Wondering if you are doing the right thing can be a complex question with no easy answer. However, the best approach you can take to gain clarity and make informed decisions is “strategic thinking”.

Strategic thinking looks beyond the immediate situation and envisions how your actions today will impact your future; a mental process that involves analyzing the big picture and making decisions to achieve long-term goals. Moreover, it is a skill that can be developed over time by the proper amount of practice.

Let us go on a journey through the strategic thinking path. You start with deciding about something that you want to achieve and can be truly great, for example,  a lifetime achievement that you will be remembered with: a Mission. An example can be “To thrive in my journey through life and learn life’s lessons along the way” or “To inspire others to achieve great things.” This will give you the guidance to see the right direction accordingly.

After deciding upon your purpose, you should define some clear timely goals that you should achieve to be on the path of this mission. These goals have to be vivid; for example, instead of saying,“I want to be successful,” you could say “I want to raise my net income by 50% within the next five years.” This can be about money, health, relationships, spirituality or anything that makes a mission achievable. Do not set them to be achieved together as you don’t want to be burnt out; they should be in sequence rather than in parallel as much as possible.

In order to make sure that these goals are realistic, you have to understand and analyze your situation in order to adjust them accordingly. For carrying out such analysis, you need to evaluate your current areas of strength and weakness, in addition to the external possible opportunities and challenges that  you might face. This will help you identify your internal capabilities and external factors that can influence your success.

Once you are sound about your goals, you should answer the hard question: How? This is the core of strategic thinking, the actual “strategy”. Here, you develop a plan that outlines the steps needed to achieve your goals. This should include specific actions, timelines and resource allocation. The strategy has to be based on your analysis, while being realistic yet flexible enough to be updated according to changes in the situation. For example, if you would like to create a YouTube channel in a certain field using your expertise and knowledge with the target of developing content and attracting viewers; you need to make sure that your strategies do not contradict each other. It would be unrealistic to focus your time on one strategy and still expect to achieve the rest of your goals on time. Hence, you have to work on coordinating and integrating strategies together.

You are now ready to start implementing your plans on solid ground and references that can guide you for the right thing. However, there will always be new circumstances and challenges that you should be monitoring in order to be ready for different scenarios.

You should regularly assess your progress toward your goals through using indicators and triggers to measure your performance and identify areas for improvement. For instance, these indicators could be: , the bank balance at a given time, income, fitness level, sleeping hours etc. You must be willing to adjust your plan as needed to address changing circumstances and this might involve modifying your goals, reallocating resources or developing new strategies.

So, beside the above-mentioned, you should consider the following to ensure that you are doing the right thing:

• Trust Your Gut: If something feels right, it probably is. 
• Consider Your Values: Are your actions aligned with them? 
• Seek Advice: Trusted friends, family members or mentors can offer valuable perspectives and help you weigh your options. 
• Visualize the Consequences: Consider both the short-term and long-term consequences. 
• Practice Mindfulness: Mindfulness techniques like meditation can help you stay calm and focused, allowing you to make clear decisions

Finally, keep in mind that strategic thinking is a continuous process. It requires patience, perseverance and a willingness to learn from your experiences. By practicing regularly, you can develop the skills necessary to make informed decisions and can confidently answer that You are doing the right thing!