Knowing yourself is freedom. You stop needing the crowd to tell you what to do next.

Not knowing what you want leaves a gap, and something always fills it. Usually that something is whoever is nearby and sounds sure. Once you have your own read on what matters, the pull of the room drops from a command to a suggestion you can take or leave. Freedom here is not doing whatever you feel like; it is having an answer of your own to hold up against theirs.

Before the next group decision, settle your own preference first, even as one sentence in your head. Then listen. You might still go along, which is fine, but you will know you chose it.