Feel Indecisive? A 5 Step Code In Overcoming Indecision

Indecision costs us time, energy and resources. We are already overwhelmed with the reasoning and figuring out how we should do things, rather than taking action. Our ability to make a decision and act on it is what drives productivity and effectiveness. If we don't know how to make decisions, it can lead to overthinking, where the decisions we make may not be in alignment with what we want the end result to be. 

 When was the last time you couldn't make up your mind? How many times have you been asked "What do you want for dinner?", only to reply indecisively. There are numerous options available to you, but too many options are flooding your ability to choose. Indecision goes beyond your lunch and dinner choices, It's the state of being unable to make a choice in deciding bigger things. 

Overcoming Indecision

I've made many impulsive decisions in my life that had caused a negative pattern. Those impulse decisions were based around my relationships, as well as trying to please others. It took me away from the things I value and enjoy most. I try to become a lot more measured and question whether the decisions I make are something that's in line with what I really want and not around what others want. My impulsiveness has led me to backpedal the consequences through hasty decisions. We can retrain our impulsive brain by understanding a couple of things. 

• Look Through The Eyes Of Another Persons Reality. This means looking at a situation through the lens of another person. By doing this, we are able to see a different perspective that perhaps we may have been blinded to see when we are impulsive. This results in a better perspective, and better decision making.

• Don't overthink the outcomes of our decisions. Heard of Analysis Paralysis? This is just it. The state of over-thinking about a decision to the point where a decision isn't made. To avoid this, we can 'stair-step' some of our big decisions. This means rather than looking at a decision to be made as a one-time, main event, we can strategise and make smaller, actionable and more measured decisions that shift our momentum out of the paralysis of making the 'perfect decision'.

Appreciate What You Already Have

Gratitude. This may sound crazy, but appreciate when you're stuck in a rut because you should know that there's always something better on the other side. By stopping and appreciating, It will give you perspective on what's really happening. In order to move forward out of a rut, It's so important to reflect with thankfulness and generosity to what you have. It will help you make more informed and better decisions, acknowledging the risk.

5 Step Indecision Code

Tommy Baker, author of the “1% Rule: How to Fall In Love with the Process and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams” comes up with a great 5 step code, which helps us know what our foundation is and what to rely on. It’s used as the ability to cure a behavioural pattern. In this case, Indecision. 

1) Fall In Love With The Process.

Falling in love with the process is about putting all our mental, physical and emotional energy into something with everything we’ve got. The process is who you have been, to who you’re becoming. Without this foundational principle, we’ll crumble in our efforts. The process involves challenging moments and if we’re expecting this to happen, they won’t divert us and the decisions we make will stay sharp and focused. 

2) Do It Every Single Day. 

This is self-explanatory, but it’s important to note that it shouldn’t be about the time we spend doing every single day, but the progress we’re making. It’s a good way to train our brain into making decisions with our goals. We then become the creator of our life, instead of the reactor and not living conditionally, waiting to feel inspired. After enough repetitions, it comes who we are and we are more decisive. 

3) Celebrate Your Commitment 

A crucial part of the step, it’s important to celebrate the small wins, even if they’re the small or insignificant ones. If you’re a writer, celebrate the fact you managed to think of an idea even though you haven’t applied it to paper yet. If you're trying to live healthier, celebrate the fact you went to the gym or ate healthy. With micro wins, we create momentum and clarity required to get the more expansive wins and outcomes we are chasing. It forces us to open our awareness and reminds us not to judge ourselves, but embrace and appreciate the growth.

4) Track Your Metrics & Data

Tracking our metrics and data isn't supposed to be inspiring or fulfilling, but in order for us to make decision-making better for ourselves, it’s extremely important. Without tracking, we live in a fantasy which makes decision making, pivoting and knowing what works for us a nightmare. By not having accurate information to track, our emotions and feelings take over and we use these to base our decisions, which can be damaging because they’re always changing by default and we can’t rely on them. One of my biggest successes in losing 20kg was an app that measured my eating and fitness goals. This created accountability and tracked to see how far I had come, as well as providing the strategic pivots I needed to create to maximise my success. 

5) Master Your Craft

The last part of Tommy Bakers 1% Code is a commitment to mastery. The main idea sounds daunting, but in fact, it’s remaining patient to develop the crucial components required for success. It’s based off a long term commitment and caters to a mindset of grounded humility, where you become obsessed with micro-improvements. The crucial components of mastering your craft are;

• Deliberate Practice: Pushing yourself to the edge of discomfort during practice to the place where you want to give up. 
• Invest Thousands of hours: Be expected to invest in thousands of hours to deliberate practice as you sharpen your skills. There's no shortcut.
• Long Term Consistency: Be Consistent. Don’t give up because you think it’s novel.
• Choose one and step into it every day: You can truly become an expert in nearly anything in a few years if you focus and embrace the code.

What You Get In Return

The 5 Pillar foundation is aimed to keep you grounded, focused and excited to continue to sharpen your mindset and skills in your journey. You may have considered yourself an indecisive person, but don’t cut yourself short. You can learn to make decisions, as it’s a skill like any other. These 5 foundations will help to learn this skill and you’re then able to set yourself up for a more productive life with better habits.

As humans, indecisiveness is a natural instinct. By understanding it and realising our indecisiveness, we can forecast ourselves to make better choices. It's looking further than what you're going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; but the daily decisions we make to achieving what we want in life. The truth is, some people can’t or won’t make decisions because they’re too busy over analysing and over thinking things. Use this 5 step code to help you make decisions aligned with your desired goals and outcomes.