Need to Make a Decision? Use This.

This week I caught myself struggling to make a decision.  It bounced around in my head for days as I weighed the pros and cons and I still couldn’t move forward.  Then, I remembered to turn to my intuition and trust what It tells me. 

The number one thing I work with clients on is getting back in touch with their internal self.  We are all born with an internal compass – intuition, a knowing, a guide, to provide us direction – and yet we listen more to outside forces (our parents, what we read, media, suggestions from others) before we tap into this internal knowing. This knowing directly affects our confidence.  The more we get away from it, the less confident we are.  The less confident we are, the more unhappy we are.

I know this because, for a long time, I didn’t listen to what was inside of me.  I operated more by worrying about how I looked to others, how I conformed, and how I did things that others wanted me to do.   In my job, I was uncomfortable with doing something that was too outside the norm.  The real power is in recognizing that and being who you were born to be.   True visionaries don’t conform.   They think from the inside-out, rather than listening to the outside and then bringing it in.  

It may take time to move from outside-in, to inside-out thinking   Here are some ways to help with this: 

– Recognize when you are making decisions in work or life based on what others want you to do, rather than what you feel is best or what you want. 

– Gain information (from others or education), but then tap into your knowing or intuition to determine the next step forward.

– Meditate and journal to get in the habit of listening to what you know and feel, helping you see the long term results of your decisions.

– Ask yourself these questions:

• What is my gut feeling on this? 
• What is holding me back?  
• If I am fearful, but have the sense I should move forward any way – What if I am already ready and have everything I need?

– Saying no to things I don’t want to do (See my blog from last week)

The ultimate goal in our jobs and life is to use the talents we have to create meaning that fulfills us.  Do I, at times, conform or do something I don’t necessarily want to do for other reasons – to help someone else, to belong, or to make money/satisfy a boss? Absolutely.  But now I recognize the difference and work toward tapping into my internal self first.  The more I do this, the happier and more fulfilled I am.  I remind myself – I am smart, I am enough and this is the true power of me and what I bring to the world. 

This is you.  Illuminated.