People always say we should follow our dreams, do what we are passionate about, follow our gut. But often times, the moment you put an idea out there that seems too far-fetched, you get shot down and are told to play it safe. This advice is delivered with the best intentions, of course. And sometimes listening to that advice can be the best thing to do. But how do you know? How do you know when to go after what you want and when to play it safe?

I still don't know the answer to this question completely. All I can say is what I've learned so far.

I've grown enough to know that not everyone will agree with me. I will make choices in my life that others will not agree with and that's OK. I don't have to agree but I do try to listen to feedback. It's a struggle to listen to someone rattling off all the reasons I shouldn't do something and sometimes I'm too frustrated to listen and can only argue. However, I find my best risky decisions include those that planned for the various mishaps I was warned about. A lot of times, when I'm excited about something I tend to only see the positives first so having all those reasons why I shouldn't do it thrown at me makes me take a moment to think everything through and do a little risk vs reward analysis.

But other times, I just do it. These decisions are definitely scary to make but rising above the odds and proving people wrong feels really good. I'll give a silly example to go along with this one just to drive it home: I used to have long hair and I used to tell myself I'd never cut it. But one day, I really wanted to cut it. I wanted a new look. I brought it up casually to get people's impressions and they were all against it. But I took the risk and did it anyway. I went from almost a foot of hair to a 2-inch buzz cut. It was quite the change and people were definitely shocked but it felt really good to make a decision on my own like that, to listen to my gut and just do it.

So I guess the only piece of concluding advice I can offer right now is the following: If you have a plan that looks at pros and cons and your gut's telling you to go for it... well, maybe you should.