This is how you can overcome indecision…
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“Should I write a blog post about indecision, or should I write a post about how you celebrate your own success?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Actually yeah, I’ll do that one-… No no, I’ll….. Grr! Why can’t I decide?!”
See, you’re not alone! I (and so many others) struggle making decisions on the daily too. Overtime I’ve stumbled across methods that have helped me better deal with that loop of uncertainty and indecision. In this blog post, I am going to share the tips and tricks that I have found which will help you overcome indecision and reclaim that precious time you spend weighing up choices. Learning how to overcome indecision is going to make you feel more confident and more sure of yourself. So, let’s get started!
This Is Why Indecision Inhibits You
Let’s get this straight – having moments of indecisiveness is very normal. Honestly, no one is asking you to make every choice in life within 2 seconds. If you’re finding yourself being indecisive on a frequent and regular basis, and it is over small trivial matters, that’s when you need to do something about it (Aboulomania, NCBI, NIH.). Indecision can be detrimental to your overall health and well-being. In fact, indecision is often associated with procrastination, low self-esteem, depression and anxiety (Indecisive Meaning & Tips to Improve Decision-Making, The Practical Psych).
Indecision can inhibit your personal growth. When you are toing and froing over all of your decisions, it leaves you stagnant. Think of it this way: Making a decision is you moving forward. Indecision on the other hand is you standing still. Even if you make a “wrong” decision, you are still moving forward. That’s essential for you to grow and learn.
The trivial choices in life offer you opportunities to practice your decision making skills. They’re your test run for the major, more significant decisions that you’ll make. However, that doesn’t mean they’re any less important. If you’re struggling to make up your mind on the small things, you are going to feel a lot more stuck, and it’ll be even more inhibiting. We’ll soon delve into how you can start small, and exactly how that’ll help you overcome indecision.
You want to be decisive over the significant matters in life. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy. Not by any means. But when you are faced with a significant decision, you overthink everything and do not make up your mind, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Let’s say you are weighing up several job opportunities after leaving College and you are stuck in choosing which one to accept. Indecision and a lack of taking action will inhibit you.
So, there’s two major steps that you have to take; Narrow down your options and make your decision. We’re going to look at these two steps in more detail…
— decision making frameworks —
There are several everyday decision making frameworks that can help you narrow down your options and potentially lead you straight to making a choice.
When several options are presented to you (in this case – jobs), a simple yet effective method to narrowing these options down is to using a consequence chain.
With this decision making framework, you are going to lay out your options like you see above. From there, you will list any comments you have on each job (what your immediate thoughts are about the job). Then, list all the consequences these aspects of each job will have. After completing a comprehensive consequence chain, you will be able to make a well informed decision.
Take a look at some other great decision making frameworks in this post: How to Combat Your Self Doubt and Overthinking
— The Y Junction —
This is how you can visualise your decision making process. Remember, to decide means to move forward.
Choose your path and make your move. Otherwise, you will ponder and overthink about the 2 options. Procrastinating will lead to you standing still at the junction, feeling frustrated.
How to Overcome Indecision
To conquer indecision, you’ve got to seek clarity. Break down your choices into manageable chunks, weigh up the positives and negatives, and trust your gut instincts. At the end of the day, there’s no such thing as a perfect decision. Sometimes, the best choice is simply the one you make with confidence!
Start small
It’s important that you gain confidence by getting better at making small decisions first. It is such a great feeling when you start to make snap quick, confident decisions! By practicing in less crucial situations, you can become quicker and more confident in making your choices. Take this as an example: You’re at the grocery store deciding which block of chocolate to buy (that’s right – treat yourself!). This is your opportunity to utilise a decision making framework to narrow down the options. From the hundreds of chocolates there, you thin down your options to 2; caramel flavoured or dark chocolate. After picking your preferred chocolate you are on your way to the checkout! How good! Instead of the usual event of umming and ahhing for a few minutes, you have made a confident decision in seconds!
Break down big decisions
Sometimes big decisions are daunting and you’re best to break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. If there is a decision that you have to make which has a lot weighing on it, you have every right to take your time with it. Naturally, small decisions can be made snappy and sometimes they are even automatic. In contrast, these bigger decisions require a lot of thought and consideration. To avoid indecision, you are going to lead yourself to your decision by breaking it down. To do this, you’re going to ask yourself a series of questions that relate to the decision at hand, and your answers will point to the most ideal outcome. Let’s use the example from earlier: You have 4 job opportunities presented to you, and you are deciding which contract to accept. Write out questions like this: “How long will the commute be?” “What hours would I ideally work?” “What is most important aspect of a job to me?” Write down your answers to these and it will be clearer and clearer which job your heart is wanting!
