Something happened in the lead up to turning 27.
I started thinking about my age differently.
I realised that (in my mind at least) I couldn’t get away with saying “It’s OK, I’m only XX” anymore. And nor did I want to.
I wanted 27 to be a big year for me. (And so far, so good!).
Which has made the shift in my decision making process even more bizarre to me.
My decision making used to be very logical, very structured. Disciplined even. I created a huge multi-tab pro-con list/spreadsheet before breaking up with a boyfriend. You don’t even want to get me started on how I decided on a university degree.
And as part of this, I used to spend a significant amount of energy ignoring the thoughts I had when I was drunk, half asleep or sad. I did this because in my mind, these thoughts were irrational, meaningless outliers.
Now, it would seem that I am only listening to these thoughts. And not just listening – seeking them out.
Now I wait to make a decision until I can figure out what it is that is keeping me up at night.
And if nothing is keeping me up at night, I don’t do anything at all.
Like how I was ready to create my next 1 year plan.
This was a bit of a ritual for me. It would usually be something along the lines of “OK, just get to the end of this year, do these things, sort these things out, go on a big holiday, and then we’ll start worrying about next year”.
But this wasn’t going to cut it anymore. It wasn’t keeping me up at night.
Instead I waited.
I waited until I woke up in the middle of the night (on the plane on the way back from Ghana actually).
And now I have in my possession some very, very interesting ideas for a 40 year plan.
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If you liked this post, this very very simple guide to decision making might also be of interest.
Also this quote from Greg Mortensen’s Three Cups of Tea “When your heart speaks, take good notes”.
What to do when a 1 year plan doesn’t cut it any more?… Come up with a 40 year plan. That sounds like the Mon I know.
I’d tend to agree with your comments about making decisions that just feel good. If there’s one thing that living in siberia taught me, it’s that you’ve got a choice to do something with your life that makes the majority of people around you happy, or you can pick the option that just feels good for you and create the happiness wherever that decision takes you.
The glass will always be half full wherever I am because I choose to be there. And who knows, maybe I’ll be drunk, half asleep, or daydreaming at the same time about decisions that I’m yet to make.
Enjoy Nepal.
Robyn xxx
Living in Siberia hey? Was it really that bad?
Thanks!