Making decision can be hard. But we all need to make them. Every day. Small decisions as what to cook for dinner, to big decisions as which school to choose for our children.
This month I made a big decision. The decision to leave the company I’ve put my heart into for the past eight years. Not an easy decision. It made me think about how I make decisions.
There are many ways to make decisions. I am not a minimalist. I pulled out all the stops :-)
- I spoke to many people. My mom, my sister, my husband, my sister in law, friends, neighbours, colleagues . . . Gathering different viewpoints is something that helps see things from every angle. It’s a time-consuming method and sometimes can make it even harder to decide. But at least you can never say you’ve taken the decision too lightly.
- I’ve put on my rational hat and create a pro & con list. Listing all the reason for and against the decision.
- I went for a long walk. It frees up the mind. This often helps to crystalize what is and what isn’t that important.
- I slept over it. On old advice that can work very well. “Tomorrow you will see things in a different light”.
- I even threw a coin. A great method to listen to our intuition. You throw up a coin high up in the air and the split second it is on its way down you know which side you would like it to fall on.
After I had made my decision, I came across an article. An interview with Bernhard Moestl, the author of “The Shaolin principle”. The article was all about making decisions. What he learned from the Shaolin Monks was to think sharply and decide within seven breaths.
As per Bernhard; we don’t know what will happen in a year from now. We don’t even know what will happen in an hour from now. We don’t know what other people will decide. We need to live here and now and make decisions that are right for us this very moment.
So I took seven breaths and decided I made the right decision.
To me, everyone will have their own ways to come to their final conclusions. The most important thing is that the decision feels right. That once we have made our decision, we move forward and leave any doubt behind.
Ultimately, it does not matter where we go as long as we are ready to be all there.
