How do you make decisions? The big, giant, life-changing scary ones?Do you talk it out with others?
Journal?
Meditate?
I'm curious because for me, I usually either avoid the big decision altogether or let someone else steer me in the right direction. I know--horrible habits I am trying to break. I'm looking for ideas on how to listen to my intuition and develop the skill of following my own heart.
5 comments:
if you keep a journal already, that might be a good place to start. i am a big fan of pros & cons lists. good luck!! xo, kaileenelise
Generally it's a combination of pros and cons list, some narrative journaling, and talking to others - pretty much in that order come to think of it. When I decided to leave grad school to go to law school, which was one of the biggest decisions I ever made in terms of impact/fear/going against the mainstream of what everyone was telling me, I gave myself permission to make teh decision, but have a week to undo it - when i made the decision i spent that week feeling so relieved about the choice, I knew it had to be right. Other decisions (like moving to NYC after law school) were one of those gradual ones that just kept making sense more and more. One thing I draw comfort in when I have to make big decisions is that very few things can't be undone - like with leaving grad school - I knew I could always go to grad school later. Yes, it would be expensive etc, but it wasn't impossible. That really gave me comfort.
I'm the worst at making big decisions; I attribute it to a massive fear of commitment in a way. I try journaling or talking about it sometimes, but more often I end up putting it off until I absolutely have to choose something. I try to avoid thinking about it as much as possible, yet note when it rises in my mind and how I feel about it. It's a complicated way of listening to my gut.
Prayer also works sometimes, if you're into that. And I always remind myself that everything is for a reason; it may seem like I made the wrong choice at the time but it eventually works out.
I know it's a terrible way to do things (or so my husband thinks) but I just do the first thing that comes to my head...I don't really tend to stew or think things through...It's in my nature to just go with the flow and it seems to have worked out well for me so far...the hard part is compromising with a husband who does tons of research before making a big decision. Go with your first gut reaction.
it's all of the above for me. i'm a total processor. i need time to think, pro/con, meditate, journal and talk it out with the people that are most important to me. only then do i feel ready to make my decision. ps, you have my info, i'd be more than happy to talk things out with you anytime, seriously, i mean it!
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