Does indecision keep you awake at night sometimes?
At the Artistry of Change, we help people in high pressure careers activate a more resilient and creative mindset. The Futurist, Alvin Toffler once said… The ability to creatively handle constant change will be the most sought after skill in the new millennium. So, if you want to be indispensable to those you serve… ability to make excellent decisions quickly is an important skill to have.
80% of the problem is a negative mindset
Now, the truth is, 80% of the reason you may feel plagued by indecision is because of your mindset and not anything else. Some people think that maybe they’ll have less indecision when the speed of change slows down or maybe when they have less options to choose from. To those people, I suggest they go live alone on top of a mountain
The Change Artist Mindset
After 5 years of surveying and researching people in high pressure careers, we came to the conclusion that there are 3 top habits of mind that help or hinder people when making important decisions. We call this collection of habits “The Change Artist Mindset”. These are good habits of minds that help you make wise decisions in these 3 ways:
1. Seeing the big picture… which is done by taking regular time out
2. Improving your brain capacity… which is done by changing your posture, breathing and focus
3. Using a variety of criteria… which is done by implementing a systematized process for making important decisions
The Change Challenged Mindset
As opposed to what we might call “The Change Challenged Mindset”. This is where you tend to sweat the small stuff, focus on the negative too much, and use just a narrow range of criteria with which to make decisions.
What causes people to make unwise decisions?
• Feeling rushed for time so you don’t take the time to think things through from a variety of perspectives.
• Feeling overwhelmed by lots of options and priorities
• Fear of making mistakes
All of which often leads to a sense of inertia about making a decision and moving forward
What are some costs to making poor decisions?
• Financial problems – (e.g. misuse of your money)
• Relationships problems – (e.g. saying or doing things that undermine trust)
• Health problems – (e.g. causing accidents)
• Career problems – (e.g. misuse of your time and focus leading to ineffectiveness)
Why do people keep making bad decisions then?
Well, sometimes it’s just part of the process of learning and growing.
As the old saying goes… Good judgment comes from experience which comes from bad judgment. But, sometimes it’s just plain dumbness… and if you’d done a few quick processes up front you wouldn’t be dealing with the negative fallout.
You get stuck in the Primitive Brain sometimes
You see, the problem is that overwhelm, busy-ness, and constant change tend to trigger people into the Reptilian Brain. This is the most primitive part of the brain where all you can really do is… fight or flight.
If you can get into a serene state of mind you activate the frontal lobes where you best decision making abilities reside.
Override bad programs
How might you do this? It all starts with good habits of mind which leads to good programs in your bio-computer. You may have to override bad programs in your mind that you picked up unconsciously in your childhood watching your parents, or from advertisements seducing you into making decisions that aren’t in your best interest. So the trick is to install better software for the job.
You can do this without anything in your external world changing
You can have the same amount of To Do’s, obligations, deadlines and frantic people all around you and still find calm and clarity, because sometimes you can’t change those external circumstances. This is about the inner game of decision making.
Explore the possibility of breaking free of confusion
Because if you are living in the modern world with obligations, relationships and goals you want to achieve… chances are the rate of change and number of options are just going to keep increasing. If you want to explore the possibility of breaking free from mindsets that undermine your ability to:
• make good decisions
• enjoy life
• be more effective
• be more creative