Seek advice
Never be afraid to seek advice from others! We established at the very beginning of this blog post that so many people battle with indecisiveness. So, why not get out there and find some advice from those who have already improved their decision-making skills? It’s beneficial to gain insight from fresh perspectives. Whether it’s seeking counsel from a close friend, family member, or expert, advice can provide a sense of validation and confidence in making tough decisions. You’d be silly not to learn from the wisdom and experiences of those close to you since you can gain new perspectives, challenge your assumptions, and feel more empowered to make choices that align with your values and aspirations.
Set deadlines
Setting deadlines for making decisions will serve as a great tool for overcoming indecision. It might seem scary adding a sense of urgency and a different form of accountability into the decision-making process, but it’s worth it. Deadlines create a structure which is usually lacking within the process. It will help prevent procrastination and analysis paralysis. Decision paralysis is what keeps you at that standstill – the exact opposite of what we want. By using time constraints, you will prioritise options, weigh up alternatives efficiently, and commit to a course of action in quick fashion. Also, deadlines can offer a form of closure, alleviating the stress and uncertainty associated with lengthy periods of overthinking. You can make the decision and move forward. When there is no deadline, it is likely you will continue thinking about the ‘what-if’s’ even after having come to a decision.
Combat decision fatigue
A common cause of indecisiveness is decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is the metal exhaustion you experience after making a lot of decisions in a small space of time. Of course, some of us will feel this fatigue more than others, but it is important that you learn how to combat it! The better you can deal with this, the better you will overcome your indecision issue. You may notice that at certain times of day you have brain fog and/or are feeling more tired. These times are the worst for making important decisions as you will be in that state of decision fatigue. To combat decision fatigue you need to prioritise rest, sleep and avoid stress as best you can. Make sure you are taking care of yourself! Get lots of rest and recharge yourself when you are feeling drained.
Trust your heart
Your heart knows your decision before your mind does. Yeah, you’ve heard it before – trust your gust, trust your instinct – and there’s a reason for that. It is a great way to overcome indecision. I can honestly say that my heart has acted as my compass. When I have faced big, scary, important decisions in life, I seem to have known what I wanted before even giving it proper thought. In my heart I knew I wanted to explore, so I went travelling. In my heart I knew I wanted to delve into a working life and skip the study, and that’s what I did. Listen to your heart too. If you ever find your mind questioning your heart, don’t give in right away. It’s vital that you take a step back, reflect on your initial instinct (what you heart was telling you) and understand why it is you felt that way. Your mind is powerful, but your heart knows best! There are times you will get wrapped up in your own head, tossing up all possible options, when all along you knew your decision. Listen to your heart and you will kick indecision to the curb.
Reflect on your past decisions
Reflection is super duper important when it comes to improving your decision making skills. Here’s an activity for you to try: Grab a journal, write down some decisions you know you’ll have to make this coming week, and at the end of next week you are going to reflect on the decisions you made. Answer whether or not you were satisfied with your decisions, if you regret any of them, and how you made them. This reflection will force you to look at the situations through a new lens. It’ll also help you be more decisive in the future. That’s because you will identify what you can do better. It might be using a different decision making framework, or that you need to listen to your heart more. Don’t skip out on reflection if you want to overcome indecision.
Refer to your goals & your values
All decisions should be made based on your goals, values and beliefs. When you disregard these things in the decision making process, you aren’t being true to yourself. Make sure that when you have a significant decision on the cards, you go back to these 3 things. Your goals give you direction. Have your goals be present in your mind each day. You want to get more fit? You want to get that A+ in the upcoming assignment? Let these goals guide you to making decisions. Along with this, your values give you a moral compass to base decisions off of. Your goals, values and beliefs can give you the confidence you need in making decisions. Be confident, show certainty, and overcome that indecision.
It’s time to put these into practice! Overcoming indecision is not about striving for perfection in every choice, but rather embracing the journey of decision making with courage and clarity. By understanding the roots of indecision and how it inhibits your personal growth, you can navigate life’s crossroads with true confidence! Each decision (big or small) is an opportunity for growth and learning, a step closer to discovering your true desires and shapes your future. So, let’s farewell the frustration of indecision and step boldly into the adventure of choice, each Y junction at a time.
