Take time to think, make better decisions and do it.

Welcome to 2016, last time I wrote it was fast approaching but not yet upon us.

How’s it feeling so far? Much the same as last year, maybe a bit less manic now the festive period is over?

I wonder how many of you are thinking about making changes to your life, things you feel you “should” be doing differently. Whilst I’m sure most of these things are likely to be good for you, I would rather you thought about things that you need to do and that you want to do.

If you feel you need or want to do something, you’re far more likely to actually do it. Because it will be a desire coming from you, not from someone else. Generally “should” comes from those around us, telling us what we ought to be doing for the “right” life. But who knows us better than us?

There are some great books out there that can help shape our thinking, to raise our awareness on the things that we could do better for ourselves and those around us. These aren’t self-help books, but they are accessible psychology books. Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking fast and slow”, Sunstein & Thaler’s “Nudge” and Margaret Heffernan’s “Willful Blindness” all help to gain a brilliant insight into where our thinking goes awry and we often just go for the easy option.

Therefore, as the year begins maybe it’s time to find another easy option. Or to starting thinking about the things we really want to do to feel alive. This to be honest could pretty much be anything, just do it because you want to. See how it feels to do it and if you want to stick at it. You may find it starts to feel great. If it doesn’t just stop and use your time to do something else more rewarding.

Bottom line you have to try it to decide if you like it, so invest some time in you and have a go.

Enjoy…