From time to time it happens in our lives that it’s time to make a Big Decision. Help! What should I do? Will it be the ‘right’ decision? What if I get this wrong? Of course it’s rare that there really is a ‘right’ decision…..there’s just the one that seems best at the time.
and remember: NOT MAKING A DECISION IS ALSO A DECISION
There are lots of ways of making decisions and it does get easier when we know ourselves a little better. If you’ve got a big decision to make, or even if you haven’t and you just want to learn a little more about yourself, I suggest you start by getting some perspective ; go big, go wide. There are plenty of ways of doing this – and here’s my first:
- Grab any coloured pens, stickers, post-it notes that you have in the house
- Take a big piece of paper – flipchart size – and spread it in front of you landscape-wise
- Draw a line across the middle which represents your life, with your birth date on the left and NOW on the right
- Use your pens and other resources to show the ups and downs of your life, the milestones, the different sections. Label them if you want, draw them if you want, put some dates in maybe; just make it yours
This exercise may be best done with a friend (or Life Coach) who can ask you questions. You know this stuff, but they don’t, and as you explain it to them you will also be hearing yourself explaining it and you may start to notice a thing or two.
And even if you’re doing it on your own, ask yourself these kinds of questions:
- what do I notice about this picture?
- what have I enjoyed the most?
- are there any patterns here?
- what was it like going through this particular period?
- what have I left out?
- what else do I notice?
5. Now, adding more paper if you need it, create one or more lines for your possible future. Perhaps you’ll show a line for what happens if you make one particular decision and another line for making a different decision. Put in pictures and labels for the possibilities of each. Is there one you are more drawn to? How does it look if you remove the other one?
Use this exercise to start to get perspective about your life. This will help with your decision-making.
Next time: another way of getting perspective and making decisions – What are my Values?