How to Make Important Decisions in 3 Steps

I know you, like most of us, can be paralysed with decisions - what to wear, eat and who to hire…

“The average Brit makes 122 decisions per day, with 87% often changing their mind.”

How do you make important decisions without wasting time? 

How do you make a decision that you feel confident in?

What do you pay attention to in the decision making process?

My life changed when I started to be coached and study coaching. This is because it dramatically elevated my decision making. This week I would like to help you with yours.

Recently, I was in a coaching session with a client and I recalled a story I heard from Steven Bartlett about decisions.

He shared what he learnt from how Barack Obama made decisions.

Barack said that, once he had gathered all the necessary information, he made a decision when he was only 51% sure. 

What does this tell you? 2 things:

1. Barack believed in his ability to 'course correct'

2. Barack understood that the worst thing was to be stuck in 'analysis paralysis'

Why? Because each important decision you make gives you valuable feedback, guiding you further along the right path. 

Here is my process that I use with CEOs, entrepreneurs and leaders to make important decisions:

1. Intuition 

A few weeks back, in our 'Compassion Empowers You' live event, I was coaching someone through an important decision. 

Option A was the safe option and option B was the uncertain yet exciting one. 

I walked them through a 'physiological sigh' to relax their body, because your mind is your body and your body is your mind. 

Then I asked a series of quick fire questions, asking them to keep their attention on their gut or heart centre. They chose the exciting option. 

“Intuition is not a skill, it’s a discipline.” Steve Jobs

Intuition operates through the entire right side of your brain, the hippocampus (memory centre) and throughout your body also.

The only way to improve your intuition is to practice it. Use your own body awareness to strengthen the practice. This week, try using your intuition to make small decisions in the day and notice the results. Experiment, play and have fun. 

2. Data

Intuition alone can be dangerous in important decision making. Especially if you are not used to using it. As Barack said, “gather all the necessary information.”

My clients either tend to do way too little information gathering or way too much. 

A simple way to approach this is a question list of pros and cons. Try these logical questions for an important decision:

Will this decision contribute to my growth?

Will this decision contribute to my freedom?

Will this decision up-level my service? 

Write down your logical and simple answers. These specific questions are aligned to our intrinsic drives. 

3. Time Container

The biggest problem many of us make with decisions is the time that we invest on them. We forge that open though loops in our mind which can drain us of energy. 

Setting a container, to gather the information and make the decisions, is such a simple and powerful away to ensure you make a decision and move on. 

A recent client I worked with was putting off a big life commitment for around a decade until they awakened their true self. Fear melted away and they started to believe in themselves. They made that big life commitment and they have never been happier. 

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Which part of this process spoke to you? What resonated? Get in touch with a big decision you are going through and let me know if this process helped. 

Love,

Nilesh