Is Making A Decision Your Worst Nightmare?

Is making a decision your worst nightmare? Does it take you a lot of time to decide? Do you put it off until the very last moment? Is it something you hate doing? If the answer to all of these questions is YES, you definitely have a hard time making decisions in your life.

If you postpone making a decision, you prolong the painful misery of thinking about it every day. Plus, you spend much more time thinking about what decision to make, then actually deciding, getting it over with, and then moving on and doing something specific and useful.

Guess what! If you think postponing gives you more time to think carefully about your decision and that it helps you make the right decision, it doesn't. Instead, it just makes your brain even more confused about the decision you are about to make. As a result, you feel stressed out, and when you're under stress, you can't think clearly.

I've been very indecisive for a long time, so trust me, I know how it feels. And I hated that other people started seeing me as indecisive. It would take me so long to even decide on the food I want to order in a restaurant. It became a burden to me. But definitely, the worst part is that it transferred to my job. My boss started characterizing me as an indecisive person, which is never a good thing in business.

Suppose you want to achieve higher performance at work or get promoted to higher positions and become a manager or executive. In that case, you need to practice making decisions fast because it's an essential skill required in higher roles. Or, if you want to have your own business, being decisive is crucial. There won't be anyone to make a decision for you. Prolonging it would cost you money, time, energy, and the results.

And let me tell you. There's nothing sexier and more powerful than being a decisive and confident woman. Being a woman who knows exactly what she wants and is not scared to go after it.

The good news is being decisive is a skill that can be learned and practiced. The first step is to stop identifying yourself as an indecisive person. Start seeing it from a different perspective. That's not who you are. It's how you do something. And that's a big difference. When you identify yourself as an indecisive person, you think it's a done deal. You think you can never change who you are. But if you say this is how I do it, there's always a way to do it differently.

It always took me so long to decide out of fear that I would make a mistake. That was always the number one reason. But what if you can't make a mistake? What if any decision you make is the right one for you? You can decide that now. You can decide that you'll make it right no matter what.

One of the NLP principles says, "People always choose the best option for themselves." This means you'll always choose what you think is best for you at a given moment. So, if you're afraid you're going to make a wrong decision, remember that it was the best decision you could have made at that time. From what you experienced and knew at that moment, you decided what was best for you. In that way, there's no room for regret.

Let's look at the positive effects of becoming a person who makes decisions fast.

• you achieve more and spend your time productively

• you get results faster (even if you fail, you don't waste time deciding. You do it, fail, learn, and get back on your feet.)

• the more you practice deciding, the easier it becomes, which helps you build confidence and trust in your ability to make a decision

• people start seeing you as a confident and decisive woman

• you start seeing yourself in a different light

• instead of spending time deciding, you spend time learning and growing

• instead of spending time thinking about what to do, beating yourself up, and spinning in confusion, you take action, and you feel lighter and more productive

Here are 5 steps that will help you decide faster and easier:

1. narrow it down to 2 options

2. write a list of all the benefits of each option

3. listen to your intuition

4. make a decision/choose 1 option

5. decide it's the right decision

And here are some questions to ask yourself that will help you decide faster:

What's important to me? What are my criteria for making a decision?

What's best for me at this moment?

What would my future self do in this situation?

Visualize how your life will unfold if you choose option 1 and how in case you select option 2.

What's the worst that can happen if I make the wrong decision? What can I do to make it right?

Improving a skill doesn't happen overnight. It takes practice. So, start small and practice by first deciding on something small and not so important. Do it every day. For example, I like to practice making decisions about food and what I'll order or eat for dinner. What I found to work best for me is setting a deadline for making a final decision. In that way, I give myself a specific timeframe, and there's less room for procrastination or putting it off.