Each day you make over 35,000 decisions. Some are small and made with very little thought. Others are big decisions which have the potential to change your life. Each big decision is a chance you’re taking for yourself and requires considerable thought and consideration.

College provides the opportunity to make many decisions that can impact your future. This is also a a time in your life when you can recover from a poor decision as you blaze your path toward the future. The best thing you can do in that situation is learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them. You cannot dwell on the bad decisions. Living in the past is not healthy for anybody. You should look forward to the future and focus on your new opportunities.

When you’re in college, you are learning to be the person you want to be. It is easy to fall off track and that is OK. You just need to recognize when this happens and develop a plan to head back in the right direction. There is an unspoken expectation college students have to graduate and work towards landing a dream job or getting accepted into a graduate school program. You need to recognize that the decisions you make today can affect your potential to realize your future dreams.

Making the right decision is not always easy. You may decide to do something that takes you away from your friends, and FOMO is so real. But in the end what are you going to remember? Nights out with your friends, or the day you spent shadowing someone you want to grow up to be. Everything in life has an opportunity cost.

Many things can hold you back from making the right decision. It could be friends, family, significant others, or confidence. In the end it’s your life and you need to take advantage of the opportunities you have now, which you may not have later.

So, how do you know if you’re making the right decision? You’ll feel it. I like to refer to right decisions as describing the feeling you have when you pick out the perfect dress for prom, or the feeling you had when you were touring the university of your choice. It will just feel right and the excitement will be like an itch you can’t scratch.

You’re the person you are today because of the decisions you have made so far. If you don’t like it, then figure out what you could do differently to love yourself and make the most of the opportunities you have been given.

The right decision is not always the easiest decision. Life is about taking chances, that’s the only way you will learn who you want to be, what you want to do and where you want to go in your life. Decisions matter...understanding the impact they have on your future will help you consider and make more “right decisions” for yourself and your life.