What To Do When You Are Confused About A Decision

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Are you in a fog of confusion? Do you wonder why you never seem to have the answers, but others do? How is it easier for some to make decisions and harder for you? Maybe you don’t struggle every time but when it comes to the big ones you do. Why is that? In today’s article, I’m going to tell you why it could be hard for you, and I’ll discuss what to do when you are confused about a decision.

So you are confused about something in your life and you are frustrated that you are struggling with decisions. If this is happening to you right now, congratulations!

What?! She’s lost her mind!

Is that what your thinking? Bare with me for a moment.

Confusion is a sign of growth, learning opportunities, and exciting changes in your life. It means that you are expanding your mind to go beyond your normal routine and explore new ways of opportunities.

Why Some Decisions Are Harder Than Others

It’s time to get real. There are a few different reasons why some decisions are harder than others.

1. You Don’t Trust Yourself

Clarity will come from other people’s advice, right? I’ll just ask my people! Sound familiar? You are using friends and family to help direct your decisions and by doing this you continue to minimize your feelings, creating more confusion.

Don’t get me wrong. Friends and family mean well, they do.

They love you and only want the best for you, but in reality, their advice is generally based on their own fears. They are scared you will make the same mistakes they did or that you will take a risk they would have found difficult.

You aren’t them. Your life experiences are different and your journey through life will have different opportunities and lessons to learn.

2. You Are Waiting For A Bigger Sign

Wouldn’t that be blissful to have a huge neon flashing light pointing us down the right pathway? That baby would cut through the fog of confusion in a flash!

Sometimes we have those moments of clarity, but not always. Often we are stuck in a fog of uncertainty because we have more growing to do before the fog clears. We have do go down a path that will expand our knowledge and help us prepare for the next steps along our journey.

Other times the signs are there but they are small and subtle. Ones that whisper to us to move forward in baby steps so that we can gain confidence and continue to grow as individuals.

3. Your Fear Compels Information Overload

Fears come in many forms and many trigger imposter syndrome or perfectionism, where both of these compel us to learn everything about the topic before moving forward. Then just when we may have figured out a path forward, we convince ourselves that we aren’t ready and dig deeper to learn more. The cycle is never-ending if you let it.

In reality, there is power in knowledge but having too much is overwhelming and clutters the mind with facts and figures that may not matter to the journey we are meant to take right this moment.

4. The Path Of Least Resistance Is Easier

This reality is hardest because our brains love routine and consistency. So when we are used to doing something the way we’ve always done it, we get uncomfortable. However, when we are living with purpose and have life goals we need to stretch ourselves and learn to question our decisions.

Was making that decision easy because we wouldn’t be taking the risk? Was it easy because we’ve always done that? Or is making that decision, creating opportunities for our future? Will it move us forward or set us back?

When you are asking yourself the hard questions, notice how you are feeling. How do you feel to stay with the status quo versus changing the decision this time?

What To Do When You Are Confused About A Decision

There is a step-by-step process that you can take to teach yourself what to do when you are confused about a decision. With anything, as you practice you will get better at it. That’s not to say you won’t come face-to-face with hard decisions once in a while, it will happen. Just remember these steps and you’ll do fine!

1. Accept your state of confusion

Knowing that you are confused because you are growing in life is powerful and empowering. Own this state of confusion with a badge of honor. Take on the challenge and know that any path you take will lead to your next lesson opportunity. There are no wrong turns in life.

My grandfather used to say, “It’ll all come out in the wash. It might be a dirty wash, but it all comes out just the same.”. All you can do in life is make a decision and learn from it no matter what. Will it matter down the road that we did this or that? Maybe, but maybe just maybe the lessons we learned going down the other path have given us far more knowledge about ourselves.

2. Clear The Clutter

The clutter I’m referring to is your own personal fears, the family or friend advice that may not be impartial, and the information overload that has you thinking you can’t move on until you are an expert.  Clear the clutter so that you can thin the fog around you just a little, giving yourself room to breathe. Learn how to stop minimizing your feelings.

3. Focus On The Facts

The facts are details about the situation and how they make you feel. They are also the answers to the hard questions you are asking yourself when figuring out your options.

Does this align with your beliefs and priorities?

Can you feel comfortable taking a tiny step forward into the unknown?

Is choosing not to do this going to keep you from moving forward?

What small step can help me gain confidence that it might be the right decision?

By doing this, what will I gain from it? Why is it important for me?

Even if I can’t control the outcome, what can I learn from this experience? How could it help me?

4. Take Action

You might not have a clear path and you might need to be brave to step into the unknown. That fog might be thick as you go along the path, but that is perfectly fine because each step is growth and a chance to learn more. When you can get comfortable knowing that “It’ll all come out in the wash” fears are smaller obstacles than before.

Take one small baby step at a time and it will get easier. Learn to trust yourself and your own decisions, training yourself that you can rely on yourself. Trusting you can figure out what to do when you are confused about a decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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