Existential Emptiness: 5 Tips To Know What To Do With Your Life
Mental life cannot be understood only with the chemical reactions that occur in our brain, since we feel emotions, we have feelings and we perceive the world based on our experience and our beliefs. In fact, we all search for meaning in our lives…
The meaning of life has captured the interest of different philosophical and psychological currents such as existentialism or humanism, and focuses on existence, consciousness and happiness, affecting many other issues such as ontology, vital purpose, ethics. and free will, etc.
But what happens when someone can’t find meaning in their life? So we talk about existential emptiness or existential crisis. Today we will go into detail with this topic.
The existential void is a melancholic journey in which the person is unable to visualize their future, since he does not know where he is or knows himself, and he is not able to look to the future because he lacks vital objectives. This can lead the person to suffer great existential anguish, and if a solution is found, it can lead them to suffer a depressive state.
Individuals who find themselves with an existential void They can end up psychologically torturing themselves looking for an answer they can’t find. But if they do not take action, this situation can become a vicious circle.
The only way to escape from this context is found in self-knowledge and in discovering the desires one has in order to discover one’s vital objectives and fight for them. Therefore, the solution lies in awakening itself. The future answer is found in the present, in knowing who I am, what I do here, and where I am going.
Crisis for one’s own existence: feeling emotionally empty
Life goals are necessary to keep us motivated, because when we do not find meaning in our lives, confusion and sadness can take over us. The existential emptiness leads us to feel psychological discomfort because we begin to question the reasons for our own existence.
In reality, existential emptiness is a identity crisis that occurs when our life is out of control. Then, our mental schemes are not adaptive and our self-esteem suffers since it does not have a solid base or a frame of reference to guide it. What am I doing here? or what is the meaning of my life? It is something we can ask ourselves.
Discover who we are and what we want for ourselves It is key to our personal development and to live with a positive state of mind. That is, introspection will help us put our feet on the ground in the present, to be able to walk towards the future we want.
Being emotionally intelligent, key to overcoming it
In recent times, a concept that has revolutionized the way people relate to ourselves is emotional intelligence. A term made famous by the American psychologist Daniel Goleman, and which is currently applied in different fields: educational, work, sports and clinical. Regarding this last area, emotional intelligence has shown that it improves self-knowledge, self-motivation, management and regulation of emotions and, furthermore, the well-being and happiness of people.
Since Salovey and Mayer (1990) introduced the construct, many investigations have demonstrated the benefits of emotional intelligence. As we explain in our article “The 10 benefits of emotional intelligence”, it favors decision making and personal development, which have a lot to do with existential emptiness.
In reality, personal development experts, such as coaches, provide emotional intelligence tools to coachees, since an individual cannot understand themselves without correct self-knowledge and management of their own emotions.
Emotional intelligence allows a person know yourself better and plan realistic goals, which are key to getting out of the existential void and getting hooked on life again. Emotional intelligence helps you put aside the identity crisis, and allows you to live life with greater clarity, both in the present and in the future.
What to do with your life when you can’t find the right path
Since getting out of the existential void has to do with finding one’s genuine identity, facing this situation is different for each individual. That is, the path to be followed is different for each subject, and requires will on the part of each person to avoid being trapped in this negative spiral.
Psychologists deal with lost people every day, who do not enjoy their work or their life or who are with a partner who really does them no good. They remain there for fear of leaving the comfort zone, for fear of uncertainty, for fear of meeting their true being… Happiness is found in oneself, in the personal development and vital self-realization of each one.
Below you can find some tips to overcome the existential void
1. Know yourself
As we have commented in previous lines, it is necessary to know yourself to know the path to follow in life, Don’t be afraid of your desires. If you want to improve your level of emotional intelligence, you can find some useful courses in the article “The 6 best courses on Emotional Intelligence and Personal Development”
2. Set goals
Setting goals is key to not feeling existential emptiness. Scientific studies affirm that people who set realistic objectives and goals enjoy greater mental well-being and are more motivated. In fact, this is key to avoiding depression.
3. Accept reality
Many times, frustration and existential emptiness are also a consequence of unrealistic expectations and not accepting reality. When we accept ourselves as we are, the existential void disappears.
4. Live in the present
Accepting yourself has no meaning if you do not live the present in its entirety. It’s okay to set goals, but it’s necessary to always keep in mind where we’re starting from.
5. Seek help
In some cases, the confusion is such that it is very difficult to look into the future. So it is necessary to have psychology professionals that can help people overcome the existential void and face the right direction towards a full life.
