5 Reasons People Live Unsatisfied And Unfulfilled Lives

Are you satisfied with life? When crossing industries for a career move and setting similar life-changing goals, it is possible that you are unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Your mid-life analysis might not stack up to what you dreamed it to be. Is it time for a change?

Happiness is not based on external factors. Before you quit your day job and make drastic changes, perhaps some inward soul searching is necessary. These five reasons people find life unsatisfactory can help shed some light on why you are missing out. It is time to turn that ship around. The experts at Clarity Clinic in Chicago share these tips to leading a more fulfilled life.

Set Realistic Expectations

People are always subjecting themselves to unrealistic expectations. Set realistic expectations, and group short-term goals with your long-term goals. Short-term goals help keep you grounded and continue to point you toward long-term goals that are attainable.

Accepting reality as it stands and working towards realistic expectations does not limit your dreams, and it should not hinder your motivation. In fact, when realistic expectations are met with proper goals, the opposite is true. You find the motivation to follow through, finishing what you started.

Social media does not help matters. Young people grow up seeing filtered expectations as normal. They know it is not normal, but the standard is already in place. So do you keep chasing unrealistic expectations, or do you immerse yourself in true hope and satisfaction?

Solution: Do not compare yourself to other people. What you see is not what you get anyway. Comparing yourself to others only contributes to setting the bar unrealistically high for yourself. The bar is not actually up there, and you need to be focused on your own achievements. What do you want to be known for?

Set Goals Based On Who You Are

Reinventing yourself is one thing and a topic for a different piece; however, when setting goals, it is important to be yourself. You are not able to break that mold, nor should you. This does not mean what most people think it to mean. In conjunction with all other advice, it means truly rising to the occasion and living up to your full potential.

If you do not know who you are, then you are going to make your way through life directionless. Self-realization is how you fix this problem. It sounds easy enough, but quite a few people have no idea what they really want out of life.

Life provides us with quite a few distractions. Distractions in a general sense are a good thing because we put in some hard work. Distractions can also be classified as all those unforeseen special happenings that make up our days. Yet distractions also mask our ambitions and make us complacent. Life sure has a way of shaking things up, however, and we get our wake-up calls. Is this one yours?

When life shakes people up, they make changes they might not otherwise have made.

Solution: Some people will read this section and think that they need to tone their dreams down a bit. That could not be further from the truth. You need to dream big today, and you need to set goals according to your dreams. Do not wait for the next crisis to hit your life before you start reevaluating yourself and igniting your passions once again. How can you live your happiest life today?

Do not get stuck making your way through life’s daily grind. Ask yourself what it is you want out of life. What do you truly want?

If you are feeling unsatisfied, you are likely dismissing true dreams and focusing on easier goals that do not mean as much to you. You are taking the easy road as a defense mechanism.

Deep down, you know exactly what you want out of life. Fear is often the driving force that prevents people from working towards goals and dreams. They find themselves chasing distractions instead, always finding the path toward achievable goals just out of reach.

For example, let’s say that you want to start a family. Perhaps you are afraid of making yourself vulnerable to other people. Instead of focusing on being open and discovering your partner, you throw yourself into growing your career. That way, you don’t have to worry about your fear of rejection.

What about starting your own business? You may have dreamed about doing that for quite some time. Yet fear of failing keeps you focused elsewhere. Perhaps you are busy solving everyone else’s problems and attending to their needs. You have to take care of yourself, too.

No matter what, distractions never replace the happiness that stems from reaching toward your goals and dreams. Suppressing dreams with every day distractions is not fulfilling. You will have great interactions, but there will be a void where you have overlooked your purpose.

Solution: If you were guaranteed to be successful, what would you want to do with your life? You need to address that passion one way or another. Otherwise, you are ignoring a passion or talent.

Negative Focus

Your mindset has much to do with how you feel. Focusing on the negative is only going to keep you down. In fact, it can prevent you from finding a way. No one achieves goals and dreams by giving up. You must persevere, and there will be trials. Finding true happiness is about being content in all your circumstances and remaining focused on the prize.

If you dwell on the negative, you are going to find it at every corner. Circumstances throughout your day have good and bad connotations. If you are focused on being positive, you are going to see the good. If you are focused on being negative, then you are going to see the bad. That is just God’s honest truth.

Life can break your heart. Many events throughout your day can be quite annoying. If you dwell on the negative aspects of life, you are preventing yourself from approaching new opportunities with the right attitude. Focusing on the positive helps you during times of adversity, and it strengthens your resolve to live with a smile.

Solution: When you encounter negative life experiences, ask yourself what you can learn from the situation. Repetitively doing this helps you search for life lessons during difficult situations. That is a much better response than beating yourself up or looking at life through a negative lens.

Risks Are Necessary

There are certainly people out there who take too many risks. There is a balance to taking risks, and your mindset needs to be in the right place. Yet many people take this knowledge and apply it to their lives in a very backwards way. They subconsciously place limitations on themselves.

Let me ask you a question. Do you truly believe that you are unable to exceed the expectations that you set for yourself? Have you placed a glass ceiling over your instead of achievement checkpoints? If you do not believe you can exceed expectations, then you simply never will.

What is holding you back? Some people form victim complexes, while others do not have the motivation necessary to work towards goals and dreams. Other people suffer from low self-esteem or feel as though life is simply in their way.

To achieve goals and dreams, you must take risks. If you do not make yourself vulnerable to trial and error, then you have already failed. Do not be afraid of failure. It takes trial and error to build anything worthwhile. You must learn, and that is how you try new things.

Solution: New opportunities are going to arise from time to time. Challenge yourself to imagine a new opportunity bringing new blessings vs considering what might go wrong.

A sincere focus on the best-case scenario can change the outcome. It certainly is going to get you moving in the right direction. When an opportunity presents itself, say yes.

Do not focus on the ‘how’ right now. Say yes, give it to God, and let him handle the details. You will find satisfaction you never knew.