What To Do When You're Stuck in Making a Decision

Why do we have doubts in our minds when it’s time to make a very serious decision that will go a long way in affecting our minds? What holds us back from saying yes to a potential date? What influences our response and our decision making? All this lies in our mind, it’s the fear of failure and the unknown. Most times I tell my friends that the worst thing to do is not to do it.  It’s better to go for what we want rather than wasting time being indecisive.

All of these sound intuitive, but can be overwhelming at the outset. If you have trouble deciding what comes next, it may be because you have not decided what you want. You might have studied for several years, or been in a relationship even longer, before realizing that you did not want to continue. Sometimes because of sunk cost bias, we will forgo the opportunity we truly desire because we believe we have already committed too much to another alternative.

If you list out the pros and cons of both your options, you will see the pros of one getting longer than the other – usually, your innate desire or your gut will be making the decision for you. Go with your gut and just leave everything else to the cosmos.

Choices are like a dynamo. When you make one decision, it paves the way for other situations to occur, which you will then have to deal with. Making a tough decision in life can have many ramifications. Taking certain paths can affect your finances, your relationships, your friendships and your career. Think things through, and decide whether you will be able to cope with the consequences of your decision, and how you will deal with the fall-out.

If I am stuck between two choices, the best thing I do is take a day or two to weigh the pros and cons of each choice. What can really go wrong if I make a wrong choice? The decision lies in the ability to withstand the effects if I make the wrong choice. If making the decision will give me more experience and expose me to opportunities to learn then I will choose that above any other. Every day in life we are faced with one decision or the other like a toxic relationship, bad job, financial issues, personal growth etc.  Fact remains that when you make decisions you should put yourself first and what you want before considering others because the truth is nobody cares.

I’ve written about this before, so I won’t say too much about it this time around, but have you ever said to yourself, “oh, I could never do that because what would so-and-so think?” That mindset is keeping you stuck. In fact, I would argue this is the most common, most socially-acceptable way we keep ourselves stuck. Most of us are living our lives to impress someone else, all the while denying or distracting ourselves from what we really want.

Do what makes you better and happy, do not fret and second guess yourself on what others will think. Life is not a race it’s rather a journey and we are free to take detours and shortcuts with the end goal in mind. So make a choice today and if you’re stuck do what I advised in this article. When we do nothing and procrastinate, things will just get worse. Remember we miss 100% of opportunities we don’t take.