Do You Feel Confused?

Feeling confused happens. It’s happened to me and I’m sure its happen to you. It seems to happen cyclically like most things. I go through periods where I feel very certain and committed about my goals and tasks then a short while later I may feel confused and frustrated. 

This can happen when I finish a goal and have not set a new one. Alternatively, it occurs when I have forgotten why my long term goal is important and my priorities have changed. Other times it happens when I realize that my current activity will not ultimately achieve my long term goal. Or, ultimately I may just feel tired and need to rest. Its all so confusing and frustrating at these times.

Sometimes I feel confused because something feels wrong and I don’t know what that is. It is even worse when I feel like I should be doing something but don’t know what that something is. This is really messed up, but solvable. I notice that when I sit down to define my problem or decision I’m confused about in specific detail then I pretty much always am able to come to a good resolution.

If you’re confused and you’re having trouble writing out your problem ask yourself questions or find an app that will help through a personal audit and discover what is bothering you. Then, write a specific problem statement and define your resolution goal which is the opposite of your problem statement. Prioritization is important. Write short, medium, and long term impacts to that problem. This will help you focus on solving and making decisions about problems that are the most important. Once you resolve the most important problems then you can shift to the nice to haves. 

Generally, it also helps to write or speak in a stream of consciousness then analyze and organize later. Confusion can happen because something is overwhelming and you may not be in the right mindset to solve it. Get your thoughts out of your head by speaking into a recording device or writing them down. Later figure out what they mean or what to do about them. Often you may realize that you’ve solved your problem just by getting it out of your head and seeing it from a third person perspective. 

Next, brainstorm solutions. Read what other people have written about your problem, watch YouTube videos, and talk to other people about their ideas. 

Once you have enough solutions about how to solve a problem list the pros and cons of each decision alternative. The pros should align your long term goal while the cons take you further away from it. 

Allocate a specific time period and define a due date so you don’t get stuck in each step of the process. Your goal is to eventually reduce confusion and make good long term decisions in the most efficient way by following a systematic process. 

In the book Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman they talk about first and second systems. The first system is fast and automatic while the second is slow and deliberate. You need both to function well. Think of the first system as your animal instinctual mind while your second is your logical rational mind.  When the two systems are in conflict and/or imbalanced I believe that you get confusion.

That said, I feel like there is too much emphasis on the second system and not enough put on the first system. The second system exists to guide and manage while the first system is used to reduce overall effort and focus on day to day activity. Therefore, focus on how to create good habits and eliminate the need to make choices with your second mind on a daily basis. That will then allow your first system to function automatically to move closer towards a goal and feel less out of alignment with the second system.

Generally, following a systematic process to reduce your number of daily decisions will allow you to feel less confused and more certain because you’ll have the energy to focus on more important problems. Consequently this reduces procrastination and making the cognitively easy choice due to decision fatigue. 

Sometimes helping others solve their problems can help you solve your own. I find it easier to analyze other people’s problems because I can think objectively about them. I notice that I gravitate subconsciously to people who are similar to me and run into the same road blocks. You’ll find your roadblocks and short comings are not unique. Eventually you’ll solve a problem enough to where it is routine and just ‘another one of those’.

When I am confused sometimes I’ve lose focus or belief in my self defined long term purpose. When this happens imagine a vision of what my ideal life will be like 10 to 30 years from now. When you can envision your long term future then break down actions into their constituent parts required to get there each year, month, and day.

When you set a long term goal you have to first believe that you can get there. Sometimes feeling confused means that you are losing faith in your capability to achieve that long term goal. Therefore, continue to strengthen conviction by increasing certainty. You can increase certainty by using the scientific method to plan, do, and analyze on a set of tasks in the near term. When you are certain about a sequence of events you can then forecast what actions will need to be taken to achieve a goal over a specific period of time.

Have patience and conviction in your logic. Impatience and distraction can be a source of confusion. Getting into a flow state by speaking observable logic is a good way to get out of this confusion. I feel like I can get out of confusion by finding an easy repetitive task that will get me incrementally closer to my goal and just focus on doing it over and over again. Taking this action takes the anger, frustration, and confusion out of my life. Often times after focusing on a repetitive task for a long period of time my mind feels more aligned and everything flows easier.

