How often have you agonised over a decision?
You want to make the ‘right’ decision but no matter how you try, you can’t seem to figure out what that is.
Friends tell you either “go with your gut” or “think about this rationally”.
So how are you supposed to make the best decision – head or heart?
Apparently there’s an answer.
For big decisions heart or gut decisions are often best. There’s too much information to process at once so listening to your intuitive brain is often more reliable (it processes much more information much much faster than your rational brain).
For small decisions like which dishwasher to buy you’re better off using your rational brain which will weigh up the pros and cons. I’m not sure how emotional you would be about a dishwasher anyway.
Sometimes we don’t like to trust our heart. It can seem too unreliable. Too fickle. And we’re often told to value our head over our heart. So here are some ways to use both.
- Get into some stream of consciousness writing. Write, don’t think. Then put it away for at least 3 days. Either have someone else read it or read it yourself and see which decision you favour. You bypass your rational brain in the writing but can still use it in the final stage.
- Toss a coin: Assign each choice to a side. Before you check out the result focus in on your emotions. Which would you prefer the toss to show? Monitor how you feel if it doesn’t go that way. Is there a tinge of disappointment? Then the other decision is the one you want.
- Write your goals, choices, and consequences. Really go into the detail like you would if you were making a rational decision. Then go with what your gut says. That way you’ve used both parts of your brain.
- Remember that every decision you make means losing something else. That’s often the feeling we have when we’re worrying over making the right decision. Rather than focus on the loss, go with an intuitive decision and then use your rational brain to focus on the gains of that decision.
So.. happy decision making
