If you’ve ever wondered whether there was more to life than working and paying bills or whatever you’re experiencing now.

There is. 

I know because I’ve been on both sides and felt the difference. 

Up until recently, I struggled with the same difficult questions. I would ask myself…Is this all there is to life? Just a cycle of going to work, coming home, paying bills, seeing friends and gym? 

It’s the standard life that most of us live and I wasn’t ungrateful. I knew it was actually an amazing life considering what people around the world have to go through. 

But it didn’t stop me feeling empty and incomplete inside. I wanted more out of life than this. I just didn’t know what that ‘more’ was.

How I found more to life

All that changed for me when I took an off-the-cuff opportunity to volunteer as an English teacher in Chile for half a year. 

It was suggested by a colleague and I decided to do it mainly because it sounded interesting. 

Long story short, the experience ended up changing everything for me because I discovered how good life could be when it aligned with who I was.

If you feel like something is missing from your life, chances are it is. 

What was missing for me was living a life aligned with my values and some of my deepest needs: growth, challenge, freedom, adventure. 

I got all that in Chile and never felt more engaged, fulfilled or excited by life.

No wonder I had felt stifled by my 9-5 routine, it wasn’t giving me all these things that I needed to feel full.

What do you need to feel full? Are you living a life aligned with your core values?

You’re probably not giving yourself what you need, if you’re questioning whether there is more to life.

Maybe you need a creative outlet, growth, connection or contribution to a greater good. 

Or maybe you have absolutely no idea what’s missing (I have an answer for that in the next section). I didn’t. It wasn’t until I experienced it that I knew what it was.

There’s much more to life. Here’s how to find it.

If you feel like something is missing from your life, some purpose, some meaning – don’t ignore it. 

Dig and see what you can find. 

It usually means you aren’t in the right place right now (no matter how much you, or other people try to convince you you are). 

I can tell you that another state is possible, where you aren’t feeling like you are now. 

If I can find it, you can too.

Do like what I accidentally stumbled upon with my Chile trip, take action. 

Do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Start that business, go on that round-the-world trip, take that photography course. 

Make a change, because it’s the only way you’re going to move forward.

Even if you have no idea what you’re looking for, go towards what you do know (even if it’s the tiniest of hunches).

You don’t have to have all the answers right away. Most of the time, it actually takes a bit of work and learning about yourself before you have those answers.

Work on it one step at a time, following the clues. Eventually you’ll hit on something that makes your heart sing.

Having tasted what I needed in my life to feel a deep sense of contentment. I started to revamp it to the way I liked it.

I got out of that 9-5 corporate routine, became my own boss and started finding projects that allowed me to constantly grow, to help people and create things.

And to be honest I’m still on that journey – trying to figure out how building a life you love works.

But even in this slightly unknown world, I can tell you it feels a hundred times better than the life I was in. 

I feel more alive, excited about the future and grateful everyday, simply because I know I’m living the life I want.

The Takeaway

If you’re asking: is this all there is to life? Or believe that there has to be more to life out there – you’re right, there is. 

In my experience, these feelings signal that there’s something missing from your life that you need.

Your job is to take action to find it through trying anything that draws you, and reflecting on things like your core values, what lights you up and what you truly want out of life.

Don’t cheat yourself of the life you could be living because you’re too lazy, too scared or too comfortable to do something about it.

There is more to life than this, trust me. You just have to get off your ass to find it.