Have you ever needed to make a big decision, where you felt like you were stuck and you didn’t know which way to go? In this episode let’s talk about the 3 ways for making big decisions much easier.
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We’ve all been there. Whether it’s about which job to choose, which career to pursue, which idea to implement first or even which country to move to, whatever it is that YOU’re deciding right now, I wanna say ‘The struggle is real’, but that’s a bit cliché, so let’s just say – this process can definitely get confusing.
Here are 3 tips for you to reorganise your thinking around this subject and move on to actually making a decision without unnecessary headaches.
(Although, let’s admit that straight out, if you’re making a big change in your life it WILL feel scary at times, no matter what your next step is, so it’s totally normal and ok to feel a little scared. But you can use those tools to help you make the best decision for everyone involved, in spite of that feeling.)
Pro-con lists.
There are people who love them, there are people who hate them, but there is no denying that using a pro-con list as one of the tools to gather and organise your data is invaluable.
Mulling things over in your head all the time is neither healthy nor productive, so get all those thoughts and arguments out of your head and onto paper.
This way, not only will you be able to organise how you feel about each of the choices and see which one is the most appealing, but also by freeing your mind from having to remember all those points, you’ll make space for new thoughts and observations (that you simply wouldn’t have the capacity to think about, had you been thinking about both sides of the argument without writing it down).
If you free your mind from having to think about the same thing again and again, you might even be surprised by an unexpected solution to your problem or choice, that you didn’t even know existed.
There is a right time to make a big decision and sometimes we just don’t have enough information.
With any decision making and especially if it’s a big decision, it is very easy to get stuck in the worrying mode ‘what if this happens’, OR ‘what if I choose that, and then this other thing will come up, what am I going to do then??’
Trying to make a big decision we can start worrying about all the ‘what ifs’ a little bit too early. The truth is that when you’re truly stuck and both choices seem very similar and it’s hard to pick one, it might just be that you don’t have enough information yet to make this decision.
So instead of worrying about ‘what ifs’ or a potential problems – get busy getting more information. Focus your energy on finding out more about each of your choices, and add those new finding to your pro-con list.
What is your GUT telling you?
As I said at the beginning, stepping outside of your comfort zone feels scary, even if you’re making the best choice possible.
It’s unfamiliar so it can feel uncomfortable at the beginning. But don’t let that feeling stop and paralyse you. Instead, think ahead about what will each of those choices bring in the future, imagine them both, and see what your reaction to both of those is.
Is it a good scary, or is it a bad scary? Is it something that just feels uncomfortable right now, but will bring you a lot of benefits over time? Or is it something that makes you feel anxious and small when you look out to the future?
Pay special attention to the way your body is feeling when you’re thinking about these choices. Is it making you feel stronger, more grounded and like you’re growing, OR is it making you feel tighter in your chest, nervous and like you’re making yourself smaller? THIS is your body’s way of telling you what is the right choice for you. So check in with your gut to see which option is going to be the most beneficial in the longer run.
Ok, so how do you feel about making big decisions now? Better? I certainly hope so!
What you’ve got to remember, and what it all boils down to is that:
– first, you need to get all your thoughts out on paper,
– then second, get busy gathering more information about each of the options if the choice is not clear,
– AND finally third, assess each of your options by the reactions you experience in your body as you think about each of the scenarios. Otherwise known as checking in with your gut.
So now, it’s questions time! What big decision did YOU have to make in the past and what tool OR shift in your thinking has helped you make the right choice?
Leave a comment below.
That’s all for today. Share this episode and this blog post with your friends with the the social media button of your choice, so that they too can make important decisions with ease.
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Thank you for watching and ’till next week!
