Why The Only Voice You Need To Listen To Is Your Own
Make the effort to really listen to yourself and block out everything else.
mavo / shutterstock By Rachel Greenwald
Within the past couple years, the Internet has made it possible to read advice on any subject imaginable in seconds. Whether it’s about dating, fashion, or healthy eating, there is no shortage of articles to give you a new perspective on any subject.
But in a world where advice is just a click away, we often forget to listen to the most important advice of all: our own.
In the midst of all the reasons you should be single in college and 10 ways to make sure you’re living your life to the fullest, people are forgetting to listen to their own opinions.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the advice articles as much as anyone else. I mean, right now you’re reading an advice article about advice. Ironic, right?
But it’s important to remember that these articles are meant to give you a different perspective on life, not to be the absolute guide to your own.
It is often easier to make decisions based on something an article tells you because in some ways it takes some of the pressure and accountability off your shoulders. But you are the one making the decision.
You are the one that is going to have to live with the consequences of that decision, and you know yourself better than anyone else. Your intuition is much stronger than you may believe.
If you see an article on why you should be single in your 20s and you have a boyfriend that treats you like a princess, then you have no reason to break up with him. On the flipside, if you read an article about how college is your best chance at finding a husband, there is no reason to freak out if you graduate single.
These articles are opinions. They are not facts.
I understand that making decisions can be extremely difficult, and I can often be a victim of chronic indecisiveness. But I’ve realized if you make the effort to really listen to yourself and block out everything else, the right decision will end up being very clear.
Take some time with your own opinion rather than obsessing over someone else’s life journey.
Living in a small town in Maryland my whole life, I never thought I would go to the University of Maryland. After reading some articles on the perks of going to big city schools, I had my mind made up.
But for some reason after I got into those schools, a little voice in the back of my mind told me that none of them would be my second home. And although I thought I would end up in a big city all along, going to Maryland has been one of the best decisions of my life.
You should never discount your own intuitions. If we start getting in the habit of underestimating the worth of our own advice now, then we will undoubtedly run into issues later in life when the decisions will only be getting harder.
And if it turns out you make a wrong decision along the way, that’s okay. Because it’s the only way you’ll learn to make the right ones and learn to trust yourself.
We need to remember to follow our gut.
We all get those little feelings that point us in the direction of the decisions we already know we want to make, but oftentimes we choose to ignore them.
So the next time you have one of those feelings don’t question it, follow it instead. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Rachel Greenwald is a writer who focuses on love, self, and lifestyle topics. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Manager Magazin, The Post, and Capital News Service.