Have you met you? The case for navel-gazing for your decision-making
We make tons of decisions every day. We agree to things, and we say no. But here’s the question that startled me out of sleep this morning. How often do we make those choices with an awareness of who we are and what we want?
I get it. I sound like my head is in the clouds and cotton’s been stuffed into my head. But, think about it for a second. When you make a choice, how often do you check in with your deepest self to find out what they want?
You might agree to dinner at a place you don’t want to go to. And that’s not a big deal, or is it? How often do you agree to doing things you don’t really want to do? How often do you even stop and ask yourself whether or not you really want it?
I’m betting not often. And if that’s the case, you’re not alone. Lots of us have the people-pleasing thing happening. We agree and capitulate. Then, we deal with that nagging feeling the entire time. Do we do it to be polite? To spare people’s feelings? Obligation? What makes us agree to things we don’t want?
I think it’s because we aren’t well acquainted with ourselves. We spend so little time tuning into our inner voice that we don’t recognize it when it speaks. So, that begs the question. When making decisions, what do you do?
The Case for Navel-gazing for Your Decisions
That’s why I want to advocate for navel-gazing. Boredom is good too. Spend a little time doing nothing. Let yourself get a wee bit bored. And then check in with that inner voice and see if it’s got anything to tell you. You might get an idea for a story to write. Or you might remember an activity you’d been wanting to do but hadn’t planned out. Or, you might remember a wish or desire, or decisions you wanted to make. And heck, you might just decide to change your life completely and move to New York City (like I did after a good navel-gazing session).
Whatever’s going on in your life, take a minute and get better acquainted with yourself and what you really want. You’ll be glad you did.
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