From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: 

“Which road do I take?” (Alice)

“Where do you want to go?” (Cat)

“I don’t know,” Alice answered.

“Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.”

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” 

I’ve come to realize that the hardest and most important thing in life is to figure out what you want, the rest is a lot easier. Once I have something to orient my actions towards, I can make plans, go forth and do. Until then, I feel paralyzed by indecision since I don’t know how to decide what is the best action to take. 

What you want has to be very specific to be useful. It’s not enough to say “I want to be happier” since there are so many ways to be happier that you still don’t know what to do. You have to decide what specifically would make you happy. That way when a good opportunity comes by, you will recognize it immediately as what you need to succeed and can act on it. Otherwise, plenty of good opportunities will pass you by which you don’t know how to use since you don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish. 

So if you ever find yourself unsure of how to decide where to go or what to do, it might help to ask yourself what you want first.