Decision making is such a significant area of life that some people tend to struggle. Procrastination is a common theme I hear which I always find interesting. When you think about this in a different way you realise we make decisions all day, clothes we choose to dress in, driving to work, drinking water, coffee or tea, all day, all the time.  What is the difference? Well the decisions you make without thinking about are all habits, habits that we are used to doing, or shall I say the brain is used to doing. When you sit and hover with decisions and tell yourself you can’t make one, it is because your brain does not want to change. Your mind likes to be comfortable, in its comfort zone.

What can you do about it, well I believe repetition, repetition, repetition is the answer. The best way is to form a new habit! It is not hard, it is about stepping out of that comfort zone and taking the risk, then do it again, then doing it again and again. All the time you will increase your decision-making process by creating new pathways in your brain to the point you will have formed a new habit.

Decision making is difficult when faced with huge consequences but any decision is better than none. Remember life is a journey, and you make choices, and if you make one that is not the correct one for you, you make another. The key is to reflect on what positives have come from the choices that you make. The brain will automatically fall on the negative areas but the key is to push for the positive ones then realise the learning that has taken place for you and how you can take this forward.

Decision making is easy, at the point of choice say 5,4,3,2,1 then go… if you don’t within 5 seconds your brain will talk you out of it. A typical example of this is “Shall I ask the person in the local restaurant out for a date” If you don’t act straight away your inner voice will likely start to say, “They won’t be interested in me”.  Your brain can be a problem for you if you let it and sadly you will never know if that person would have gone or not.

Remember you can change your life in an instant if you want to.

Claire Moody is our head coach at Target Training and you can read more about her here.  She delivers training on coaching for managers courses, and you can read more about these courses here and see dates here.