Many people feel something is missing in their life, even when everything looks fine on the outside.
They are busy, responsible, productive… yet somewhere inside, they sense that something essential has been left out.
Not because they’ve failed.
But because some of the pieces that make them feel most like themselves may have been pushed aside, forgotten, or never fully explored.
Those pieces are often surprisingly simple.
They may be the activities that draw you in, the places that restore you, the people who bring out your truest self, or the moments when time seems to disappear.
Do You Know What Those Pieces Are For You?
Do you know what makes you tick, what lifts your spirit, what brings you back to yourself?
Often, people move through life without ever asking these questions. They make decisions from their head instead of their heart, choosing what seems logical, responsible, or expected.
And slowly, life begins to feel flat.
Not wrong. Just not fully alive.
If that sounds familiar, this simple puzzle exercise can help you notice what naturally restores you, inspires you, and points you toward a life that feels more deeply your own.
The Puzzle Exercise
How do you listen to your heart?
The first step in finding out what makes you happy is to identify the activities that inspire you.
Once you recognize and start using them, your life will get easier, you’ll have more fun, and you’ll find the satisfaction that comes from doing what you love.
Begin the Exercise
To do this exercise, imagine your life is a puzzle.
Each piece represents something that brings you joy, inspiration, curiosity, or deep interest.
Your task is to discover what those pieces are.
Take a sheet of paper and draw a blank puzzle with several pieces. (You can also download and print the blank puzzle template if you prefer.)
Then begin filling it in.
Write one activity, person, place, or experience into each puzzle piece — anything that feels meaningful, nourishing, or deeply engaging.
Example
Let’s say that you love photography and like taking pictures wherever you go.
Every time you do this, you feel good about yourself. You become more curious, more present, and your worries fall away.
Whenever you take pictures, something shifts inside you. Your attention sharpens.
The world becomes more interesting. You feel creative, awake, and connected.
That becomes one puzzle piece.
Write Photography on one of the pieces.
Maybe another piece is hiking in nature.
You love hiking, and being outside clears your mind and reconnects you with yourself.
Write Hiking on another piece.
Keep going.
Fill In the Pieces
Fill in the blank pieces whenever you notice an activity that lights you up, something you enjoy doing that makes you forget time.
Your puzzle pieces might include things like:
- Traveling
- Cooking
- Writing
- Dancing
- Painting
- Gardening
- Building things
- Organizing
- Learning something new
Anything that makes you feel deeply engaged and alive qualifies.
How to Recognize a Real Puzzle Piece
A true puzzle piece has one important quality:
It consistently deepens your sense of aliveness.
Every time you do it, you feel more present, more grounded, more open, and more connected to yourself.
These activities are not draining. They restore you rather than deplete you.
Bringing the Pieces Together
Once you’ve identified your puzzle pieces, begin grouping them.
Some pieces may belong to:
- Personal projects
- Career ideas
- Creative outlets
- Your ideal lifestyle
When you start building your life around these pieces, something powerful happens:
Life becomes lighter.
You experience more flow, more inspiration, and more fulfillment — because your life begins to align with what’s naturally yours.
Why This Matters
Many people feel lost because they try to design their lives based on what they should do.
This exercise helps you design your life based on what feels honest, meaningful, and deeply your own.
And when you follow those clues, direction becomes much clearer.
Once you begin noticing the activities that restore and engage you, a clearer picture of your life starts to emerge.
The pieces slowly come together.
Often, the life you are meant to live is already hidden in the things you naturally love.
Start with the puzzle.
Your life will show you the rest.
Your Turn
Take a quiet moment today and begin your puzzle.
Write down a few activities that energize and deeply engage you, the things that make time disappear when you do them.
Start by adding a few of the pieces; you don’t have to figure everything out at once.
And if you discover something surprising, I’d love to hear about it.
Sometimes one small insight can change the direction of an entire life.
This exercise is taken from my book ALIVE: A Practical Guide to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart.
If you’d like to explore this idea further, the book offers many more tools to help you reconnect with your gifts
and create a life that feels deeply your own.
Good luck, and as always, thank you for reading,
Karin
Continue the Journey
Every piece of your life carries meaning: your gifts, your longings, your questions, your courage, even the parts that once felt out of place.
If this reflection spoke to you, you may enjoy exploring my other pieces about what makes you uniquely yourself.
Create A Life You Love Waking Up To
Three Simple Steps to Find Your Passion
Each one offers another doorway into living with more courage, clarity, and aliveness.
If you want to dive into my book, it’s here:
ALIVE: A Practical Guide to Get Out of Your Head and into Your Heart.