Ever wonder how
many decisions you make in a typical day?
You start the day
by deciding whether to get up right away or hit the snooze button. You
decide whether to boil an egg or have cornflakes for breakfast. You decide
if you will do a thorough tooth brushing job or cut it short. You decide
whether to walk the dog or just let him loose in the backyard. You decide
what clothes to wear. You decide the order to put them on. You decide
whether to read the Providence Journal or the Boston Globe back to front or front to back. You
decide whether to straighten up or finish the crossword puzzle. You decide
whether to pick up the dry cleaning before work or whether it is better to
wait for the lunch hour. That’s just scratching the surface. And you haven’t
even left your house yet.
These decisions
typically get very little conscious thought. It is as though we are on
autopilot. We just kind of do what we "feel like" doing, think we "have to
do", or what we did yesterday and the day before.
And this is the way
it has to be. We just don’t have the time to analyze every little decision.
But, if you stop to
think about it, many of our bigger decisions are also on automatic pilot or
made too quickly with limited information. And that can be a problem.
It has been said
that the average person spends more time deciding where to go on his or her
summer vacation than on choosing their career path. But how much quality
time does anyone have these days even to truly investigating our summer
vacation options? Everyone is busy. Very busy. Increasingly we seem too busy
to think carefully before acting.
Even if we did have
limitless time we don’t have the tools to create quality decisions. I don’t
know about you, but there weren’t any courses on decision making at my
grammar or high school. I guess the educators decided that it wasn’t
important. And, I can’t help but wonder how much time, if any at all, they
spent on that vital decision.
Deciding to Make
Better Decisions
If you would like
to get your life off automatic pilot, there is something you can do. You can
decide right now to make better decisions in critical areas of your life.
You might begin by
asking yourself what critical areas do you have on automatic pilot,
important areas where you have accepted that the way things are is the way
things have to be. You may be surprised at what you see.
How to relate to
your spouse, children, parents, inlaws? What about your career? Are you
really happy living in the East Bay? Do you make the best use of your
leisure time? Are you doing everything you can about your health?
There are plenty of
books and articles on how to make good decisions. And if you are serious
about living more consciously you will want to take a look at them. But, in
the meantime, here is a good, simple template for making good decisions.
First. Identify the
decision you are trying to make. People often go past the big questions and
answer the small ones without realizing they have excluded other options. A
high school student who asks "which college should I apply to?" assumes that
it is a given that he or she must attend college. The big decision (whether
to go to a four year college) has already been made with virtually no
thought. Some young people who might be better served with some other kind
of education don’t even consider the alternatives. Their families, teachers
and peers expect it as the right thing to do. Changing the question will
allow a whole new series of possibilities and considerations.
Or how about
"should I marry Mr./Ms. X this year?" This question assumes that the person
has already decided that marriage is a desirable condition for them.
Background decisions might include thoughts like "if I don’t get married now
I never will" or "it’s likely no one better will come along" or "I can
always get divorced if it doesn’t work out." Often these decisions are not
conscious. They are like the operating program in a computer that works
behind the scenes but really controls everything.
It is always easier
to do what is expected and accepted as the right thing to do. Making
conscious quality decisions is hard work and often requires courage to ask
the right question before you start.
Second. Get the
facts. In business they call it "research." Before a large company makes a
critical decision, they thoroughly investigate its risks and opportunities.
This may include asking other people knowledgeable in the question, looking
things up at the library or internet or getting some hands on experience.
There is no reason you and I can’t do the same in our personal life.
Third. Develop possible solutions through brainstorming.
This is an important step. In our rush to make a decision, we often settle on the first solution that looks like a fit. By
coming up with a number of alternatives, you increase the likelihood that
you will make the best possible decision.
Fourth. Observe how
the decision works when implemented and take corrective action as necessary.
It takes time to
step back and make a decision in a methodical fashion. But if spending a little more time
reaching a decision saves you time spent on the wrong path, helps you avoid
disaster or opens up new possibilities for satisfaction, isn’t it well worth
it?
You decide.
Hypnosis Can Help
Hypnotherapy can help you make quicker,
better decisions by enlisting the aid of your creative subconscious mind, by
getting you out of the desperate "I have to make the right decision" minds
to allow options to surface and by giving you confidence that the decisions
you make will be the right ones.
Scheduling Instructions
To schedule
your first hypnosis appointment or arrange a free 15-20 minute consultation to
see whether hypnosis is right for you, click the link below:
