making big decisions

there are typically several major decisions everyone faces in life. some are major in retrospect, while for others you have the foresight that they are major. these key decisions can have major effects on the trajectory of your life. mulling over these decisions can leave you in a spiral of overthinking, high emotions, and questioning your entire life. the things to consider while making these decisions: - don't dictate decisions over short term emotions. it is a decision that can drastically alter your life path. - consult the people that understand at least one aspect of your life deeply. it can be your professional or personal life. this is because major decisions will most likely affect all aspects of your life, which is why it's important to thoroughly understand the indirect and direct impact the decision can have on all aspects of life, not just the area of life you have to make the decision in. - really contextualize your decision with what's your overall vision for your life. it doesn't matter what most people would do or how the decision is conventionally valued. you don't want to make a drastic decision that doesn't really fit into your life plans. - understand how much of your decision is driven by gut vs rationality. there's honestly no right direction you can choose. there have been too many case studies against trusting your gut too much and also being too rational. that's the most frustrating part of making big decisions. you don't know what to go with. the best thing to do is extract the flaws of your gut and determine if it's being driven by a flaw or insecurity of yours. is it ego? insecurity? validation? you know yourself best. don't lie to yourself. more importantly, life is too short to have regret. - what did the naive, younger self of you dream of? would the younger self of yourself be proud of your decision? - depending on your situation, your decision may be rooted in frustration or a craving for change. you really need to evaluate your decision in the highs and lows of this craving. your worst nightmare is making an impulsive decision driven by emotions.