Feeling lost in life is the worst feeling ever. In fact, according to Carolyn Ferreira, a Behavioral Health Psychologist, feeling lost almost feels like depression. You might feel like everything is exhausting and meaningless in your life. Or, you could feel hopeless or/and helpless. Honestly, there are a lot of uncomfortable emotions when you’re feeling lost in life. That’s why in this blog post, let’s explore the reasons why we feel lost in life so we can figure out how we can get through it because… Spoiler Alert! There’s a way out of it!
15 Reasons Why We Feel Lost in Life
- You just graduated from high school, college, or you just quit your job
- You are living on autopilot
- You’re always busy, but not productive
- You’re dealing with “Hurry Sickness”
- You’re burnt out
- You have friends, but no social life
- You compare yourself to others
- You’re living your life for someone else
- You think your worth is determined by outside forces
- You lost connection to yourself
- You don’t know your personal core values
- You’re always trying to figure everything out
- You keep dwelling on the past
- You’re afraid to step out of your comfort zone
- You’re not making time for self-reflection
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15 Reasons Why We Feel Lost in Life
Before we jump into the reasons why we feel lost in life, I just want to note that this blog post is not to discriminate against those who feel lost in their lives. I totally understand how hard it is to be in that position.
Knowing the reasons why we feel lost in life is an important step to figuring out a way to let it go and get through it. But, the first step is being okay with what you feel.
Accepting what you feel doesn’t mean you agree with it. It means you’re acknowledging where you are.
It’s okay to feel lost in life. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives. So you’re totally not alone feeling this way! That said, here are 15 reasons why we feel lost in life:
This might be the most common reason why we feel lost in life. Graduating from high school, college, or quitting your job means starting a new chapter of your life. It’s pretty normal to feel lost in this stage of your life. It’s important to be patient with yourself as you’re just starting to adjust to changes and preparing yourself for your next moves.
2. You are living on autopilot
Living on autopilot could look like we are making decisions without thinking. It is the opposite of being mindful and intentional with what we do daily. This could feel like life is just happening to us instead of making life happen. Without intention, we feel lost and even stuck in our own cycle.
3. You’re always busy, but not productive
Being busy could also contribute to why we feel lost in life. Being busy is fueled by perfectionism. On the other hand, healthy productivity is fueled by purpose. It’s possible that you could always be doing and achieving a lot of great things but still feel lost in life. The “why” behind what we do every day is acting as our own map. Without that, we might feel lost in life.
4. You’re dealing with “Hurry Sickness”
In her article on Healthline, Crystal Raypole wrote that “hurry sickness can show up as a driving need to make the most of every second.” This means that we are rushing through life and trying to do everything at once. When we’re always rushing through life, we forget the purpose and intention of what we’re doing which will lead to feeling lost in life.
5. You’re burnt out
A lot of us overwork ourselves to the point we’re close to burnout and it could be one of the reasons why we feel lost in life. Burnout happens when we’re overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up with life’s incessant demands. This point of exhaustion could potentially lead us to feel lost in life.
6. You have friends, but no social life
Lack of social life has a negative effect on our physical, mental and cognitive health, according to a review article by Louise Hawkley and John Capitanio. Having no social life means we lack encouragement and support from our family and friends and this could make us feel lonely, empty, or/and lost in life.
7. You compare yourself to others
Constantly comparing yourself to others could also make you feel lost in life. It’s so easy to compare ourselves to others especially now that we have social media. We think that most people on social media have a more successful and happy life than we do. We tend to forget that not everything that we see on social media is real.
8. You’re living your life for someone else
Living for others means we always seek others’ approval. It is caring too much about what other people think of us. This is dangerous because not only do we tend to struggle to decide for ourselves but ultimately, we give our power to other people and let their judgments rule our lives which makes us feel lost in life.
9. You think your worth is determined by outside forces
Do you feel like your self-worth decreases when you’re not able to cross off all the items on your to-do list? Or, do you feel unworthy because you don’t’ have thousands of followers on your Instagram? Determining our value by those outside forces makes the foundation of our self-worth too vulnerable or weak. Once those things vanish, we feel like we’re left with nothing, and this could make us feel lost or left behind in life.
10. You lost connection to yourself
Losing connection with yourself could look like being “stuck in an unfulfilling job. You might not feel supported in your relationship or friendships. You could even be experiencing anxiety or depression” according to an article by Tony Robbins. When we’re at this point of unfulfillment, we might feel lost and unmotivated in life.
11. You don’t know your personal core values
Not contemplating our core values could be the reason why we feel lost in life. Our core values represent our highest priorities, deeply held beliefs, and core, fundamental driving forces. It acts as our anchor and it gives you direction on where you should be going in your life.
12. You’re always trying to figure everything out
Let’s be honest, not all of us have it figured out. Or to be exact, no one already figured their life out, even the most successful people you know. All of us are still exploring and testing out what will work for us and what’s not. Trying to figure everything out will just leave us feeling exhausted, distressed, and lost in life.
13. You keep dwelling on the past
Dwelling too much on our past makes us feel afraid to face the present moment. When we’re too scared to face the reality, it makes us feel lost in life. It might be hard to fully let go of what happened in the past but it’s essential in order to move forward in life.
14. You’re afraid to step out of your comfort zone
Fear of stepping out of our comfort zone will not just affect our self-esteem but also might be the reason why we’re feeling lost in life. Keeping yourself inside your comfort bubble makes your world too small and no room for the lessons that you must learn for you to grow.
15. You’re not making time for self-reflection
Self-reflection is a practice to help you assess your thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Reflecting on ourselves gives us a “productive pause” as it will help us to analyze how we are actually doing. Without self-reflection, we’re living our life without intention and purpose which leads us to feel lost in life.
What to do when you feel lost in life?
These are just some of the reasons why we feel lost in life and there are still a lot of other reasons why we feel what we feel.
However, the most important thing is to know what to do when you feel lost in life. Here are some resources you might find helpful:
- The Exploration Digital Guided Journal
- [BLOG] Read the Four-Part Knowing Yourself Series
- Download our FREE Knowing Yourself Workbook
Have you felt lost in your life sometimes? What changes did you make when you felt lost in life? Let me know in the comments below!
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Jocelyn is a coffee lover who believes that a bad day with coffee is better than a good day without it. You can find her obsessing over stationery, hanging out with her cat, or singing her favorite Taylor Swift songs.