3 powerful ways you can improve your decision-making
Like me, you were probably taught to make decisions from your brain… right? Well duh! Obviously, where else would you make decisions from?
That is a great question! In fact it is this very question that prompted me to write this article! Here I’ll be sharing 3 powerful ways you can increase your decision-making potential, making choices from a place of grounded confidence and inner trust! Sound good? Well let’s make a start then….
What can get in your way of making decisions?
Doubting yourself by procrastinating - “I’m not sure, I’ll decide later”
Worrying about making the wrong decision - “What fresh hell will await me if I make the wrong choice?”
Overwhelmed by all the many options - “Aaghhh where do I start?””
What is REALLY getting in the way of your decision making?
The root of most indecision is fear. Fear of getting it wrong, fear of not being enough and fear of change. In many cases we are either resisting or chasing something. This perpetual inner push-pull energy can be exhausting and is often due to a lack of deeper understanding of who we are and what we really want?
When we’re resisting what is happening we are often protecting ourselves from feeling pain; distracting ourselves with “to do’s”, keeping ourselves so busy we never need face what actually needs dealing with to bring forth healing and resolution. When we’re in chasing-mode we can find ourselves suffering from the “I’ll be happy when…” syndrome, believing that we need to do more, get more and be more to be happy! It is not uncommon that many of us hold the unconscious belief that we are not enough, which can drive our behavior of resisting (protection) and/or chasing (validation).
Indecision especially shows up when we’re outside of our comfort zone, starting something new or ending something - a job, relationship or moving to a new City. Whatever it is the feeling of uncertainty can trigger this deeply rooted belief of “not good enough”.
Fact is most of us have this or similar unconscious beliefs about ourselves - some people are better at hiding it than others. Ultimately we need to understand that this belief is just part of us, developed to protect us - most likely when we were young. Maybe a painful embarrassing situation happened to us when we were a child? At that time we didn’t know how to process what we were feeling - so instead we developed a coping mechanism to avoid feeling this way ever again… therefore forming protective behavior. This may have served us for decades, but can begin to limit us and prevent us from experiencing life and ultimately growing from challenging times or dun-dun-dun making a wrong decision!
”Becoming aware of what’s preventing you from making a decision is the first step to freeing yourself from it.”
Know that whatever discomfort you’re feeling now, it’s there to teach you something about yourself!
Most of us have been taught that feeling “bad” should be avoided at all costs, because it’s not good for us! But what if the reverse is actually true? What if this pain signal we are experiencing is actually happening for our greatest good? To release something that is no longer helping us? It’s our ability to get present and honest with ourselves and lean into the way we’re feeling to begin the process of healing, growth and shifting into a place of grounded confidence - enabling us to make decisions more easily.
So how do we overcome indecision?
Great question! One of the ways is to tap into 3 powerful places already within you!
Logic-centered thinking
Heart-centered feeling
Instinct-centered sensing
How to Tap into Your Powers of Thinking, Feeling & Sensing
The Power and Limitations of Logic-Centered Thinking
The left hemisphere of our brain is designed to process data to produce logical output and rational thought. It comes from a place of needing to be certain to mitigate any unnecessary risks. Our brain has evolved from a place of survival, as such it often associates the unknown (no data or proof) as risk and therefore danger to our survival. In doing so it is wired to measure what you might lose by risking a leap into the unknown rather than seeing the infinite possibilities of what you might gain by doing so.
Logical thinking can help us simplify our thoughts based on collected data. For example compiling a trusty pros and cons list can help sort advantages and disadvantages / benefits and risks of different options open to us.
When making bigger life decisions it is crucial that we gain wisdom from different perspectives. Simply making decisions from a purely logical place limits our potential for growth.
Key Elements of Logic-Centered Thinking
High judgement (Pros & Cons)
Things have to make sense (Rationalising)
Seeking certainty (Survival)
“The answers you seek are not out there, they are already within you”
The Power and Limitation of Heart-Centered Feeling
The heart is so much more than a muscular pump that moves blood around our body. It is a sensory organ that is capable of influencing our feelings and emotions, guiding our decision-making ability as well as our understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. Many recognize that when we connect with our heart’s inner knowing, we can tap into its wisdom as a source of love and higher guidance.
Research conducted by Dr Joe Dispenza and the HeartMath Institue found that elevated feelings of the heart connect us to the consciousness of love, compassion, gratitude, acceptance and joy - all feelings that fill us up and make us feel whole and connected. Unlike feelings of stress that divide us and drain us of our vital energy.
Our emotions can limit our decision-making when we become overwhelmed by them. Allowing ourselves to be swept away by our high or low emotional states can hugely inhibit our decision-making - causing us to majorly avoid taking any risks or take uncalculated reckless risks. The key is to become aware of our emotional states and practice objectivity to become curious about our reactions - noticing patterns of behavior that lead to reoccurring issues.
The collaborative research from by Dr Joe Dispenza and the HeartMath Institue has shown that when we blend a clear intention (logical thought) with an intentional elevated emotion (sensory feeling) a powerful electrical magnetic charge is created that has the power to change our biology, shifting us from living in the familiar past to creating new expansive futures full of possibility.
Key Elements of Heart-Centered Feeling
Feeling / energy-in-motion
Things have to feel right
Seeking a good feeling
“We are not thinking beings that feel, we are feeling beings that think”
The Power and Limitation of Instinctive-Centered Sensing
Intuitive decision making is often described as the way people make decisions naturally, without the use of formal tools and procedures. Some talk about intuition as happening without any thought at all. Like “trusting your gut” or “using the force” in a sixth sense kind of manner. Examples might be a Mother knowing when her baby needs feeding or when we sense a dangerous situation before something happens.
The dictionary definition of intuition is defined as, “The power or faculty of attaining direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference.” Another way to think of it is that this direct knowledge is essentially a download of information from the unified field into our brain. It occurs when we stop thinking and analyzing and we go into trance. It’s almost as if our brain pauses, and that pause in the chatter allows other types of information to enter our nervous system.
The challenge most of us face is what to do with the information when we receive it. Often we tend to analyze it and not trust its authenticity, but mothers and people who are open and can connect easily tend to trust it more. We all have access to this type of information—some are just more skilled at receiving it than others.
Key Elements of Intuitive-Centered Sensing
Deep inner knowing / sensing
Instinctual / intuitive
Seeking a deep inner knowing
“To tap into your intuition you need to practice being open to receive it”
Final Thoughts
When facing a decision try tapping into your 3 areas of inner intelligence to unlock powerful objective perspective, emotional drivers and inner knowing to arrive at an option that is most aligned for you. Are you curious to learn how to master this powerful decision-making technique? If so book your free Discovery Session HERE and let’s talk about what you’re finding challenging and how I can help you?
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Resources
Here are some useful resources to check out if you’d love to dive deeper into some of these concepts.
Tara Brach - Ph.D, psychologist, author and teacher of meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening.
https://www.tarabrach.com/
Dr Jill Bolte Taylor - an American neuroanatomist, author, and inspirational public speaker.
https://www.drjilltaylor.com/
Dr Joe Dispenza - an international lecturer, researcher, author, and educator in the fields neuroscience, mind-body medicine, and brain/heart coherence. https://drjoedispenza.com/
