Life Decisions: The Best Questions for a Moment at the Crossroads

Especially when we consider how long we can live these days, it is remarkable how rarely most people find themselves in situations in their lives where they have to make truly groundbreaking decisions. When we choose a career path, we are probably heading in a certain direction, and when we decide whether or not to have children, we are certainly making a very firm decision. And beyond that? Are it more small decisions that determine our path in life. However, they can have great significance for us personally - and be difficult to make.

For example, from a distance it may not matter whether we spend our annual holiday in Denmark or Austria. But at a certain point in our lives our health might depend on us getting a good rest on that particular holiday. And suddenly our choice would not matter at all.

Sometimes we feel that a decision is more important to us than it might seem from another perspective. Even then, we don't have to fear it, because ultimately we will be able to live with and cope with almost any decision we make. But we should definitely take the step we are about to take seriously - after all, it's about our foot, which can either get really wet or get stuck in some mud, or carry us forward dry and safe. The following questions can help keep our foot dry - or deliberately put it in the puddle.

4 questions that will help you make groundbreaking decisions 1. What would I do if no one in this world knew me?

Without us always being fully aware of it, the people around us influence us and help shape our life path to some extent. For example, we might want our parents to be proud of us, our friends not to abandon us, our siblings not to worry about us. Such concerns are not wrong or bad, but they influence our decisions - often unnoticed. Which in turn is not necessarily wrong or bad. It can just sometimes lead us astray from the path we would choose - if we were free from the influences and opinions of others.

While we will never completely free ourselves from the influence of our environment on our life decisions, we can at least simulate it and do so to some extent, using our imagination. How would we decide if we couldn't tell anyone that we had accepted a promotion, graduated from college, or gotten married? Would we still do it? Or would our motivation be less? We are connected to other people in our lives, but we don't live to please others. Why don't we incorporate this knowledge into our decisions more often?

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2. Which path will benefit me more?

It would obviously be a questionable life strategy to always choose the harder, more uncomfortable path - but no less questionable is the strategy that seems more obvious to many, namely always choosing the easy one. As humans, we have the opportunity to learn throughout our lives, to develop ourselves, to discover and develop new skills. But if we avoid every challenge, we make only very limited use of this opportunity.

We usually don't have to consciously decide to be afraid of or respect effort and discomfort, so we tend to choose the path that is less demanding than the one that allows us to grow. However, being clear about which option can really help us move forward and enrich us with life lessons, skills and valuable experiences can make our decision more balanced and free.

3. If I flip a coin, which outcome would disappoint me?

Especially when it comes to groundbreaking decisions, it is important for our inner peace that they not only seem reasonable to us, but also feel good. Often, however, we don't even know how they feel - at least not before we have made them. To get a feel for them and to test our emotions a little, we can imagine what it would be like for us if we were randomly chosen to make one of the alternatives. Would we feel happy with that? Would we try to change our fate? And if the imagined coin toss doesn't help: let's throw the thing. And we have our decision.

4. What is important to me in life?

Most decisions involve numerous factors that are of short-term importance and are related to a very specific case. Sorting them out and ranking them in terms of their relevance is often difficult because they are new and strange to us and we can sometimes only estimate them when sorting them. Ideally, however, we have a guideline that we are familiar with and that can give us orientation: our long-term values ​​and life goals.

Whether our top priority is to live as emotionally balanced as possible or as luxuriously as possible, whether we would like to change the world or primarily not get in anyone's way, whether career advancement is more important to us than free time - we usually clarify these questions for ourselves sooner or later and can use this clarity to find answers in many situations. Ultimately, every decision is about finding the path that brings us closest to our ideal life. And to do this, we must above all remember what our ideal life looks like.

Sources used: psychologytoday.com, hackspirit.com

sus Brigitte

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