A rushed or otherwise compulsive mood can work against you when you are called upon to make decisions today. You may feel driven to review your options and make your choice as quickly as possible for a variety of reasons. Yet unless you are specifically asked to choose quickly, there is likely no reason why you cannot devote as much time as necessary to formulating your response. If you feel yourself becoming obsessive where important life-changing decisions are concerned today, consider stepping back from your options entirely to mull them over. Thus freed from worldly distractions, you can work through your alternatives without being unduly influenced by your emotions.

There will be times in our lives in which the key to making life-enriching and wise decisions lies in our ability to step back from the choice before us so that we can think carefully about the alternatives we must choose between. Many people make hasty decisions out of an erroneous belief that they will jeopardize their fate if they wait too long to choose. In treating the decision-making process this way, however, they unintentionally deprive themselves of the opportunity to further their aspirations. The more forethought we display in the choices we make, the better equipped we will be to zero in on those paths that will later prove both satisfying and practical. Distancing ourselves from a decision can help us think more clearly about our options. When you step back from the alternatives in front of you today, your need to act quickly will vanish.