Do You Waffle? The Power of Being Decisive

Are you one of those people who feels you need lots of time to make a decision?

You don’t, actually.

Waffling, or delaying a decision to “give me time to think about it” is one of 3 things:

3. You need more information.

2. You’re not clear within yourself.

1. You’re stalling.

A would-be entrepreneur, Cal, talked with me recently about a significant decision he had to make. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He kept adding in new choices. He wanted more time to think about it.

Cal’s situation plagues every would-be and unsuccessful entrepreneur.

Every bad decision I’ve ever made has been because I haven’t gotten enough information, I didn’t get clear about what my own wisdom was telling me, and/or I was scared and didn’t address the real source of my fear.

Fortunately, I’ve come up with a different way to look at decision-making that lets me get past all that, and in this article, I’m sharing it with you.

We all wrestle with being indecisive from time to time. When it pops up, address it promptly. It’s holding you back from the work and life you want.

Here’s what you can do to make your decision and move on:

3. When you need more information to make a good choice, get it. Do so as quickly as you can. This one is usually easy to address. Get the information you need. Do the research. Talk to whomever you need to talk to, so you can make an informed choice. Do it now.

The more time you spend in indecision, the less powerful you become. It saps your energy. Energy that could be spent on your very important mission, your impact.

2. When you’re not clear, find clarity by whatever means necessary. You have a great wisdom within you. You actually do know what to do. It’s confidence in that inner decisiveness that you need. What is that inner wisdom telling you to do about this decision?

Nobody else can make the choice for you. Sorry. This is not a ‘pass’ situation. It never is. You will always be your best source of clarity.

So do what you need to do to tap into that clarity. Become self-aware. Here’s a simple process that will often be enough. Settle into where you are. If you’re sitting, really ground yourself in your chair. If you’re standing, plant your feet. Connect to what holds you. Then take a breath in to a count of 4, hold it to a count of 4, exhale to a count of 4, and repeat. Now, what’s your decision? You can have confidence in that.

1. You’re scared to make a decision. You’re scared you’ll make the wrong decision. One symptom of this is that you keep adding options. And as a result, you start to feel even more unsure.

Find out what you’re really afraid of. It’s usually not the decision you’re facing that’s the dragon.

Here’s a quick and fun process to define the dragon:

Picture you, the hero of our story. You’re on a mission, and you have an urgency to find the way. What are you wearing? What’s around you? Now the dragon comes on the scene, blocking your path. What does it look like? Oh, wait, it’s wearing a name tag (you know, one of those sticky ones with the colored border). You can’t quite read it yet.

You step closer, and the words become clear. What do they say? Now you know what you’re facing. Suddenly, right next to you, is the perfect weapon that will slay the dragon, and address the fear. What is it? What does it look like? Now, wield it. Use it to step through your fear and continue on your mission.

This may seem fanciful, but it’s actually quite powerful. We’re deeply tapped into this fairy tale story. The hero, the foe, the trial, the hero victorious. It goes way back, and resonates with us deeply. Stepping in to see what’s written on the name tag is symbolic of facing your fear, finding out about it. Use this process to do a quick check-in on your fears.

Of course, some fears need a little more work. If so, find the support and help you need to work through those.

Most of us, though, can make tidy work of the usual suspects. You’ve seen this fear before. You’ve had success in your life, right? That means you’ve been able to go through this fear to where you want to go.

I am not advocating hasty decisions without the information and clarity you need to make the best choice.

What I am advocating is that you not let “I need more time” stand in your way. I’m advocating that you do what’s necessary to get clear, and quickly.

You can only ever make decisions from where you are. Waiting for that wonderful day when your decision descends from a cloud and lands on you, bestowing supreme clarity, is rare. Even then, it’s because you have enough information, you’re clear, and you have faced your fears. You have to work for it.

The work is dependent on what is holding you back from making the decision.

Nothing is perfect. Better a decision than a delay.

Lack of information? Get it.

Lack of clarity? Do whatever it takes to get grounded in yourself. You know what you want to do.

Scared? Find out what you’re afraid of, and address that.

Even if the decision is, ‘No, not now’, that’s still a choice and you can set the whole thing aside. You can put your energy where it counts, instead of this unresolved decision floating around in your psyche.

Being decisive is essential to being a successful entrepreneur. And you do get better with practice.

Now is always the best time to develop your skills. So what do you need to decide? Make your decision, and get back to what calls you.

 

The best conversations can take place in the comments – jump on in and share.

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Here’s your Alchemy Assignment, your chance to transform what you learned in this article into awareness and action for you and your business:

What decision are you facing right now? As entrepreneurs, we make decisions every day, so I know you have at least one in front of you! Go through the process in the article. Do I have enough information? How can I get clear? Writing down processes that help you do that is a great idea. It might be the breathing exercise in the article. It might be meditation. It might be a walk in the woods. Do what works for you. And finally, is there any fear that’s holding me back? Get to know it. And then make your choice. I know it’ll be the right one, for you, right now.