Weighing up your options – the art of decision making

Our contemporary culture gives us access to an abundance of choices.  Study. Don’t study. Work. Don’t work. Career choices: endless. Job opportunities: unlimited. At times, choice can be overwhelming.  What should you do?  Which opportunity should you pursue?  In the face of too much choice, you may find yourself avoiding a tough decision and making no choice at all.

Life is short

Here is the thing. Life is short. You have a finite amount of time to create change. Covid-19 has taught us how fragile life is, and how tenuous our jobs, health and economies are. It has allowed us to reflect. And, because life is short, you need to make good decisions on where you want to invest your precious energy. Simply, the first step in making good decisions, is about getting clear about what you want – and what you want to achieve. At work. At home. In life.

You need to ask yourself – what do you want to be remembered for? What creation, what result, what relationship or change do you want to effect? You must get clear and focused about where you are going and why. 

You will never know 

It’s worth noting, that it doesn’t matter which road you take as long as it is the one that you choose.

Ultimately, you will never know about the other road because you didn’t take it. You will never know what would have happened if. If you had taken that job. If you had started a business. So, why not create a life of your design and your own choice, and then consciously create and tune into your heart about what it is that makes you happy?

Getting clear about what you want

So how to get clear about what you want?  As a leader, you will need to use both your creative (feminine) skill set and your results (masculine) skill set. By getting both creative AND results-focused, you are more likely to create a more meaningful and rich life. 

1. Start with your creative self.
   One of the simplest ways to get creative and think about what you want is to simply take some time out and go for a walk-in nature or sit in the park for an hour. The change of scenery will help your mind to wander and consider your options. You certainly won’t get creative when sitting in front of your phone, your computer, or a spreadsheet for hours on end.

   When you are out on that walk, breathe deeply and let it all go. Breathe so deeply that your heart can feel it. Breathe in deeply so that your back expands and your shoulders lift back. Hold it for a second, and then breathe out, picturing your breath leaving your body through your heart. I know that you breathe out through your nose/mouth, but I want you to picture breathing out through your heart. Feel your heart relax as your breath moves out of your body.

2. Then, and only then, apply logic
   Once you have identified what you truly want and it is something that you truly want to pursue, then and only then should you put a magic ruler of logic across your dream.

   But, when you apply logic to your dream, you should be asking yourself, ‘How shall I get to this new world?’ rather than using your logic to determine that it is too hard, it is too big, it is too scary, and convincing yourself against it.

   In this second step you shift gears. You are now free to adopt some of your masculine energy and get focused on the results, the logic, the steps and the numbers.

Make your decision from the heart and implement from your head

Once you have clarity about what your heart wants, you will need to develop a rational plan to implement it, not kill it. In this final decision-making step, use both your creative skill set (heart) and your results focus (head) to make a choice. It can help to write up a list of your options, choices or desires and add a couple of columns headed up ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.

You can allow some details and practicalities creep in here. But don’t entirely lose your creativity yet!  Look at your list and consider what is possible, what truly makes your heart sign.  Use your logic to analyse the options but use your creativity to push the boundaries of possibility.

Written by Kerry Swan.
Have you read?
Making a Transitional Space in the Workplace: How to Bring People to Change by Dr. Victoria M. Grady.
Luck Finds Those Who Take Risks by Kamal Gupta.
Power Selling- Putting YOU In Your Marketing Plan by Mitche Graf.
Yes, you can create culture in remote and hybrid organisations. Here’s how by Charlotte Rush.