accord and go eat Italian food every night. Like that's the full dream. And she called BS on him. And then eventually this long story came out about he wanted to be a rock star and a guitarist and the dream fell through and he got very bitter. So he decided that he was gonna play it safe the rest of his life. And I find for many of us, if you get away from that societally acceptable BS answer underneath is some cool adventure you really wanna do. So I think those four questions can help you get refocused and re-engaged in your life. And again, if you want, check out that goal-setting worksheet below this video because that can also help you figure out what you really want and how to make it happen. And then before you guys go, I have two related videos for you right there.