Are you someone who cannot make up his or her mind? Are you someone who has no clue how to take decisions? Do you keep wondering why you are so indecisive? Well, you walked into the right post!
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Today, we will tell you why some people find it so difficult to take decisions even if they are minor choices. We will also tell about the personality traits of such people, who have no clue why they are so indecisive.
Suggested read: #TooManyChoices 5 Decision Making Hacks For The Indecisive Bride
The inability to take decisions should not be taken lightly. Being indecisive can put you through some serious problems. You might end up picking the wrong choice, without analyzing the available options, or you might start depending on others to take your decisions. That might even cause a Dependent Personality Disorder in you. To understand indecisiveness better, we need to first look at the reasons why someone is indecisive.
Making choices for yourself, choices that are aligned to your moral values, beliefs, and help you inch closer to your dreams and ambitions, is crucial. If taking decisions, no matter how minor, is becoming an issue for you, then you need to look into this ASAP, before things get out of hand. You cannot always depend on someone else to make your decisions. Yes, you can seek help and advice, but at the end of the day, the trigger has to be pulled by you.
As you grow older, you will have to make more decisions, and yes, you have to make them on your own. As we said, you can seek suggestion and advice from your parents, family, significant other, and friends, but you will be the one making the ultimate decision. If you don’t charge of your life, someone else will slip into the front seat and steer your life the way they want. And if this person does not want good things to happen to you, you know what kind of a ride you are in for!
Why do some people not know how to take decisions?
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Do you keep asking yourself why you are so indecisive? Is the inability to take decisions making your work life a living hell? Well, this isn’t the end of the world. Yes, you are having issues, but understanding why you find it difficult to take decisions, will in turn, help you take charge of your life.
Here are some traits of people who are indecisive.
1. It’s always someone else taking the decisions for you
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Do your parents take decisions for you? Or is it your partner that you rely on completely to make choices for you? Well, this is a problem. As you grow older, you will become very dependent on these people, and if and when they aren’t around, you will go through a crisis. Want to prepare for that crisis? Start taking your own calls!
2. You are constantly bugged by what people think of you
Constantly worrying about what others think of you, will only contribute negatively to your indecisive nature. It will make it harder for you to decide. If you want to ensure that no one makes fun of your decisions or the consequences of those decisions, then you will never be happy, because there will always be people who’ll judge. That shouldn’t stop you from taking your decisions.
3. Anxiety is your best friend
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I have anxiety, and so, I know how hard it is to take decisions for someone with anxiety. This disorder makes a person indecisive and even scared of taking decisions. It will make you predict the outcomes of your choices and mull over them for a long long time, puzzling you further. If this is your problem, then you need to seek professional help.
4. Disappointing people close to you is a major worry
People who care a lot about others, find it difficult to take decisions. They evaluate their choices not in terms of what suits them, but what shouldn’t hurt the other person. And since there are so many this person is considering while taking the decision, that he or she can never come to a conclusion. Stop letting other people’s judgments stop you from doing what is right for you.
5. You suck at taking decisions
This can be a very big demotivating factor. If your decisions in the past have led you down horrible trails before, then you will be discouraged to take a call. But remember, you cannot always control everything happening in your life, because they are numerous external factors involved, which are not under your grip. You need to learn from the mistakes you have made, and apply those learnings while taking new decisions.
6. You don’t want to hurt people
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Yes, we are reiterating a point, but that only serves to emphasize how much indecisive people worry about hurting other people. It is the main reason why they are so indecisive. You need to learn how to say NO, and how to be a little selfish some times.
7. Overthinking is your thing
Do you overanalyze every single thing? Do you sit down, think about a situation, picture the outcomes in your mind, and rethink a million times? You are overthinking it, and that is not going to help at all. To take decisions, you need to simplify your process of decision making. Overthinking has no place in this course.
8. You don’t weigh your options practically
To take decisions, and importantly, to take better decisions, you need to weigh your options more realistically. If you don’t do that, you end result is likely to be biased and wrong. You need to look at the situation as it is and not what you would like it to be. Be honest with yourself.
Suggested read: Why Love Is A Choice You Need To Make Consciously And With Your Eyes Wide Open
How to make deciding a lot easier
So now that you skimmed through the traits of an indecisive person, do you think you fall into the category? Are you having a hard time to decide? Well then, you are indecisive! 😀
The next section will help you with how you can muster the strength to take your own decisions the next time you are faced with life choices.
1. Make a list of pros and cons
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Every situation is an opportunity, and so you need to practically think about the pros and cons involved. Once you have accurately thought about both sides of each choice, the best choice will reveal itself as an obvious decision. Try to make this practice while confronted by even minor decisions. That way, this will become a habit, and improve your decision-making skills.
2. Visualize possible results of your choices
Take some time out, remove yourself from everything, and think about the consequences of the choices. Think about which one of the options is aligned with your moral values and beliefs. Which one will help you achieve your goals? When you think about these things, the decision will become obvious to you.
3. Think about which decision is best for you, but will not hurt the people involved
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Yes, you need to think about other people, but only if they or their life is involved and gets affected by your decision. You need not think about what people not involved think about your decision or if they make fun of it.
4. It is not possible to please everyone
People pleasing is a worthless job; also, no one pays you for it, so why do it, right? You will never be able to please everybody; it is a futile task, and so think about how the decision affects you, and then go for it.
5. Trust your gut feeling
Your intuition will guide you. Once you have practically analyzed your options, weighed the pros and cons, and thought about the consequences, you need to rely on your gut feeling to help you take the right decision.
Following these points should help you with your query on how to take decisions. If you are still a little confused, read what Deepak Chopra has to say,
“If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.
The universe has no fixed agenda. Once you make any decision, it works around that decision. There is no right or wrong, only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action that you experience.
If this sounds too mystical, refer again to the body. Every significant vital sign- body temperature, heart rate, oxygen consumption, hormone level, brain activity, and so on- alters the moment you decide to do anything… decisions are signals telling your body, mind, and environment to move in a certain direction.”
― Deepak Chopra, The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life
Suggested read: Happiness Is A Choice – You Need To Make It Every Day
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Featured image source: Pixabay under Creative Commons License
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