How The Smartest People Make Great Choices On The Fly — And Don't Look Back
They know the secret to getting un-stuck.
getty It's frustrating being forced to figure out how to make a decision between two equally appealing options. And when you do finally buckle down with decision-making and choose, you often feel bad or have regrets about the one you didn’t pick.
And these dilemmas and emotions can apply to anything — from simple choices, like what's for dinner, to life-changing ones, like if he's "the one."
You might be asking yourself things like, "Should I make my partner happy and make a chocolate cake for dessert, or satisfy myself with that sumptuous peach pie?"
Or, "Should I go out with Joe, who’s so smart, or Jake, who makes me laugh?"
Or even, "Should I take that full-time job that offers great security, or the consulting offer that allows me to keep my freedom?"
The good news is that you can learn how to make a decision that you can feel good about.
RELATED: How To Find The Relationship Of Your Dreams (Even If You Constantly Make Terrible Decisions)
It’s amazing how much of your daily decision-making revolves around a specific problem that only you can solve.
Why just you? Well, it’s your life, your energy, and how you choose to use your time. Seems like a big responsibility? Well, it is and it isn’t.
It feels like a big responsibility because you probably think there is a right choice and a wrong choice.
But if both choices offer something you want, why feel bad about the one you didn’t choose? Either way, you'll come out ahead so why do you have to experience guilt or other unpleasant feelings about your decision?
It all depends on how you view the problem.
The problem is choosing between two equally appealing options and this stress-producing circumstance is more common than you think.
But it shouldn't be stressful, should it? After all, it’s a wonderful dilemma when whichever way you go can actually feel good.
Are you aware of how much of your life energy gets spent making seemingly simple decisions?
Sometimes you can make up to a hundred small decisions like this a day.
"Shall I get a massage or a pedicure?"
"Shall I use the bonus I got to buy the new Samsung 9 or put it in my retirement account so it can keep growing?"
"Shall I get my automated tweets set up so I’ll have more time or should I write that article for LinkedIn so I have more exposure and potential clients?"
The obvious solution is to pick one and be done with it — it seems simple, but that’s not how it feels inside.
If you take a look, you’ll probably notice some lingering unpleasant feelings about the option you didn’t choose. After all, it offered you something you also wanted.
Feeling bad about the option you didn’t choose can show up as guilt, sadness, anxiety that you’re missing out on something, or simple frustration because you still want the goodies from that possibility as well.
Or, it might just be a simple expression of humanity’s age-old struggle with greed vs. contentment.
These kinds of emotions breed confusion, which breeds hesitation, which breeds more anxiety, guilt, and frustration. And now you don’t feel good about what is actually a great situation!
This is why you need to take a different approach to the situation by shifting how you approach your "problem."
Have you ever looked at a problem as an opportunity to grow or learn, rather than a hideous circumstance you must endure? Remember how it changed things; how it shifted the possibilities available to you?
And more importantly, remember how that slight shift in viewpoint changed the way you felt about the problem and your solution?;
When you have two equally enticing possibilities, instead of making your "problem" into an opportunity, make it into a cause for celebration. You have the power to make it into a statement of awareness about the abundance showering your life.
When you want both options equally, and you can’t determine which you desire more, step into the attitude of abundance and gratitude.
You’ll first need to go sort out the pros and cons of both options. But, in this circumstance, both of them pretty much have you salivating for the outcome.
And, in all honesty, because you desire both, it can seem problematic until you remember the notion of abundance once again.
From this angle, you can just delight in the reality of the abundance right before your eyes. You have two options at this moment that can bring you joy and happiness.
With this attitude, whichever option you choose, you can be free of any guilt, sadness, anxiety, or frustration about the option you left behind.
You can be free of those unpleasant feelings about the option you didn’t choose if you do the following: Don’t just step into thinking about gratitude.
Take a moment and actually reflect on the fact you have so much that you want available to you right here and now.
That moment of reflection is what transforms your notion of gratitude from an idea or thought into a genuine and overwhelming experience for you to feel and enjoy.
And once you're in this mindset, knowing how to make a decision — even between two good options — won't feel so stressful.
Ragini Michaels is an Amazon best-selling author, International NLP Trainer (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Coach, and Mentor who specializes in behavioral changes. If you would like support and guidance on how to make changes in your life to better your experience, you can schedule a complimentary 30 minute consult with her, or explore her current online courses.