How To Get Excited About Life When You’re Tired And Aimless

It's helped me countless times

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

“And we’re off!”

It was 4 AM, and my parents just packed everything into our Subaru to drive down to Florida.

Why?

Because we were going to Disney World, baby. I never forgot what my Mom said right before we departed.

We were excited.

How I Overcame Depression In College

In college I remember being depressed.

Central Pennsylvania in the winter will do that to you.

One day, to get away from it all, I went to Barnes and Noble.

While browsing the aisles, a book called Do Cool Sh*t called my name from the shelf.

Little did I know this book would change my life.

As I read the story of this amazing woman who played professional soccer, opened her own restaurant in NYC, and met some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, I realized one important thing.

I wasn’t looking forward to anything.

There was nothing in my life that I was excited about.

As fate would have it, that very afternoon I got an email to apply for the Disney College Program in sunny Orlando, Florida.

I filled out my application in 30 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later I got an email to do an online screening.

I filled that out in 30 minutes.

Moments later, I got an email to schedule a phone interview — the last stage of the process.

‘Holy sh*t!’ I thought. ‘I just might be able to go work at Disney!’

In a matter of six hours I went from being severely depressed and aimless to jump-out-of-my-skin excited.

My entire future changed in my mind. I thought of free tickets to Disney, new friends, sunshine, working for a company I loved with all my heart, and partying my ass off.

At the same time the future of a dreary, grey existence in Grantham, Pennsylvania disintegrated in my psyche.

I was happy once again — if only for the possibility of a brighter future.

Spoiler Alert: I got the job and had an unforgettable 8 months in Disney.

You Need To Get Excited For Things

So what’s the lesson here, Tom?

Go work at Disney and that’ll solve all my problems?

Look, my meaning is that when we’re depressed and aimless, it’s probably because we have absolutely nothing to look forward to.

You need to change that.

You gotta give yourself a goal so exciting that your fire to accomplish it won’t burn out.

In 2016 I started a travel blog that I hoped would eventually be my full-time gig. That dream excited the hell out of me — to blog and get paid for it.

Two years later, after hundreds of published blog posts and tons of grinding, that became a reality for me.

That’s because the reward of accomplishing that dream was so desirable for me — so freaking sexy — that I never quit.

And that’s the kind of goal you need to have.

Derek Sivers once said “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.”

Whatever your next goal is, it needs to be a ‘hell yes!’

Sometimes changing the “big goal” of your future can be enough to drag you out of a massive life slump.

So if you’re not excited…dream bigger.

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