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Too Late To Change Your Life's Path?: Lifehack
Too Late To Change Your Life's Path?: Lifehack
www.lifehack.org
TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
MEET JEFF
Do you look at your life and wonder if there’s more in you than just this job and routine life?
Do you want to do something different and make a change but feel that your current expectations at
work and responsibilities in relationships are strangling you?
Is it really too late to do what you want? Jeff has the answer for you.
Jeff grew up in the city. His parents weren’t into the outdoors and his mother had horrible allergies;
but he had always loved nature.
When Jeff was small, he joined the scouts so he could camp in the wild and be surrounded by woods
and lakes. He even started a hiking group to go on trekking trips every other week with his high school
friends.
When he got into college, Jeff studied civil engineering because he was fascinated about how his
engineer dad built skyscrapers from scratch. He naturally landed a civil engineering job after college.
Jeff’s dad was proud of him for following in his footsteps.
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
After working in the company for 4 years, Jeff got a promotion. At the new position, he got to lead a
team of engineers and designers to focus on residential housing projects.
This involved a lot of chopping up prime lots (ie: trees) for houses, which was frequently an essential
step. Jeff didn’t really like this idea. But he was too busy to dwell on it because suddenly, he had to
step up as a leader and learn how to manage the team to work efficiently.
With a lot of hard-work and self-learning, Jeff pushed through his most challenging time. Within a
year and a half, he had led his team to complete every project on time and gained a stellar reputation.
One day, Jeff had to sign the papers to confirm cutting down a section of forest to make room for a
new apartment complex like usual. But this time, the location turned out to be his favorite trail he’d
been hiking for years. His heart sank immediately.
This time, the action opened up the pieces of his heart he’d been burying away. The reality was that
he’d become a cog in a machine that, with each project, was relentlessly cutting away at the great
outdoors he loved so much.
A few weeks later, Jeff visited the construction site. He could barely recognize the place. The hiking
trail that was once filled with tall and dense trees was now just a big barren patch of dirt. The place
was lifeless.
When an engineer came up to Jeff to assure him enthusiastically that they’d surely meet the project
deadline, Jeff coldly said “OK” and secretly hoped there was another way.
Back at his office, there was a guilt that Jeff couldn’t bury away anymore. He couldn’t concentrate at
work and failed to finish reviewing a proposal that was due that day. For the first time ever, he had to
ask for an extension.
Questioning Himself
Jeff knew he had to figure out why he was feeling so lost, or else he wouldn’t be able to move on.
“I’m a good engineer like my father. I have led my team successfully and a lot of my colleagues look up to me.
My family is proud of me.”
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
New Opportunities
Jeff thought really hard to find out what he’d been missing throughout the time.
Looking at the photos he took in that forest on his phone, all the happy memories he had when he
hiked with friends came back. He remembered his love for nature since he was small.
Jeff realized the pride he had with his job wasn’t enough to make him feel fulfilled. He knew he had to
do something that wouldn’t go against his intuition -- his love for nature --to feel happy again.
Taking Action
Jeff tried to look for an opportunity to help preserve nature during his free time.
At that time, an eco-friendly organization was looking for professionals like engineers, energy
scientists and researchers to work voluntarily on a project dedicated to designing systems with
minimal impact on the environment in Alaska. Jeff applied for it and got recruited.
In spite of his full-time job, Jeff worked hard to make time for this side project. He would even fly to
Alaska whenever possible to help facilitate the project’s progress.
The project was completed in two years and had successfully kickstarted a sustainable development
moment in Alaska. Jeff was thrilled about it.
He was eager to continue his contribution to this, so he sought for a full-time opportunity to work
there and began preparing.
Two months later, Jeff resigned his position and moved to Alaska to pursue his mission. He worked
with people who were passionate about nature like himself to design different energy systems. And
most importantly, he finally felt fulfilled.
When you know what’s actually meant for you, you’ll experience true satisfaction and happiness. This
will also actually lead you to success.
This worksheet will help you find out your TRUE PURPOSE so you’ll stop feeling stuck.
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Rate how important these statements are to you with the following scale:
1 2 3 4 5
8. To get married
14. To be well-known
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
1 2 3 4 5
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
1 2 3 4 5
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Finding out what you feel important to you is easy, knowing why it’s important to you is a tougher
question.
iSixSigma introduced a good method on finding the root cause of anything by using 5 why. By
repeatedly asking the question “Why” on something, you can dig into the root cause and the deeper
meaning you never realized.
Let’s take a look at an example. Say “To have my own family with kids” is extremely important to you:
Because that’s what I was taught about -- having my own family with kids will bring me
happiness in the future.
Then you won’t be miserable when there’re kids caring about you.
Because I’m afraid that when I get older, I will be all by myself, lonely and unhappy; and I won’t
be able to take care of myself.
Because I’m not confident in myself that I’ll be physically fit and mentally healthy when I
become so old.
Here, you see what’s the core thing that really matters to you -- You want to be physically fit and
mentally healthy when you become old. “To have my own family with kids” is only one of the many
paths to reach that.
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Let’s take a look at an example. Say “To retire early” is important to you:
Work is tough, I just want to relax and enjoy my life as soon as possible.
It’s a 9-5 boring desk job and I have to deal with co-workers who are irresponsible and a
demanding boss.
I’m staying in this job only because it earns me money for a living.
Here you see why you want to retire early, because you’re staying in a job that doesn’t fit you! What
you really want is -- Work that you really enjoy and can support your living.
Now it’s your turn! Let’s take a look at the things that you find Very and Extremely important.
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
You don’t need to repeatedly ask yourself why for 5 times, maybe you can find the root cause already
at the 3rd or 4th why. Or maybe you find that the final answer for a couple of things are very similar or
even the same, and that’s perfectly okay.
Statement #1 - 5 Whys
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Statement #2 - 5 Whys
Statement #3 - 5 Whys
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Statement #4 - 5 Whys
Statement #5 - 5 Whys
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Maybe you have a couple of things that you find important right now, but only ONE of them is the very
thing that you need to break free of this bleak looking future, to pursue meaning, and make your life
truly fulfilling again.
Use this scale to assign points to the statements you previously evaluated with the 5 whys:
Rate what’s important to you by answering these questions using the above scale system:
1. If you’d die tomorrow, you would regret not having/being [Your Answer from the Last Section].
2. If money weren’t any issue, you would be doing something about/related to [Your Answer from
the Last Section].
3. You’d be happy doing something related to [Your Answer from the Last Section] every day even if
it’s difficult, challenging and goes ugly.
Now calculate the score for each item that you find important, which has the highest score?
Statement #1
Statement #2
Statement #3
Statement #4
Statement #5
The one with the highest score is what you’re meant to do -- YOUR PURPOSE.
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TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE’S PATH? WORKSHEET TO HELP YOU START A NEW GOLDEN AGE LIFEHACK.ORG
Now that you’ve found what’s meant for you, you’re probably thinking so what’s next?
Imagine you can do anything, what will you do to meet your purpose?
I know, you must be thinking, but I can’t do these things because I don’t have the skills, knowledge and
time...
Just don’t miss out our emails to help you live a life with meaning and fulfilment!
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