No direction? No purpose?

[poppy]

Damn, the title got me all excited. I thought it was going to be like "No direction? No purpose? Come hither and Synarch will bestow a random life mission upon you!"

Or something.

I usually just deal with a lack of direction by grinding through and doing what I need to do in order to meet basic needs (which for me includes not failing classes, etc), and I just hope the "reason" comes to me in the process (or that some other scheme presents itself).

 

[kathara]

Yeah, where to from here on? I have achieved most of my goals, the others are soon to follow ... what next? Of course, one can always take the initial goal to higher levels, but the experiencing of the action is already a done.

 

[Gerbah]

Comes down to an existential question

I struggled a lot with that question when I was in my early twenties. For me, a sense of direction came when I finally discovered satisfactory answers to existential questions. Things like career, family, activities, etc. are all necessary and important things to make a decision about but they all have an end point. They aren't your whole life and being, at least, I don't find them to be for me, but when I came to strong conclusions about who I am and why I'm here and what's deep down important for me as an individual – beyond the things I do, beyond relationships to other people, more who and what I am – then I found that I could more clearly make those other decisions because I knew what the big picture was that I wanted them to fit into. So now, while I'm always discovering new things, I don't feel existentially lost like I did when I was younger. I do feel I know where I'm going now and that gives me a security and basis through the ups and downs.

 

[sLiPpY]

hmm...perhaps an atypical ISTP response, but direction: Who needs it?

I like to go with the flow, live in the now...especially since everything in life
is only temporary.

People loose billions and millions overnite, the family home gets foreclosed on, a natural storm or asteroid from space wipes things out. Fame is fleeting, etc. All relationships begin and end, one way or another.

What's wrong with just doing something you're enjoying right now, vs. sitting
around thinking oh, there's something I should be doing, etc.

 

[Saslou]

hmm...perhaps an atypical ISTP response, but direction: Who needs it?

I like to go with the flow, live in the now...especially since everything in life
is only temporary.

People loose billions and millions overnite, the family home gets foreclosed on, a natural storm or asteroid from space wipes things out. Fame is fleeting, etc. All relationships begin and end, one way or another.

What's wrong with just doing something you're enjoying right now, vs. sitting
around thinking oh, there's something I should be doing, etc.

I like your philosophy

 

[MacGuffin]

Weird.

I never read this thread and still made this quote on your blog. I guess I picked up on the aimless vibe.

 

[speculative]

I feel a distinct lack of direction lately. I have things I want to accomplish but none of them seem catastrophic if I failed to do them. How do you deal with a lack of direction?

Is this procrastination, or lack of motivation? Do you feel bad about not doing these things, or are you feeling bad about not feeling bad about doing these things? My suggestion would be to get out into the world and do things you don't normally do, such as hiking up in the mountains, going to the local library, taking a trip to a nearby town, etc. to mix things up. Getting out of your head can help stir things up sometimes.

 

[Tiltyred]

I deal with lack of direction by letting myself drift. I have confidence that I will end up where I'm supposed to be, and once I get there, I'll want to change everything around to suit me, so I'll be busy enough when the time comes. That's how it usually works for me.

 

[sculpting]

I feel a distinct lack of direction lately. I have things I want to accomplish but none of them seem catastrophic if I failed to do them. How do you deal with a lack of direction?

I work with some ENTPs who are sort of like this. They had good Ti ideas, the ideas got ignored or blown off and they now spend all day fucking off as who gives a crap. I am fully convinced my youngest ENTP spray painted massive amounts of profanity all across the back of our workplace along with giant penises and alien space monsters. It was awesome. I took pictures and turned it into a corporate branding contest. The alien monster won as it generates a WTF response which is typically what people say about my workplace.

Find something that really engages Ti. Something that obsesses you and keeps you awake at nights trying to figure out. I don't know how to find that-for Fi it is just finding someone who needs help. For Ti-a puzzle you cannot solve? sounds sort of like entp boredom to me...

 

[thinkinjazz]

I just want to read and learn mainly.

Those are both good things- why, do you feel like you should be base jumping or traveling instead?- that's what my ENTP friend is always saying he wants to do.

Purpose comes from experience. When you have enough experience, you will find your purpose.

If you truly lack purpose, I think perhaps breathing itself is a purpose. Surviving and being in a conscious state is already one of the greatest gifts in life.

I had to go through a lot of crappy relationships and new places before I found out the thing that I will never get bored of (an amazing find for any ExxP), the thing that fulfills me. I felt like I was dying- and I found the only thing at the time that I could rely on to get me out of there. I enjoy it even more now that I'm not in such a crappy place- and I know it's something I can always go to when things get bad again (as life does). I recommend taking some money, a suitcase and going to Australia or Britain- going from there (assuming English is the only language you speak). I know it's kind of cliche, but it's something an ENTP should really get a lot out of = ). Granted I'm still working thru, but it's helped me out a lot.

 

[the state i am in]

i accept periods of intense inspiration and reflective periods to consider what my efforts have meant. this is because you are in between things.

it is very easy to read into these in-between periods and assume you have had no direction and no purpose for some time. N doms are the worst accountants.

i like writing out the progress i've made in the last period of time for the analysis. i realize what i've done and what it's been worth. i think about how those projects have helped further develop and clarify the goals i think i have. i consider how i now feel about my goals, and clarify them as necessary. creating specific objectives does help, but at the same time, i allow myself space to make choices in the individual moment or i would wither up and die.

i have had many things i have been passionate about in the past. soccer. musical experiences/expressions. anthropology and religion. continental philosophy. film. relationships with N doms. writing. human psychology. communications. i feel like these experiences have clarified what i can best contribute to society, other individuals, and my own sense of self. i am willing to spend far more time on knowledge than others bc the sense of clarity it provides me gets me off. penetrating vision and poetic inspiration, ways in which individuals express their unique experiences and find value and meaning in the articulations that accompany them. helping others better understand themselves and their potential. and giving my iNtuitive perception-filled imagination shit to play with, explore, be creative with, etc.