Now I'm Ready to Make Decisions
Making decisions isn’t as easy as it seems. The more important they are, the more doubts you have.
Every decision is a prelude to change, because it means taking a new path, changing what you’ve been doing up until now. It may have to do with a relationship (letting someone go, breaking up with someone, etc.), or maybe it’s about work (leaving an unfulfilling job, finding a better one, etc.).
We know that making decisions will change our lives, so we think about it so much and ask so many questions that we end up doubting ourselves.
What do you know about the decision you’re going to make?
This is the first question that you have to ask yourself when you’re ready to make a decision. What do you know about it? Do you know all the pros and cons? Is it realistic? Sometimes we idealize what we want and aren’t able to see whether it would actually be doable or not.
Imagine that you don’t like your work situation. The first thing to do would be to determine why you’re so uncomfortable. Maybe you don’t have a guaranteed salary, or maybe you don’t enjoy what you do, or maybe you don’t have the motivation. You can see how important each of these reflections is if the issue can be solved by a simple change in attitude.
If there’s no way to go back or remedy the situation, it’s time to think about both the good and the bad things about leaving your job or continuing with the same situation. You have to accept that things could go very well or very bad, as nothing is reliable or certain when it comes to making decisions.
Plan A, B, C or D
The next step you should probably take when you’re sure about your decision is to think about alternatives in case plan A doesn’t go well. If you don’t consider all the possible escape routes, you could find yourself in a dark alley with no exit, unable to escape. At that point, the world will fall down on top of you, and you risk being crushed by it.
Thinking of alternatives will put you on firmer ground and prevent you from getting lost when you make the decision.
Continuing with the above example, one alternative could be to stay in your current position until you’ve finished the process of finding another job with better conditions. That way you don’t have to be afraid of ending up on the street.
It’s not safe to place all your trust in plan A, because it could fail and lead to a lot of disappointment and consequences. If you only had a plan A regarding leaving your job, you could be left without an income or severance pay due to quitting voluntarily, not finding a new job opportunity, etc.
It’s time to make decisions
With all that said, it’s time to put everything you’ve learned into practice. If you don’t, you’ll always be wondering what might have happened. So if you already have a few alternatives to fall back on if nothing goes as planned, it’s time to get down to business.
At first, you’ll be afraid. Doubts will arise over your ability to face the challenge, your lack of conformity, your foolishness for wanting to reach the top… These are natural thoughts to have, but they shouldn’t stop you when you’ve already gotten the preliminary work done. Be brave and get to it. Your life is about to change, and because you made the decision, it will change for the better.
Once you’ve done it, you’ll see whether it all goes smoothly, or if you have to go with one of the alternatives you’d thought of. Maybe the decision doesn’t actually satisfy you at all and you have to make a new one. It’s okay. It’s good to try, fail, test, and try again until you finally get where you want to go.
Don’t be afraid of change. After all, it lasts forever.
It’s important that you don’t make decisions in a hurry. You have to take your time, think hard about it, and evaluate all the options. This is only way to achieve the desired results. So give yourself space to choose before you take such a meaningful step. Having clear ideas and a clear mind will push away all the doubts that could intimidate you in the moment.
Images courtesy of Marina “Loki” Nosova
