With the advent of social media, and our nature as human beings, we tend to be very hard on ourselves. When we see the success of others, we compare it to our own, not knowing the real struggles and hurdles that person had to go there to get to where they’re at. And even on top of that, we don’t know if what is posted is an accurate depiction of that person’s life. Comparing ourselves to others, based upon our shortcomings can be a very demeaning and detrimental habit within ourselves.

Determination and feeling “wrong” are deeply rooted to one another. IIf we fail a class, we cope by saying maybe that wasn’t the right area of focus for us. If we fail in a relationship or three, maybe we’ll be single for the rest of our lives. If we fail at starting a business or non-profit, maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for us. Chances are, if you are making an internal decision like this without the proper amount of reflection, you are wrong. And it’s okay to be wrong. Usually, we expect our first choice to be our best choice. More often than not, that’s not always true. Think about the last time you made a purchase as far as tech and weren’t happy with what you got. You probably did your due diligence, asked around and still found that the product wasn’t suited for your liking. That’s okay. Your optimal choice, the best choice made after your first one, is always made with proper understanding and hindsight. You’ll know that being a firefighter isn’t for you way more if you go to the academy versus watching a YouTube video.

As imperfect beings, it is only natural that we will be wrong at many things in our life. Even when we look back on our life and cringe at some of the choices we decided were wrong, this shows growth and progression within ourselves. That decision you made five years ago that you regret as the wrong choice shows that you indeed have grown, and are further than you were before. People like to throw around the phrase “trust your gut” when making an important decision. When this is the case, do that, and try not to put too much emphasis on the results. Trusting your gut is always the right decision, even when the world at large may see your decision as wrong.
Regardless, the best option is self preservation and a choice that is right (and healthy) for you will also mean good things for your family and loved ones that you want to help.