Time to read: 4 minutes

Article at a glance:

• There isn’t one perfect next step. Reframing the question from the right step to a right step can take away pressure and make it easier to move forward.
• When you’re stuck, follow curiosity or look for a small way to be helpful. Either can create momentum without requiring you to know where you’ll end up.
• Collaboration can bring new information and clarity, while listening to your gut can help you decide what makes sense for you.
• A step doesn’t have to work out to be worthwhile. Take small steps, adjust as you learn, and keep moving.

We’ve all felt stuck. We all had big (or small) life changes that have thrown us off and into a new “normal” that requires us to learn how to function all over again. We’ve all stood at a crossroads wondering which way to turn.

And we’ve all asked ourselves, “What’s next?” And we may or may not have had an answer.

So how do we answer that question? How do we take the next step? How do we even know the next step?

The answer is less exciting and more confusing than a lot of us would like: there is no one right step.

How to Take a Next Step

Yes, you read that heading correctly. It’s not about taking the next step, but a next step.

The pressure of taking the next right step can be crushing. There are many, many right steps.

So ask yourself, what makes sense right now? (This can feel a lot less intimidating than “What’s the right thing to do?”)

What could be a right step? (Simply changing the to a can make that question a lot less scary.)

And if you still have zero idea what to do next, no worries. We have more tips.

Curiosity and Helpfulness: Two (Non-Exclusive) Paths

If you aren’t sure what to do next, you can always take a baby step in the general direction of curiosity and/or helpfulness.

How can you be helpful in your situation?

What’s sparking your curiosity right now?

This doesn’t have to come with a lot of pressure.

Maybe you help your coworker process orders or figure out how to fix that computer file that got messed up. Help set up chairs for a meeting, clean up the associate kitchen if you notice it’s a little messy. Give someone a compliment. Focus on making something 1% better instead of doing a big overhaul.

Ask your admin or coworkers what they could use help with, and let that be a right step for today.

Curiosity can spark movement.

In her book Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert explains how she got an incredible idea for a novel that, due to life circumstances, she wasn’t able to make the time to write, and the idea essentially died before she could get it on paper.

She wasn’t sure what to do next because she didn’t have another big idea. She opened herself up to a burst of inspiration, but nothing showed up.

“As time ticked by and an impassioned idea still had not ignited me, I didn’t panic. Instead, I did what I have done so many times before: I turned my attention away from passion and toward curiosity.”

So she followed her curiosity…to gardening. And not just any gardening, but growing the biggest, most colorful, most ostentatious flowers she could get her hands on.

Then she realized she was particularly interested in the history behind these bulbs and seeds, so she started Googling where these plants had come from. Then she started reading books. Then she started traveling to learn more. Three years later, she started writing The Signature of All Things, a gorgeous novel about a family of Dutch botanical explorers.

Did she know her obsession with crazy flowers would lead to the creation of an epic historical novel? Probably not. But she trusted her curiosity, and it led her out of her fog.

So what are you curious about? Even just a tiny bit?

Don’t judge it. Just play with it. Think of a question you’re interested in knowing the answer to, or a skill you’ve been wanting to learn, and try it out. You don’t even have to commit fully. Maybe you read an article about what the heck a quark actually is, or you pick up a book about the life cycle of blue whales, or you watch a Youtube video about how to use a sous vide.

These might not lead anywhere directly, but little adventures like these are a step. And a step is all you need.

Two More Tips

Collaborate

If you’re stuck, talking to and working with others can help move things along.

The bigger our pool of knowledge, the more information and clarity we can have to illuminate a next right step. This is especially helpful for work-related decisions, or choices that affect a group.

Listen to your gut

Gathering opinions, experiences, and information from others can help, but don’t discount your inner voice, especially for personal decisions. Ultimately, only you can decide what a next right step might look like for YOU.

One Step After Another

What if you take a step that doesn’t work out?

Take a different step.

This is another reason why small steps can be great, but it’s not so hard to take a step back if we realize we don’t like where we’re going.

So practice taking small steps, following your curiosity, and finding ways to be helpful so you can let go of the idea that there’s only one right step.

Opportunities are endless!

Reflection questions:

What’s sparking your curiosity right now, even a little?

What’s one small thing you can do to be helpful today?

Who are two people you could talk to or collaborate with?