Hi, this is Stephanie Maas.
Today I wanna share with you some of my favorite advice that I've been giving out quite a bit lately.
One of my nephews, my oldest nephew.
It started college this fall, and every time I talk to him, whether it be on text or phone or in person, whatever the case may be, whenever we part, I always say to him, Hey, be safe and make good choices.
And finally he said, aunt Mimi.
Yes, I'm an Aunt Mimi and Mimi, what does that mean?
And I said, you know, I'm glad you asked.
Um, I feel like it's just good blanket advice.
So I shared with him and his situation a couple ways that he could be safe, still have fun, but make good choices.
But today my counsel for you is I don't know how much to tell you about being safe.
I mean, don't text and drive.
I, you kind of got that idea, but make good choices.
One of the most challenging things today when it comes to making choices is most of us, we get very emotional when it comes time to make decisions, and then we look for evidence to support the choice that we feel like we want to have.
A good way to prevent this emotional approach to decision making is when you're faced with a choice, if you have the luxury, before you even get in a situation where you have to make a decision, write down, Hey, what are the key factors in helping me make this decision?
What's most important?
Share that with somebody else.
And then as you gather information, compare it to what was most important to you.
How does it line up?
This keeps logic at the center of any decision making that you have to have.
Now the back part of that, and this is gonna sound crazy given what I just said, but the other part of that is something that we don't often do enough, and that's listen to your gut.
Again, I just told you to be logical and now I'm telling you to use your emotions.
I get it sounds contradictory, but it's not.
Most of us, we blow off what our gut is trying to tell us because there's something else pulling us in a different direction.
But when we stop and really listen, think through the logic and come back to, Hey, when I think about this decision, am I getting.
That feeling of, yep, this just feels right, or am I looking for evidence to support that it's right, even though it doesn't feel right?
Remember, be safe and make good choices.