HOW TO MAKE A DECISION
Tools Needed: quiet safe space
pen
paper
your presence
1. Using your pen and paper, write down the decision you are wanting to make. (Notice we’re using the term wanting. We may NEED to make a decision however when we choose to use the word wanting the power shifts back to ourselves rather than an outside force “making” us make a decision.)
2. Find a comfortable position to be in for a couple moments. Place your hand to your heart and close your eyes. Tune inward as you notice the natural breath. Focus only on the breath.
3. As you feel yourself ease into sitting with your breath, begin to think about the decision you want to make. As you do so, many questions, uncertainties, and fears may come up. Be an observer of those thoughts. Instead of latching onto them, allow yourself to step back and be curious about them without judgement. What version(s) of your past self is holding onto these beliefs? Does this align with the person you are now? Or who you would like to be?
4. Open your eyes. Find your pen and paper and write down any and all future choices or solutions you can think of. Allow this to be a free flow exercise, don’t hold back. Write down the ones that are on the top of your mind as well as off-the-wall or out of the box solutions, no matter how wild they may seem.
5. When you’re done writing down all possible solutions you can think of, put your pen down. As you read through each possibility, sit with how that possibility makes you FEEL. Focus only on how the thought feels in your body, release any concerns on how it may happen. Make a note on which options open or light you up.
6. Now make a list of “things I know”. These are your facts or the truth as you see it. List out things you specifically know about the situation/decision (ex. I feel burnout in my job and it’s not sustainable to stay there in the long run) but also free write any other things you feel you know that come to you as it may help widen the lens of perception (ex. I am loved and supported by my family in any decision I make).
(Give grace to the fact that more is always being revealed and your truths now may be seen differently when you look back on this moment in the future. And that’s okay. We don’t know what we don’t know and we do the best we can with the knowledge and information that we have at the time.)
7. Focus going forward using your truths as your foundation to build upon the choice(s) you listed that light you up. You don’t need to have narrowed it down to a single decision. If multiple avenues felt exciting and expansive to you, allow those doors to remain open. What action(s) can you take today that support all of the options you chose and help move closer to your ultimate end goal?
