I am keenly aware these days how much I turn to others to decide how to think.

Last week it was hugging. Granted, I was at a funeral and it’s a challenging not to hug. But with each person I saw, people I haven’t seen in years and whom I want to hug, I waited to see what sort of greeting would be appropriate with them given this spreading virus and news suggesting jazz hands etc

This week so much has changed that I don’t think people would be hugging even in that situation. But I still find I look to others. If this meeting is happening then it must be okay to go. Is this activity is canceled, well I don’t have a choice but maybe I should take things more seriously. Etc.

Of course at some point we cannot just look to others to make our own decisions. We must take input from people and sources we trust and then make our own decisions based on our own circumstances, risk tolerance, and all the other unique factors to us.

That is certainly not easy as we have not been through something like this before. But life isn’t easy and surely life thus far has prepared us for this.

I work for myself, or at least on my own schedule. So that piece for me is fairly easy. But there are still other decisions such as how often to go to the store and what activities to participate in. I’m more likely to stop going to a toastmasters meeting then I am to not go to the gym but that is simply because for me the gym has a greater benefit.

What are your big decisions? How can you decide for yourself without being overly influenced by groupthink?