I’ve always had a habitual need to listen to my body, both literally and metaphorically. Whenever I’d eat anything that made my stomach upset, I’d make a mental note and discard it from my lifestyle. The same has become true of other important things in life – “friends”, jobs, and opportunities.

Not all opportunities are right for you. There might be an open door, or a crack in the window, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to your end game. How do you tell what’s right from what’s wrong, when it comes to your life?

The general notion that women tend to have strong intuition is one that is widely believed to be true. Many of us learn to listen to it, while many of us tune it out. We live in a world of logic, and despite the overruling prevalence of religion and spirituality in many societies, we’re still shifting towards science rather than the “feeling” our ancestors relied on. It’s no surprise, then, that so many of us have forgotten how to trust our “instincts”. In turn, we’ve forgotten how to trust ourselves.

Second-guessing myself was the norm for the last two years. I’d be lying if I said I went into every situation with full confidence. I threw myself into many difficult situations, with the intent of growing as a human. Although this is true – I have grown immensely in such a short amount of time – it’s also been painful. I’ve taken opportunities that weren’t right for me. With many of these opportunities, I knew early on that they weren’t right for me. Still, I told myself to stick things out, to see if I could somehow be “easier” in my approach to things. The truth is, not everything is meant for you. It takes a certain amount of self-awareness, and strength, to say “no”. Should there be a nice, but not suitable person around, for whom everyone else wants to push you towards (whether it’s for a relationship or a friendship), you reserve the right to say “no thank you”. There is nothing wrong with that; it also applies to jobs. Many people want the best for you, but their way of displaying it tends to be by promoting the most risk-averse option, or by promoting something that you know isn’t right for you. The skill of walking away from a bad option is one that takes time to hone. Should you not trust yourself, that’s when you need to take a step back.

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?