I'm Emily P. Freeman and welcome to the next right thing.

You're listening to episode 270.

This is a podcast about making decisions, but also about making a life.

If you struggle with decision fatigue, chronic hesitation, or if you just need a few minutes

away from the constant stream of information, and the sometimes delightful, but also distracting

hum of entertainment, you're in the right place for discerning your next right thing.

Today's question, what role do your friendships play in your decision making lives?

More specifically, how can we be friends, people trust, to come to when they have a decision

to make?

Are there any tips or tricks on how not to be an annoying friend when someone comes to

us for advice?

If there are my friends, I hope you'll listen in.

In the summer after my high school graduation, I remember a conversation with my dad about

decision making and friendship.

We lived in Detroit at the time, and I would be moving away 12 hours from home to attend

school at a small college in South Carolina.

Technically in preparation for the distance, dad told me this about seeking advice.

He said, when it comes to looking for counsel or next steps, my best bet for help would

be prayer, so God obviously, scripture, my parents of course, and maybe a mentor or a

professor.

But your friends, he said, may sometimes be helpful, but they're going to be further

down the list when it comes to people who will be able to offer wise advisor counsel.

...