“Tough Decisions…”

 

Shared by Kristina Smedley

Today’s thoughts are going to be a little brief and I would really like to know what you think about them.

I’m thinking about what it takes to make tough decisions.

We all encounter them.

They vary in degree, severity, and implications and in most cases are very subjective… at least as far as determining if they are tough or not.

But I think the reason they seem tough is because we want to make the best long-term solution and our brains have too many variables to consider.

Too many options.
Things are too complex. The risks feel high.

A few we have faced recently, or are facing, include:

• Should we move back to Seattle after loving living and working in SoCal for the last 4 years?
• What if we don’t get relocation, would we pay to move home?
• We found the perfect house but don’t have the down payment until we sell our SoCal house, should we put an offer on it anyways and figure out how to get the down payment some way until our SoCal home sells?
• Do we want to have kids? When?
• Do I want to stay at my current company or switch jobs/companies completely and try something new?

Now, I might be wrong on this, but my thoughts are that our own personal confidence and our ability to listen to our intuition determine whether something is “tough” or not.

Intuition is our ability to tap into our subconscious, to listen to our whole bodies – brain, heart, and body – not just the logical processes of our brain.

You might recognize intuition as a “gut feeling” or a “hunch.”

It communicates through emotions and feelings, not usually through the logical or judgmental.

For example, when we meet someone for the first time, we naturally make a judgment based on our visual first impression.

This is not intuition.

But if you pay attention and spend time with them, you’ll likely have a bodily response to the person – a warmth, a shutter, a sense that things are right/not right.

This is intuition.

I believe that if we have enough confidence in ourselves (to not get in the way of listening) and are willing to stop and listen to our whole, to listen to our intuition, then the answers to our “tough” questions start to become clear.

They are no longer tough.
Now, it’s just a matter of bringing the future into life.

That at least has been my experience with many of my examples above.
At a certain point, the answer was clear. Maybe it wasn’t easy, but it was clear how to proceed, what path to take.

I haven’t yet perceived the answer to having kids or exactly what I want to do with my career.

But, I’m not forcing a mental solution to these tough decisions. Instead, I’m paying attention to my whole. I’m listening.
Based on experience, I know the answers will become clear.

What are your thoughts on this?
How do you handle tough decisions?

#CourageouslyListening

 Check out what we're up to now!