Generally, indecisiveness is known as the inability to make a simple decision. While it might seem like a small and omnipresent situation. The people suffering from indecisiveness get stuck in making the smallest and the most certain decisions, therefore, the situation-in-hand becomes stressful and confusing.
However, the blunt truth is that we all often suffer from indecision. Some constantly find themselves overwhelmed and anxious over simple situations and certain decisions, which is a usual indication that something is off in their lives.
As humans, we need certainty in our lives, but a lot of situations arise on a daily basis that don’t seem that simple and induce a certain amount of fear in us that whatever we choose, might be wrong.
However, Not making a decision wastes a lot of our time and often causes anxiety and stress that hinders our ability to make any positive change in life.
To help people deal with such overwhelming situations, Tim Han, a world-renowned life coach and human behaviour expert, founded Success Insider, which aims to help people solve their in-hand problems to unlock their full potential to lead life in the best possible way.
One of their acclaimed programs is Life Mastery Achievers. The course is designed by expert psychologists after 12 years of in-depth into psychology, neuroscience, cognitive behavioral therapy, neuro-linguistic programming, and human behaviour. During the program, the candidates are supported and helped to inculcate key practices that help them improve their overall self. Some of the ways our coaches teach and are quite effective in overcoming indecisiveness are:
- Pay attention to your Emotions: Most of us have heard the advice “Listen to your gut”. But as simple as it sounds, it’s way difficult to implement that. To become a better decision maker a person needs to follow both his mind and instincts. And emotions are usually a sign of how your inner self feels i.e. Anxiety is usually your body’s attempt to direct you back to yourself so you can receive information that is more accurate. Often when a person reacts impulsively, this information is tainted with fear.
- Ask who you’re trying to Please: This is yet another factor that contributes to indecision. Experts at Life Mastery Achievers have noted that one of the most common reasons people are indecisive is that they are constantly trying to please other people. Understanding your true motivations behind and whom you might be trying to please will help you weigh those outcomes and help you move forward with decisions that are actually beneficial for your career, relationship, etc.
- Implement the 40-70 rule: 40-70 is a very famous rule in the business world. The former head of US military forces, Colin Powell is credited with the 40-70 rule of decision making.
The rule states that a person should be making decisions when they have between 40-70% of the information. According to him when you make a decision with less than 40% information then you are just shooting from the hip and on the contrary when the information you have exceeds 70% then taking decisions often becomes overwhelming and induces indecisiveness.
- Learn and Use a Decision Matrix: Decision matrix is one of the greatest tools to sort out your priorities and tackle situations with multiple options. It’s basically a table with options listed on the vertical axis and the expected benefits and costs along with the other. It uses a rating scale where you rate each option from a scale of 1 to 5. You assign each option a rating number and then add or multiply each column to get the best possible option.
- Shut Your Perfectionist Mindset: Some people have an irrational fear of failure. They are either afraid of failing and losing something or don’t know what they’ll do if they succeed. This is what is also known as the “Perfectionist Mindset”. People need to understand that they can’t have everything figured out at once, and mistakes and errors are part of the journey. When you accept that setbacks and hiccups will always be there, you can make better plans to be more prepared when they inevitably arise.
- Visualize Possible Outcomes: Envisioning what could be the result of your decision will also help you in making a better decision. Think about which decisions will give you more flexibility and options in the future. Another way is to use a journal. Journaling will help you in identifying the positives and negatives better. If at any moment anxiety spikes, take note of where and when and why it happened.
- Establish Realistic Deadlines: To move past the state of being indecisive, establishing realistic deadlines are very beneficial. Deadlines will push you to come to a decision, given that the deadline you set is reasonable and realistic. Generally, two weeks are ample for a person to conduct and evaluate their decision making. If by any chance you still haven’t made a choice by the deadline. Another way is to flip a coin, decide, and move on once and for all.
- Ask the “Miracle Question”: This one is a really fun and great way to handle a tough decision. Our coaches at Life Mastery Achievers make sure that each candidate remembers the miracle question from the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: “Suppose tonight, while you slept, a miracle occurred. When you awake tomorrow, what would be some of the things you would notice that would tell you, your life had suddenly gotten better?” Asking this question will fast forward to a future in which the decision has already been made and will help in determining the right choice for you.
Implementing these ways in your day-to-day life will help you deal with indecisive and tough situations. While it’s quite often that in a dilemma our logical mind convinces us that we need more time, need to ask more people or aren’t ready to decide just yet. It’s important we learn how to balance our instincts and logic and choose something that suits the situation. But as we know the beginning of any life-changing journey is hard and often we need help and support during those times. Those people who want to go far in their journey can contact our expert coaches and enroll in our Life Mastery Achievers program where they will get the best assistance to make a positive change in their lives and unlock their full potential.
