THE question asked by all my clients is: what should I do with my life? Well, only they've got the answer. The problem is that we're all so busy just living that we don't do what it takes to find out. Personally, I got made redundant with two weeks' mon

THE question asked by all my clients is: what should I do with my life? Well, only they've got the answer. The problem is that we're all so busy just living that we don't do what it takes to find out. Personally, I got made redundant with two weeks' money, and was forced to find out what I wanted to do. Otherwise, I'd probably still be on the nine-to-five treadmill. If you're serious in finding a direction for your life - and unless you are lucky enough to already love what you do - then this concerns you. You've got to take a step back and take time out for the explicit purpose of finding out. Or you can choose to stay with a life that's just all right. The choice IS yours. My advice is to take time out, away from everybody and the telephone, perhaps drive into the countryside and sit on your own. Get out a pad of paper and a pen and begin by asking yourself the following questions: - What am I good at? - What do I really enjoy? - When am I happiest? - If I could wave a magic wand, what would I wish for in my life? - What things do I really value? - Who do I admire? - Who would I like to be like? - What is it about them that I like or admire? Don't rush this. Write paragraphs for each question, or even pages if the creative juices are really flowing. Really take the lid off and dream. Just let the pen flow, however unrealistic what you're writing seems. Take another look at the piece of paper a few days later and see if anything else occurs to you. You will have set your mind a task by doing the exercise, and it will be processing away in the background. So if something occurs to you out of the blue, make sure you write it down. Keep doing this for a month. You'll be amazed at what comes up and then without you consciously realising it, your mind will start refining your ideas. But don't rush any of this process. We'll start to move things forward again next month. - For more details visit www.winningminds.co.uk or e-mail any questions to being@winningminds.co.uk or call 0800 083 0143.