Why Bother To Know What You Don’t Want?

We make a plethora of decisions every day. Some are small, without risks and inconsequential. Others are large, come with bigger risks and more consequences. Though some decisions can be made intuitively, others take more effort and deliberation. But, no matter the decision, I’ve found an easy way for me to make them. I just remember what I don’t want to be.  

 How To Decide

Remembering what I don’t want to be helps me to make the decisions I need in order to be what I want to be. For instance, I know that I don’t want to grow into a fat woman. In order for me to succeed with this particular goal, I have to maintain a regular exercise routine. It has to fit within my budget, my time frame and my preferences. Though finding what works best for me took a little time, now that I have my routine, there is no wondering if I will or won’t exercise. I know I will since I don’t want to grow into a fat woman. My goal, staying slim, makes the decision to exercise every day easy. 

I don’t want to be a divorced woman. I have to remember that it takes time and patience to nurture a marriage into a good one. When I went back to school to become a teacher, my goal was not to be an A+ student. My goal was to stay married. That meant giving myself a deadline and stopping my work at 4:00 p.m. everyday so that I could spend the evening hours with my husband. My goal, to stay married because I do want to be a divorced woman, worked. Not only did I earn a 4.0 GPA in school, but I am still married. 

I don’t want to be a procrastinator. When I postpone something, when I neglect or ignore doing what I know I need to do, my insides churn. I do not like myself when I prolong the inevitable phone call, the face to face conversation or the pile of papers that need my attention. Knowing I don’t want to be a procrastinator keeps the momentum of moving forward with the things that I need to do. 

Finally, I do not want to be a liar, or a thief. This goal, to maintain a moral standard with my life, automatically keeps me from making stupid decisions that I’d later regret making. 

Why bother to know what you don’t want. It is worth it to know what direction you don’t want your life to take so that the decisions you make, take you in the direction you want to go.