If all else fails consider if you are just feeling bored. When things are going well sometimes it can be easy to self-sabotage. Self-sabotage happens when we procrastinate or make a choice that is instantly gratifying. 

Confusion comes and goes cyclically. However, the sooner you can identify what specifically is confusing the sooner you can get onto solving it. It is usually quite simple when you slow down but it starts first by getting your problem out of your head and into a form where it is tangible and systematically solvable.

About the Author

39 thoughts on “Do You Feel Confused?

  1. Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favourite
    justification seemed to be on the net the
    easiest thing to take into accout of. I say to you, I definitely get irked even as other folks consider issues that
    they just don’t recognise about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and
    defined out the entire thing without having side effect ,
    folks could take a signal. Will probably be again to get more.
    Thank you

  2. Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with
    hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended
    up losing many months of hard work due to no back
    up. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?

  3. We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.

    Your web site provided us with valuable info to work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our entire community will be
    grateful to you.

  4. each time i used to read smaller content which also clear their motive,
    and that is also happening with this article which I am reading at this place.

  5. Hello my loved one! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and
    come with approximately all vital infos. I would like to look extra posts
    like this .

  6. My partner and I stumbled over here different web address and
    thought I may as well check things out. I like what I see so now
    i am following you. Look forward to exploring your web page yet again.

  7. Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you might be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your
    blog and will eventually come back someday. I want to encourage you to definitely continue
    your great posts, have a nice morning!

  8. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your site.

    It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme?
    Exceptional work!

  9. It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be
    happy. I have read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you few interesting things or advice.
    Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.
    I want to read more things about it!

  10. You really make it seem really easy together with your presentation however
    I find this topic to be really one thing which
    I believe I might by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated
    and extremely broad for me. I’m taking a look ahead for your subsequent publish, I will try
    to get the hang of it!

  11. Greetings I am so glad I found your blog, I really found
    you by error, while I was researching on Google for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say
    many thanks for a incredible post and a all round enjoyable blog (I
    also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read
    through it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read
    more, Please do keep up the excellent job.

  12. Primeiramente congratulações pela postagem. Eu nem sabia que existia Seu weblog exceto pelo pouco
    que já li fiquei impressionado. É Que show hein achar tema de qualidade desta
    maneira na web. Abraço!

  13. Por favor, me avise se você estiver procurando por um escritor para seu blog.
    Você tem alguns conteúdos maravilhosos e acho que eu seria
    uma boa aquisição. Se você quiser eu queria escrever algum conteúdo para
    o seu blog em troca de um link para o meu. Por favor me envie um e-mail se estiver
    interessado. Obrigada!

  14. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.

    I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if
    you are not already ? Cheers!

  15. Hi outstanding blog! Does running a blog like this take a large amount of
    work? I have absolutely no knowledge of coding but I was hoping
    to start my own blog soon. Anyway, if you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners please share.
    I know this is off topic nevertheless I just wanted to ask.
    Thanks!

  16. Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did
    you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few
    simple tweeks would really make my blog stand out.
    Please let me know where you got your design. With thanks

  17. Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?

    There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your
    content. Please let me know. Thank you

  18. Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to grasp a lot about this, such as
    you wrote the guide in it or something. I think that you can do with
    some p.c. to pressure the message home a bit, but instead of that,
    that is great blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.

  19. I’ve learn a few just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting.
    I surprise how much attempt you set to make such a wonderful informative
    web site.

  20. OI tudo bem ? . Você poderia me dizer qual plataforma você está utilizando
    neste site ? Em breve estarei construindo meu blog mas estou em dúvida sobre qual
    plataforma usar e adorei o formato do seu site .
    Se puder me indicar , será de grande ajuda . agradeço antecipadamente

  21. I have been browsing online more than 4 hours today, yet I
    never found any interesting article like yours.

    It is pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all
    web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever
    before.

  22. hello!,I really like your writing very so much! percentage we communicate extra about your
    post on AOL? I need an expert in this house to solve my problem.
    Maybe that’s you! Having a look forward to see you.

  23. Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me
    out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others
    like you aided me.

  24. It is appropriate time to make some plans for the
    future and it is time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could
    I want to suggest you few interesting things or advice.

    Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article.
    I desire to read more things about it!

  25. Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
    you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is wonderful,
    let alone the content!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like these