What Do You Want To Do With Your Life: Reasons Why We Don’t Get Things Done

Too many people have a lot of responsibilities, while others have way too much time on their hands.  Both groups have desires to accomplish tasks on personal and professional “To Do” lists. Some of these “To Do” lists include big goals such as:  Start a business, own property, visit Africa or build a community center.  Others “To Do” lists may include smaller goals such as:  I want to visit a spa, learn Spanish, or make more money.  People may have carried these lists around in their heads for weeks, maybe even years, but neither has made an attempt to get them done, why?

There is the husband who works two jobs, coaches a baseball team, runs errands for elderly parents and makes time for his significant other.  He says he would like to do a lot of things but simply doesn’t have the time.  Then there is the single mother who is taking care of three children, working part-time, volunteering for charities and running a business from home.  She says that she would like to complete some tasks, but all cost money she just doesn’t have.  When you ask both of them, “What do you want to do most with your lives?”  They may both answer, “Take a vacation.”  Converse with them a little longer and they may have about ten more things they would like to do, such as clean house, buy a new wardrobe, get the car repaired, go to the park, work-out, visit the spa, etc.  Whatever the reason, they have things they may want to get done, but haven’t made the time to do it, simply because they are too busy.

Then there is the college student who was attending full-time, but preferred to go part-time.  He has a part-time job and lives with a roommate.  He is always looking for the next best party to attend and has more free time than any of his friends.  If you ask him, “What do you want to do most with your life other than become an architect? He may say, “Buy a sports car with a convertible top and get my own place.”   He, like the other people above, would like to get personal goals done, but hasn’t thought anymore about how to achieve them.

Let’s face it we all like to listen to ourselves talk.  We like the idea that there are things we need to do in life, but we may not be driven enough to get them done.  Then later in life, we will talk as our grandparents did, “I should have done that.  I don’t know why I never bothered.”  It’s unfortunate but many people have died with regrets.  They never made their dreams reality or they failed so much at pursuing one goal that they completely ignored other possibilities that could have sufficed.

What we must do to get things done is to begin to make the necessary sacrifices in our daily living to get them done.  Jobs offer personal time and if yours doesn’t then take a day off to get what has been bothering you the most completed.  Even if you can’t get it all done on that day, at least make a plan on how you intend to complete the task it may take days, months or even years, but at least you will be working toward getting it finished.  Too often tasks don’t get completed, because people are not completely sold on what they have told themselves they want to do.  If their minds aren’t convinced to begin to make their dream a reality, then they will hide behind their daily responsibilities.  For example, if your parents were in the hospital ill, some of you would sacrifice your busy life to be with them.  If you were ill, everything in your life that you were a part of would have to continue without you, now wouldn’t it? 

Sometimes all we have to do is test ourselves on how important are our dreams, tasks or any other plans to us.    We do that by examining the personal sacrifices that we are willing to make and begin to make them. This action will determine whether or not we really want to trade a task or give up one thing we like to do in order to complete something we really don't want to do but have to.

Consider this, are we just saying what we want to do just to impress someone or because someone told us we would be good at it and we agreed?  People who are serious about making things happen in their lives will make the time to study, invest money, travel, move to their destination, break off a relationship, sell a house, or tell family members “goodbye” when they are serious about answering this question, “What do you want to do with your life?”

Nicholl McGuire is the author of What Else Can I Do on the Internet?