Decisions, Decisions, Decisions – we’re constantly making them!
The very act of making a decision can be stressful in itself.
Often the smallest of decisions can take a lot longer than we’d expect (like “what to wear?”), many times I’ve made myself stressed and late from standing in front of my wardrobe way too long.
From what to make or eat for dinner, to what career path to follow, and what car and/or house to buy (and everything in between) – we need to decide in order to move forward.
Sometimes we rely on other’s opinions too much and don’t end up actually deciding on our own.
Other times we may allow a mindset of “what will they think?” to stand in the way.
The habit of indecision can deplete our confidence and fuel a fear of failure.
Sometimes our emotion leads us to deciding one choice, when practicality would have us going with another choice.
Two strategies that are included in my 9 step process of overcoming stress include “ask exploratory questions and gather facts”, followed by “brainstorm possible solutions”. I follow that type of concept when buying a big ticket item… My process is to sort through the choices by gathering all the specifications, then work out which has more pros than cons and which has the most features that I’m looking for.
My suggested top 5 tips would be:
- Keep your emotions in check (would you still be feeling the same way about it next month or next year?)
- Be strategic about it – gather facts, weigh up the pros and cons, then ask yourself “what is going to offer the best outcome long term?”
- Is your intended decision going to be in alignment with your values?
- Take your time (particularly over the bigger decisions)
- Don’t overthink it, relax and ask your inner self, then quietly wait for the answer
After all that, there may be times when our decision didn’t have the result we were hoping for, and that’s OK. (I’ve always said that hindsight is a bitch!) If we end up making a mistake – we can learn from it, put it down to experience and move on. Maybe it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise down the track.