What’s up you guys, welcome back to Hear and Now Podcast! It’s a new week and this week we are talking about decision making.
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And this week, I wanted to give a shoutout to Hope*Writers. Hope*writers opens their membership this week, so if you are looking for guidance and community to support and fulfill your dreams of writing in any form, click the links below and join us! It’s an amazing community. I’ll also include a link below for a quiz to determine your hope*writer path. I hope you join us!
Let’s jump right into the episode.
Today we are chatting about decision making. It’s college acceptance season, so some of you are facing a hard decision. It’s also a new year, so we are determined to make changes in our lives. I have always been faced with hard decisions – making the choice to get my implant surgeries, choosing where to go to college, choosing to leave college, which classes to take. Every day, the average human makes 35,000 decisions. 35,000 decisions! We make 226.7 decisions on food alone. We make 2,000 per hour and one every two seconds. Most of the decisions we make are subconscious. Did you shift how you were sitting in your seat, scratch your arm, or ignore a phone call?
But what about the larger and not so everydayness of decision making? Perhaps you need to choose to move, or send a heartbreaking text, or walking away from a toxic job or friend.
We all struggle with decision making. Sometimes, we avoid these decisions and they only grow in impact or we end up regretting them later. My dad actually told me this great quote – not to decide is to decide. If you say “oh, I don’t want to deal with that now, you are actually make a conscious decision.” Let’s say you have a dinner date at 7, but you are unsure of whether or not to go. You are standing around trying to decide, and then realize that its past 7 and you are going to be late. You have passive – aggressively already made your decision not to go. Indecision drags on and anxiety rises.
Here are 5 effective ways to make tough decisions and not regret them.
- Find a time to think. This sounds really stupid, but in the long run, we don’t have enough time to sit down and think. Talk it out with a family member or on a piece of paper. Don’t try to “think” when watching tv or youtube. Your brain is flooded with thousands of other things happening in the moment.
- Consider all aspects. Let’s say you are trying to decide where to go to college. Lots of things will factor into this decision – distance, tuition, if you are going to live on campus, what your major will be, etc. By listing out all the factors, you are helping your brain decide which one is more logical or the best choice for you. If you love campus but cant imagine living four hours away, take all the factors into consideration.
- Make a list. Instead of your normal “pro-con list” let me introduce you to a different way of decision making that I was introduced to by Emily P Freeman, one of the co-founders of Hope*Writers, and the host of the Next Right Thing Podcast. It’s a life-giving and life-draining list. Split your paper into two columns, listing life giving, and life draining. Then split each of those into three categories: actionable, relational, and personal. Write down in each what is life giving and what is life draining. As an example, an actionable, life-giving thing is wanting to lead others spiritually, but you cant do that because of the life-draining thing. Does that make sense?
- The next thing on the list is your values. Does making this decision align with your values? Is your workplace going to be toxic if something you believe in doesn’t align with your co-workers? I feel like this is one of the biggest aspects people consider.
- Talk it through and ask for advice. If you have someone you trust, ask them for their counsel. We aren’t always made to do things alone. Seek the advice of someone you trust and can offer valuable words, or someone who will just listen to you. And finally, test it out. If the decision is about college, spend a day on campus with future classmates and get a vibe from them. Always trust your gut. It almost always knows the right thing to do.
I hope you guys enjoyed this week’s episode. Screenshot yourself listening to it and tag me on instagram! Have an amazing week everyone and I’ll see you next on Hear and Now Podcast!
Show Notes:
The average human makes 35,000 decisions in one day. What?! That’s exactly what we are covering in today’s episode of Hear and Now Podcast – effective decision making.
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