There will be times when you’ll find yourselves on crossroads.

You may be in a job that you don’t hate yet but you have stopped liking.

You may have a startup you started building with hope and excitement but it does not excite you anymore.

Or, you may have grown out a career path because of the lack of opportunities.

During such times you need to get yourself ready for Act 2.0.

But you may find yourself in a crazy situation, where you have some idea of what next but you are not sure of what exactly you’d like and how your choice will eventually turn out.

Zeroing In On Your Act 2.0

If you ever face such a situation, start by reaching out to someone who has been in your situation before.

Be well aware that you may not get the conclusive answer because your aspirations, temperament, and skills may all be different from the person you are reaching out to.

Don’t stop there.

Ask yourself, “If not this, what else?”

Don’t be lazy as you try to find the answer to this question. Keep adding ‘ if not this, what else’ options to your list.

Then add five columns next to your options. Add following headings to the columns

1) How excited I am (0-10) for the chosen option,

2) the time needed,

3) resources needed,

4) size/scope of the opportunity and

5) case studies (2-3 examples each of those who are already on that path).

Now for every option, enter a value for each column. Make ‘How excited I am’ as non-negotiable. If something does not excite you now, chances are it won’t excite you in 6 months or a year. So, no point going in that direction.

After you have filtered your options based on how excited you are, filter the rest based on other parameters, and pick top three.

Now, go practice each option for one or two weeks each. See which one you like better. That’ll be the direction you should take for Act 2.0

How To Take Off In Style For Your Act 2.0

Don’t stop here.

Make a learning plan depending on time availability and how fast you want to start with Act 2.0

Pick a small activity that is part of your Act 2.0 as your anchor – that one thing that you enjoy doing. Do that one thing every day without fail.

Taking action on that one thing will make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of lethargy or inaction and will also test how much you like that option.

If you can’t afford to leave your main thing, for now, keep doing that, and get ready for your Act 2.0 by learning and doing in bites of 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. This way you can make the leap to Act 2.0 in a year.

If you can spare time then go all in your preps for act 2.0 and spend 3-4 hours a day. This way you’ll get ready in 3-4 months.

Follow these steps and you will find an Act 2.0 that you will be able to enjoy for time to come and also where the opportunity is bigger and better.