Every moment of every day, we make decisions. Sometimes those decisions are small and inconsequential, and sometimes those decisions are life-altering. In the end, though, the outcome of your day, your year, and your entire life are mostly defined by the sum of decision making and the actions that you take along the way.
There’s power in making a decision – even when you’re not completely sure that it’s the right one. I promise you that once you realize the incredible impact that making decisions can have, you can truly begin to live your best life. @JackCanfield (Click to Tweet!)
Decisions can be powerful, but they aren’t always easy…
To a degree, almost all of us suffer from decision paralysis at some point in time. Realizing the impact that your decisions can have is often frightening.
After all, if a decision is important enough to change your life, it’s understandable that you’d want to be sure to get it right.
The problem is that many people have a “deer in the headlights” moment when faced with decisions. Afraid of making the wrong decision, they end up not making a decision at all. However, not making a decision is a decision in and of itself – and it’s almost always the wrong one.
The inability to make a decision can leave you frozen in place when changes are necessary. It can also wreak havoc on your confidence, your happiness, and your overall emotional well-being.
Faced with the problem of decision paralysis, it’s essential to realize that – in almost every case – any decision is going to be better than no decision at all.
If you can push past the fear and doubts associated with making decisions, you can start taking control of your life’s outcomes.
Make Decisions Quickly
One of the best ways to eliminate decision paralysis is to make decisions quickly. In fact, many of the world’s most successful innovators and leaders owe much of their success to their ability to make decisions quickly.
When you make decisions quickly, you leave no room for doubt, worry, and confusion. Instead of wasting time worrying about all of the possibilities and trying to endlessly analyze every potential outcome, making a quick decision enables you to immediately begin devoting your efforts to following through on that decision.
If you truly commit to a decision, you’ll find that following through on it is much easier than you might have thought.
The Law of Attraction dictates that you will be able to manifest what you need to follow through on any decision once you have fully committed yourself to it.
Only by making decisions quickly, though, can you fully commit to them right out of the gate without letting doubt and worry kill your decision slowly over time.
Thankfully, making decisions quickly doesn’t have to be difficult. No matter what decision you might be faced with, the only thing you have to determine is whether or not this is something you want or need and whether or not it is worth committing your time to.
If the answer to both of those questions is yes, you have everything you need to make a decision right away. Any other questions or concerns that you might have will answer themselves along the way if you are committed to making your decision a reality.
Use the Rule of 5
Once you have made a decision, the next step is to bring that decision to fruition. It’s not enough to simply make a decision and hope for the best. A decision is only fully made when you dedicate your efforts to it.
The Rule of 5 is a great place to begin to help follow through on your decision. Following the Rule of 5 means doing five things every day that will bring you closer to your goal. Let’s say, for example, that you decide to start your own business. After you’ve made that decision, you should commit to doing five things each day that will help you get your business up and running. They don’t have to be monumental tasks. Major goals are accomplished one small step at a time, which is why the Rule of 5 is so effective.
Recruiting an accountability partner is another great way to further commit to your decision. It’s not easy to back out of a decision when you have someone that you respect and trust pushing you forward and holding you accountable.
Visualize Your Goals Daily
Picture, in your mind, what your life will be like and how you will feel once you’ve accomplished it. Visualizing your goal in this manner will serve as a powerful motivator by giving you a sense of the benefits before the goal is accomplished.
If you take steps such as these to commit to a decision and motivate yourself to follow through, you can set yourself up for success after any decision you make.
Have you ever been paralyzed to make a decision, and then decided to leap forward to success?
As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, Jack Canfield fostered the emergence of inspirational anthologies as a genre—and watched it grow to a billion dollar market. As the driving force behind the development and delivery of over 100 million books sold through the Chicken Soup for the Soul® franchise, Jack Canfield is uniquely qualified to talk about success. Jack is America’s #1 Success Coach and wrote the life-changing book The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and Jack speaks around the world on this subject. Check out his newest book The 30-Day Sobriety Solution: How to Cut Back or Quit Drinking in the Privacy of Your Own Home. Follow Jack at www.jackcanfield.com and sign up for his free resources today!
Image courtesy of Pietro Tebaldi.
