If you recognize these 10 signs, your life is moving in the right direction

It’s funny how just one decision—even just deciding to stop by a grocery on our way home—can totally change the trajectories our lives are headed.

It’s actually quite scary. But knowing that we’re moving in the right direction will provide great comfort.

But how do we know for sure? 

Is it just based on gut feel? Is it measured by how much we’re earning? Or how happy we are?

Well, let me help you figure it out.

Here are 10 signs that your life is moving in the right direction and that you should definitely keep going.

1) You now have less f*cks to give

Perhaps you have a neighbor who loves to make snide comments about your yard. Their yapping used to piss you off and get you two arguing for hours. 

But now? It’s like they’re not even there.

Or perhaps your family has a habit of being passive-aggressive when you don’t do what they want. 

Back then, you used to give in just to make them stop. But now? You do what you want to do and just ignore them completely.

And this is just the way things are. When you are on the right path and are secure in the way your life is headed, all these petty things simply don’t matter. 

Why care about them when there are more important things in life?

2) You actually enjoy taking on life’s challenges

Life is never easy. 

You are bound to face challenges no matter where your life is headed.

But the thing is that when you have found your calling, you will find those challenges to be enjoyable and satisfying.

In my case, I love storywriting, and the creative process is far from easy. But there’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing my ideas come to life.

So when I face creative blocks, I look for new inspirations. When there are problems with editing, I take those problems as puzzles that need solving. 

They’re technically “problems” but solving them makes me giddy every time!

And this is because I know what I’m doing is worthwhile. 

3) You look forward to the future

It’s quite normal to worry about the future, especially if you’re unsure about the direction that your life is headed.

Perhaps you had a good job, plenty of friends, and enough money to keep you comfortable for years on end… and yet you felt like something wasn’t quite right.

And maybe that was because you weren’t being true to yourself. Your career didn’t align with your life’s purpose and your friends weren’t the right people for you.

In other words, it feels like you’re just wasting your time.

But now? It’s like you’re building your life from scratch but it does feel like it’s exactly the kind of life you want.

You actually look forward to the future even if your new job pays less and your friend group is much smaller. 

Your job is actually something that makes you happy this time around, and while you might have alienated your old friends… you know your new ones are the type who you’d want to keep for life.

4) You’re less bitter of the past

People who are unsure or unhappy with the direction their life is headed will have plenty of anger and resentment in the present.

And more often than not, they will project all that anger towards the past. 

I was like this, too. I used to think “If only my parents pushed me harder…” or “If only I didn’t let my friends influence me too much…”.

But the fact simply is that I was bitter about how badly my life sucked.

All that bitterness started melting away the moment I started moving in the right direction. And would you believe it—I now look fondly at those same memories I used to hate!

Sure, your past might be awful and there’s no doubt things could have been better. But when you’re moving in the right direction, they simply become a part of who made you YOU.

5) You don’t care about people’s opinions anymore

When you’re not sure where you’re headed in life, even a question as simple as “Where are you going?” could offend you.

And perhaps you used to hate people who would give their opinions on your life decisions—people who say “I don’t think dating right now would be wise.” or “Are you sure you can earn from studying Art History?”

But now, you just see their opinions as nothing more but that—opinions.

They can be quite annoying sometimes, but you don’t feel a sting when you hear them anymore.

You know what you want, so why should you be bothered?

6) You have less time to waste

You used to have so much time that you could afford to go out drinking and then binge-watch shows on Netflix until the break of dawn.

Boredom used to haunt you so much that some days were almost unbearable. You might have even resented friends who said they’re too busy to hang out with you!

But now? You understand where those friends were coming from, because now YOU are busy doing stuff you like, too. 

You’re busy working on your career or working on a new painting or spending time with the love of your life.

But despite that, it still doesn’t feel like you’re being worked to the bone.

That’s probably a sign that you actually love what you’re doing and where your life is going.

7) You’re no longer defensive of your choices

You used to be driven by a need to always find a way to justify the choices you make.

People didn’t actually even need to question you, because in your head you’ll be busy arguing with yourself.

But now? You somehow just know that what you’re doing is right, and that you don’t need to prove your choices to anyone.

So what if they might disagree with you? So what if they think you’ll just regret doing this or that? It’s none of their business.

You’re done with trying to win the approval of others before you do something. You’re not here to live their life—you’re here to live yours.

8) You start to think “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

Life is funny sometimes.

We work so hard to find our purpose in life…and many of us spend decades wandering aimlessly.

But when we do find our calling, we often find that it was actually quite obvious in hindsight, and we just didn’t see the signs for what they were!

So when you’re on the correct path you’ll often end up going “wait, this makes sense! Why didn’t I realize it sooner? It’s so obvious I should be doing this” or “It’s so obvious I should have ended my relationship!”

You might even think that your whole life before now was just a waste. It’s not—you wouldn’t be who you are now without those experiences. 

The life you lived, mistakes included, have been preparing you for this very moment.

9) You attract the right people

It seems strange, but once you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing in life, you can’t help but attract the right people.

You don’t even have to try hard.

People will simply be there to help guide you on the path you’ve chosen and then help you overcome challenges.

This isn’t the case when you’re not going down the right path because well, people can also sense it. People can tell that your heart isn’t in it.

But passion is something that burns bright. And if people can tell that you truly are committed to something, they’ll feel compelled to be there for you.

10) You don’t feel envious of other people’s success anymore

People who aren’t exactly sure about where they’re supposed to go in life often spend an inordinate amount of time comparing themselves to others.

They would look on in envy when someone they know is getting a promotion. And then get depressed that their besties are all having happy families now while they sit there, single.

You used to feel that way too. And even if you did try to genuinely be happy for them there’s just this feeling of bitterness deep inside of you.

‘Used to’ is the key phrase here—you no longer care about whether other people are more successful than you are because you’re happy with your life.

In fact you don’t care that much about “success” anymore! 

You’re simply concerned about living a life that’s personally fulfilling… which, if you think about it, is what true success is.

Last words

We live in a world that likes to tell us what lives we should live and what success looks like. 

This same world often beats on our self-confidence, telling us about how some things are impractical or not worth pursuing.

In light of all this, many of us end up struggling to actually find our true calling.

Turn down the noise from the outside world and pay attention to what your inner voice is telling you.

If you can relate to almost all of the signs in this article, then don’t hold back and most of all, don’t question your choices anymore. You’re definitely moving in the right direction.