Easiest Ways to Make Up Your Mind
Know How to Make Decisions
Sometimes life throws us a fork in our paths and it's difficult to know which way to take. Sometimes the choices sound equally appealing, or have multiple factors to take into consideration. These tips on decision-making should help make your final choice easier to reach.
Before we even begin, it's most important to make sure to never make a decision, especially a negative one, when you are angry, hurt, depressed, or frightened. Many times your ego will try to overdrive your more rational thinking and you may very well regret whatever decision it is that you made. Take time to calm down and start to feel better emotionally to assure yourself that you are in a clear thinking and feeling state.
When you are feeling emotionally sound begin to weigh all of your options. Write every aspect of the choices down so you can see them clearly. The process of writing everything down will help you think of other options that you may not have originally seen. It will also help get all the thoughts out of your head where they are competing for attention and possibly causing emotional turmoil. Your goal is to be calm and clear headed to reach your best decision.
When you have all aspects of the choices listed, then focus on the goals, challenges, and opportunities that you can find with all sides of the choices you are looking at. This will help you start to further define which choice will ultimately be in your best interest.
Begin to brainstorm the different goals, challenges and opportunities you have listed. Go online; talk with professionals if you believe they can offer solutions. You also want to determine what other people should have a voice in helping to come to the final choice. This practice is an excellent way to find out if there are any other alternatives or aspects that you may not have thought to note earlier.
These lists should give you a good understanding of the implications of the choices you are faced with. If you're still having a hard time coming to a decision, and you've made up the lists, talked to others and defined alternatives, then it's simply time to get out of your head for a while.
All the thinking you've been doing about making your decision may be confusing the matter and keeping you away from the most important decision making tool you have. That tool is your heart, or intuition. For the purpose of simplicity, I will refer to our intuition, heart, and/or gut feelings as our innermost self.
Many of us have not been taught how to stay connected to our innermost self. This connection, if we allow it, helps us so much through life. Instead, we are trained to listen to what others have to say, like our parents, teachers, or bosses. So, it can be a little tricky to tune back into ourselves when we come to realize that listening to that inner voice of wisdom is going to help us more than what anyone else will ever tell us.
Meditation is a great way to get back in touch with our innermost self. There are many books available or tools to help you get started with this if you so desire. This practice helps you quiet your mind and will bring you back into connection of the deeper aspects of yourself.
To use meditation to help you with your decision-making, find a quiet place, relax, and close your eyes. Let your mind get very quiet. If thoughts come and go, just allow them to without attaching yourself to them or following them into more thoughts. Bring yourself back to the choices and just wait to FEEL what is the best way to go.
Another way to allow your innermost self to communicate with you is when you are asleep. Your subconscious is hardwired to work its way through the myriad of thoughts your conscious brain is constantly churning through. A good nights sleep will allow your subconscious to kick in and work through things for you and is much more efficient at it than your waking mind is. It might help to repeat the choices right before you go to sleep and tell yourself you'll have a good decision in the morning.
In summary, define your choices, add all options and brainstorm with others. When you are finished with that part of the process, let go and allow your innermost self and subconscious to work on the decision for you.
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