How to Help Guide Friends and Loved Ones Back on the Right Path

The right path is something many of us want to stay on, but it is often easier said than done. The right path keeps us where we live purposefully and intentionally. But people can often stray from it. Whether it’s a number of setbacks or an especially difficult time in life, feeling lost and straying from your path can happen for a number of reasons. According to Harvard Business Review, this happens because there is a missing sense of belonging, purpose, competence, and control. However, it is not impossible to guide friends and loved ones back on the right path.

How to Spot People Straying Off Their Path

There are many reasons why people may stray off the right path, and one of the most common is the feeling of being lost and purposeless. This can happen for a myriad of reasons. Some people may experience betrayal and have their trust broken in relationships. Others might have experienced failure and lost sight of their goals. Anybody is susceptible to this, even the most successful, driven, and focused people. There are several signs or symptoms that one has strayed off their path:

Loss in motivation: If one can’t muster the motivation needed to do tasks or get out of bed, then it may be time to think about why this is the case. People who feel lost and aimless may start to sleep in daily, run late for work, or skip classes.

Constant comparisons to others: People who are not on the right path also tend to compare themselves to others because they’re not quite sure where they are at in life. This can be a constant point of frustration and may lead to more feelings of stagnancy or even jealousy.

Unhealthy coping mechanisms: Behaviors such as substance abuse and avoidance are telltale signs that there needs to be some sort of change in one’s path. It’s important to acknowledge that this unhappiness may be due to a lack of balance in life, and it may be sending your loved one down the wrong path.

Guiding People Back on the Right Path

When people go down the wrong path and stay there for too long, it can make lasting negative impacts in their lives and their relationships with others. At times, all they may need is a gentle nudge toward making the right choices. It is important we are there to guide them back to the right path.

Support their search for meaning and purpose: Creating meaning and purpose in life is essential to knowing one’s direction. This keeps an individual on the right path. According to author and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, meaning can be found even in the face of death or hopelessness. And while not everybody has had the same extreme experience of being in a concentration camp as Frankl, he impresses upon us the importance of understanding our “why” and how it can lead us where we want and need to be.

Approach people with sensitivity and respect: Getting someone back on the right path needs to be approached with sensitivity and respect. Interventions will often require plenty of research, especially if individuals are dealing with substance abuse and other self-sabotaging behavior. SymptomFind describes how you can plan ahead to ensure your intervention is successful. It also discusses what not to do, such as being judgmental and blaming oneself. The important thing is to ensure your discussions are done with concern and sensitivity to guide loved ones back on the right path.

Encourage self-care: Promoting self-improvement and care is another excellent way to guide friends and loved ones back on the right path. This involves getting to know oneself in a deeper way, a journey that can benefit greatly from the guidance of astrology. According to our post titled Prosperity Wants to Fund Good Ideas That Bring Light Into the World, one of the best ways to bring prosperity into your life is through projecting it into the world. Opening up this spiritual connection prompts the way back to the right path if we are lost as we strive to heal the damage to our personal and collective economy.

At Arik Xander, we provide a full-time consulting practice that offers individual reading sessions and energy balancings. If you’re committed to transformation, our one-on-one programs and international retreats may help you back on the right path. Feel free to reach out to us today.