Are you indecisive?
Plus, the gremlins getting between you and greatness.
Hi everyone,
This week I tackled a topic close to my heart – those gremlin-like inner critics that stop us from getting where we need to go. I’ve also included some hacks to help us silence them and spring into action when we need to make a decision. Enjoy!
Try This
Some hacks for shorter, sharper decision-making.
We make 35,000 decisions a day. Think about a trip away that threw your routine out of kilter. Pretty tiring, right? The extra decision fatigue weighs heavily.
Here are 3 habits you can adopt to short-circuit indecision:
The Challenger
If you can’t choose, pick the hardest option.
Based on last week’s lizard brain article, we know this approach often leads us down the right path, but we talk ourselves out of it and down the path of least resistance.
The “No Means No”
If you can’t decide, the answer is no.
As a “yes” person, I was sceptical of this one. I reflected on major life decisions where I’ve chosen “no” and realised those decisions involved a lot more agonising hesitation than the yes ones.
The yes decisions were easy, clear-cut, gut-decisions. “No” takes confidence, and making it our default response to hesitation might create more happiness.
The “No Ragrets”
If you can’t decide, make the decision on behalf of your future self.
This is especially helpful for fighting “food fog” when faced with a menu. Thinking about future you’s comfort and happiness levels might create clarity in a “should-I-get-fries-with-my-pasta?” moment. You don’t enjoy fries with pasta?! Ok, never mind.
Thank you to Substack writer Gurwinder for inspiring these.
Ask This
The #1 conversation killer at any networking event? According to legendary communicator Leil Lowndes, it’s the famous “So, what do you do?” Here are some creative alternatives:
Tell me how you love to spend time.
What are you looking forward to right now?
What’s gone well for you so far this week?
These are crafted to help the person steer the conversation to a positive topic that fires them up. Fertile ground for relationship-building. 🔥
Read This
The Gremlins Between You and Greatness
We talk about the “inner critic” as one force, but psychologists have identified there’s actually a whole army of them, behaving in very different ways. Use this article to identify which kinds of inner critics sabotage you and how you can catch them in the act.
Are you more people-pleaser or perfectionist? Controller or task master? For me, the perfectionist is in early retirement while the task master is busy building a mini empire in my mind.
Listen to This
Sharing a set I’ve listened to many, many times this year. I absolutely love the touch of 90s house he brings to his style.
The +1
We don’t give ourselves enough credit for starting things and sticking with them. Skill develops over time.
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
– Zig Ziglar
What have you put off starting? Could this week be the beginning?