Your friend calls you up one night after dinner, and insists that you’ve got to get out of the house tonight: it’s been weeks since your ex-girlfriend broke up with you, and you’re still moping around ignoring the guys. He’s got a perfect plan, he says. He’s taking you to the woods behind the high school, where there’s supposed to be a really wild party raging. You know you’ve been bummed lately, but you also know you’re definitely starting to notice the other fish in the sea and will be back to your usual self soon enough. Your friend seems to be ignoring the fact that you’re actually home tonight because an important lab report is due in biology class tomorrow. And secret parties in the woods are definitely not your scene. So what do you do?

You probably have to make choices like this every day. But do you stop to consider the implications of your decisions? If you took the time to think out every decision, would your life be different? Sometimes we tend to respond to the pressures that are on us, rather than the motivations we have inside us. Parents, teachers, and friends all influence our decisions, and for the most part we value their input and advice. But at other times we might let ourselves be swayed in ways that are not true to our own goals in life. When something happens like the scenario above, do you do what you really want, or what you think others want you to do?

Much of our lives are planned out, making it easy to just float along. It’s up to you to take charge and make the decisions that will lead your life down its own unique route. When you’ve got to make a decision, think about your choices, and the possible outcomes of those choices. Which outcome stays true to your goals and beliefs? The responsibility of making your own choices is huge, but it’s also a great privilege. Read on to find out more about strategies you can use to make the best decisions!