Why You Still Can’t Answer “What Do I Want to Do Next?” ...and Why That’s the Wrong Question
It’s the most common question I hear in coaching: “How do I find out what I want to do next?”
And yet smart, experienced, driven professionals still stumble over it.
My challenge to them:
You’re not stuck because you don’t know what you want.
You’re stuck because you’ve made the question too safe.
The Illusion of Clarity
We treat “What do I want to do next?” like a riddle to be solved.
We overthink, over-research, and over-consume TED Talks hoping for clarity to arrive.
But that question is a decoy.
It keeps you in your head, safe from action, immune to risk, and protected from judgment.
It invites introspection when what you actually need is experimentation.
And most dangerously, it assumes there’s a right answer out there just waiting to be uncovered.
There isn’t.
What We’re Really Avoiding
Underneath that question sit three things most people would rather not confront:
What am I willing to risk to find out?
What if what I want doesn’t impress other people?
What if I try and still don’t get what I thought I wanted?
This isn’t a clarity problem; it’s an identity one.
We want our next step to feel certain before we take it.
We want the payoff without the discomfort of trial and error.
But careers aren’t built like IKEA furniture, there’s no instruction sheet.
They’re built in motion, not in thought.
The Counter-Intuitive Shift: Start Before You're Ready
Stop asking “What do I want to do next?”
Start asking:
What feels energising, even if I’m not sure where it leads?
What small experiment can I try in the next 7 days?
Where am I hesitating because I don’t want to look like a beginner again?
Your next move won’t reveal itself in a journal—it will reveal itself in action.
In trying, testing, talking, and noticing what pulls your energy forward.
There’s No Path Until You Walk It
You’re not going to think your way to certainty.
You’re going to act your way to clarity.
So if you’ve been stuck on this question for a while, here’s your permission slip:
Stop solving. Start stepping.
Because the people who discover what’s next
…are the ones already in motion.
Please contact Andrew here if you would like to discuss how you may go further in this topic through Coaching.