Have you ever struggled to make up your mind?

And just couldn’t decide?

Then you know the energy-draining feeling of indecision.

What shall you make for dinner tonight? Are those shoes right for your new dress or shall you keep looking? Take that new job or start a solo business? Marry your boyfriend or stay single?

*Sigh*

Making decisions is not always easy. Doubts about a wrong choice keep you sleepless at nights. You stagnate, procrastinate, and mark time.

You climb, jump and try to approach it from different angles. Again and again. But you keep sliding back – annoyed by your defeat, and yet anxious to see what is behind.

Can you overcome the obstacle of indecision in an easy way?

I found one that works for me.

Want to hear?

Do What CEO’s Do

Everyone has to make small decisions like what to make for dinner tonight.
And you have to make big ones, too, like: Shall you divorce your unfaithful husband or try to forgive him? Sack your employees or choose another way to improve your company’s bottom line? Shall you quit your solo-biz or invest more hours in it?

Some decisions are easy to make. And some not. When your knowledge and experience isn’t enough, you need to research and analyse. You need time.

Big or small, decision-making involves processing on subconscious levels. What you might call intuition, gut-feeling or inner voice.

“Intuition is a process of thinking. The input to this process is mostly provided by knowledge stored in long-term memory… that has been primarily acquired via associative learning. That input is …processed automatically and without conscious awareness. The output …is a feeling that can serve as a basis for judgment and decision.” – according to researcher T. Betsch.

When you’re in a decision-making mode, your brain activates both conscious and subconscious streams of processes information.

Have you heard the expression: “Tomorrow is a new day”? It advises you to take a break. During the break, you unconsciously process information even when you are distracted, do something entirely different or fall asleep. This subconscious processing helps you gain more clarity, which improves decision-making, according to research.

One study showed that 73% of executives trust their intuition when they make decisions. Another one found that 19% of five thousand managers of major global companies rely almost exclusively on intuition.

“Intuition is something that occurs in the moment, and if you are open to it, if you listen to it, it has the potential to direct or redirect you in a way that is best for you.” – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple.

CEOs trust their intuition.

Politicians trust their intuition.

So can you.

But What if You Can’t Hear Your Inner Voice?

Let me tell you a story.

I suck at making decisions.

Making up my mind takes days or even months.

Once I told Helene, a cousin of mine, about my anguish: Should I throw myself into blogging or should I stay put?

The idea of building a solo-business was exciting. But uncertain and scary, too.

“Flip a coin,” – she said.

Huh? I shook my head in disbelief and went on mulling. What if nobody would read my blog? What if my writing wasn’t good enough? Why bother? How much time would it cost? Uh-oh…

But then again, imagine the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction if people liked my blog. What if I could help them?

I kept mulling over pros and cons, sticky questions and what if’s.

Until one day I accidentally dropped my purse on the floor. Coins sprang on the tiles like confetti on a New Year’s Eve.

Picking them up I remembered Helena’s words. “What the heck?” – I thought and flipped the last coin.

It landed on tails: QUIT BLOGGING.

A hard knot racked my stomach with disappointment and resistance. “No way” – I cried.

Suddenly I felt how much I would miss blogging. Writing had become an adventure I wouldn’t throw away.

I like helping people to understand themselves better. To overcome negativity. And to grow with their relationships.

I already knew I wanted to blog. The coin helped me to grasp it.

Put Your Inner Voice on Speaker

Sometimes I feel a sudden sparkle of clarity right before I fall asleep. But by the morning it’s gone. Like my dreams.

Usually, intuition shows as a feeling. But according to Lynn A. Robinson, it might be an image, feeling or physical sensation, like goosebumps. It might also arrive in a dream.

You can follow your intuition and connect with your subconscious in different ways. Which one you choose depends on your temperament, experience, and preferences.

You can use guided imagery, breathing exercises and meditation to calm down your mind. Or go for a long walk to remove yourself from the situation. Clear your lungs and mind.

They all might point towards a decision.

But do you want to hear your inner voice loud and clear?

Then flip a coin.

Trick Your Brain Into an Answer

Indecision is often worse than wrong action. – Henry Ford

A bad decision is better than endless worrying and uncertainty.

How much time does your umming and ahhing cost? How much energy does it guzzle up?

Better to stumble than to stand still. So keep moving.

Connect to your inner voice.

Feel what’s right for you and what’s not. Use it as a foundation for your decision.

Flip a coin.

PS This post was inspired by one of the conversations with my cousin Helena. Thank you 😊

Image by Fotosearch; Pixabay