Making good decisions for you means you have to trust yourself enough to make the right ones. Many people have struggled with this for years. They second guess and question every big (and sometimes little) decision they’ve ever made. They’ve felt the frustration of not trusting themselves enough to know that they were making the right choices.
Most of the time our decisions are good ones. But there are likely a few that we are not particularly proud of, like cutting classes, or staying out way past curfew, or buying a car we knew we couldn’t afford just because we wanted it. Oftentimes, the bad decisions came from listening to others.
The majority of us are raised with good morals and values. We are taught wrong from right. But we still make bad choices. So how do we learn to trust ourselves to make the right decisions now?
Here are the steps to use:
- Connect with your inner voice or your gut instinct. To do this you have to turn off all the doubt and confusion in your head. Sit quietly, and focus on quietening your mind. Find that voice inside you that is filled with compassion and respect. Listen to it.
- Avoid connecting with people who weaken your self-trust. These are the ones who use you, or are the naysayers to your dreams. Avoid them whenever possible, especially when you are needing to make an important decision.
- When you make a promise to yourself, keep it. For instance, you might make a commitment to walk every day. If you break that commitment to yourself, you’re destroying your self-trust. If you can’t keep promises to yourself, how can you trust yourself to make good decision?
- Talk to yourself like you were talking to a friend or loved one. Be kind. Don’t bash yourself. Forgive yourself when you make a mistake or make a wrong choice and trust yourself enough to make a better choice next time.
- List the times you followed your instincts when everyone told you to do something different and the outcome was favorable. List the times you followed the opinions of others against your instincts and the results weren’t favorable. When you’re faced with a big decision, think back to those times you trusted yourself.
- Surround yourself with people who support you and understand you. People who understand you will love and support you in every decision you make. They will help you learn to trust yourself. They will encourage you to listen to yourself and tell that you are the only one who knows what is best for you.
In the end, just make the decision. You have to let go all the insecurities that are keeping you from taking action. Decisions are made every minute of every day.
If you continue to second guess yourself and worry that you are going to make the wrong decision, you’ll end up stuck and never get where you want to be. Trusting yourself enough to know you are making the right decisions is how you can move on.
