Just ask yourself the following questions:
Are you sitting on the fence in terms of decisions you know you need to make?
Does cutting off options feel uncomfortable for you?
Do you like to hedge your bets and keep your options open, just in case your Plan A doesn’t work out?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, don’t worry. You’re not alone!
Let this be the year that you take a stand for yourself and your brilliance. Jump down off the fence of indecision and make a choice. Otherwise you risk getting caught up in a swirl of overwhelm, procrastination and not creating the results and impact you are meant to deliver.
Tip #1 – Decide When You Will Decide
How many times have you told yourself, “I’m not sure now so I’ll decide later.” But then you find yourself constantly thinking about the choice you need to make for days and weeks.
When you finally do make a decision one way or the other, it can feel like more like the victory of getting all the gum off the bottom of your shoe, rather than an empowering choice to create your future.
To keep yourself on track, set a specific date when you will sit down and make a decision. Put it on your calendar. This simple act alone will save you lots of splinters from sitting on the fence forever!
Tip #2 – Get The Big Picture
One reason people stay frozen in indecision is fear. There’s fear of change or that things won’t work out the way you hope. There’s fear your life will be different and your choices put you at risk of losing the approval or love of some people who are currently in your life. We zero in right on the fear and forget to look up for the big picture.
It is true that making a decision does change things. That is pretty much the point! We all need to make regular course corrections along the way to steer the ship of our lives in the direction we really want to go.
So isn’t it more scary to have yourself feeling stuck in this same issue a year from now, or 5 years from now? Think of how much energy, focus and time it is costing you to stay there. When you find yourself on the fence, get stop perspective and remember the big picture.
Tip #3 – Create Some No’s to Make Space for the Brilliant Yes
Have you ever been to an “all you can eat” restaurant? You get excited by all the choices, and so you start to pile all the food on your plate. What happens when you sit down to eat? You have to carefully pick your way through your meal to avoid it spilling all over the table.
Life is like that fabulous buffet table. Anything we want is possible, but we need to realize we only have so much energy and focus. We need to say “No” in order make space for the brilliant “Yes” to come in.
If you’re making a decision and you catch yourself rationalizing why you give it the green light, stop. Step away from the buffet table. If you have to talk yourself into a “Yes” chances are high that the decision you’re about to make isn’t in alignment with your highest purpose. We need to say a lot of “No’s” so we can gracefully and clearly feel our “Yes!” when the purposeful, soul-fulfilling choices come our way.
Step Into Your Brilliance
Take 15 minutes to brainstorm a list of the different ways you know you’re sitting on the fence somehow. Be sure to scan around in all areas of your life – your career, money, relationship, health, social, spiritual. Read your list slowly and feel into how much of your life force and energy is being tied up in those various places of indecision. Now, pick one item from your list and make a clear decision – Yes or No – right away.
If you decide “Yes”, write down the next actionable step you can take to start to breathe more life into that choice. If you decide “No,” cross it off your list with a big red marker and give yourself a pat on the back. Pick at least three more items off your list in the next 7 days.
