The path to success is a long road full of twists, turns, peaks, and valleys. While on this road, you’ll almost certainly find yourself stuck in a quagmire of confusion and be unsure of which direction to turn.
Even though you’ll feel stranded, remember that it happens to everyone; you’re not alone. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you’ll get through whatever problem you’re facing only if you persevere.
If you turn back, you’ll be giving up all the potential success you could have possibly attained had you simply stepped back and assessed your situation. When life throws you a curve ball, you should always heed these pieces of advice in order to properly deal with confusing situations.

Analyze your goals

When you started out on your journey, you most likely had a set of goals you aimed to accomplish. Of course, you were most likely incredibly eager to get on the path toward success that you might not have spent much time actually thinking these goals through.
When you hit a bump in the road, you should always check your premises before forging ahead. Ask yourself:
– Are my goals practical?
Anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it, but once you achieve your goals, will you be able to put them to good use? Are you studying biology to become a biologist, or because you just like to learn about plants and animals?
Make sure your goals are actionable. After all, once you attain them, you’ll soon set even more goals with even higher aspirations. Make sure that the next step you take will open another door for you to walk through.
– Are my goals realistic?
Will practicing guitar three hours a day really make you world famous? By all means, follow your passion, but you should definitely have a backup plan in case your big dreams turn out to be pipe dreams.
– Will my goals change?
This is a tough one, because it’s hard to know what your priorities will be five or 10 years down the road. When I was 18, I thought I wanted to be a teacher, and even planned on sacrificing having a family of my own in order to help other children and families who needed me.
When I met the woman who would later become my wife, that all changed. Of course, in the meantime I earned two degrees relating to education that I may or may not ever use. At least I can write, right?

Appreciate your efforts

Every time you accomplish something, you’ve improved upon the person you were the day before. Even if you’re not doing exactly what you thought you’d be doing with your life, you can appreciate the experience you gain on a daily basis.
Think about it: If you’re stuck in a job that you never saw yourself doing, but you’re doing it well enough to stay employed, you must be doing something right. And, of course, you shouldn’t just look to your job to make meaning of your life.
Look to other aspects of your life, such as your friends, family, and hobbies to define yourself. You might not be on the path you thought you’d be on, but you certainly can consider yourself a success for accomplishing all that you have done in your life.

Try, fail, and try again

Failing at something is not a roadblock. Rather, it’s simply a bump in the road on the path to success. If you treat failure as a roadblock, you won’t get very far.
You never know how close you are to finding success, so you should always keep pushing, especially when faced with the sting of failure. Furthermore, you should redefine your failings as learning experiences.
When you fail at something, you’ve gained knowledge you didn’t have before (even if that knowledge is “Well that didn’t work!”). Take that knowledge with you when you get up to try again, and you’ll be able to attack the issue through an improved perspective.

Find a balance in life

Like I said before, you might find yourself on a path you never thought you’d be on, and you might not even want to be on. You can’t simply pause or restart your life from the last save point, to borrow a video game term. But it’s never too late to start working toward a different path.
Think of a hobby you gave up a long time ago and pick it back up, even if it takes a little extra effort after a long day’s work. Of course, you have obligations in your life that need to be fulfilled, but you should never completely give up everything you enjoy because life got in the way.
Keep your passion alive, and you’ll find moments to enjoy every day of your life.
Featured photo credit: Flickrr via farm3.staticflickr.com