How to Follow Your Gut and Make Decisions

​Ever feel torn, confused, and overwhelmed when making decisions? 

What’s the best use of your time? 
Which test prep program will you embark on?
Will you prep for the SAT or ACT? 

While there’s an element of analysis and logic to making decisions such as these, there’s also a point at which further analysis won’t bring you additional clarity. 

To be productive, you must make a decision. 
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People often give the advice “follow your gut,” but when you feel stressed or overwhelmed, it can be hard to tell what your gut is saying. There are, however, steps you can take to clarify what your gut is trying to tell you so that you can move forward with confidence.

Meditation

Meditation sets the foundation for a lifetime of intuitive decision making. Every time you meditate, you clear away the stress that keeps you from thinking clearly and hearing your intuition. Then, as you go out and live your life, you’ll automatically be connected to what your gut is telling you to do. 

Even if you don’t meditate frequently, you can still use meditation as a tool for honing in on what your gut is saying. Give yourself a 5-10 minute meditation, and then revisit the question.

Not sure how to get started with meditation? I offer instructions for an easy, effective meditation in Acing It! A Mindful Guide to Maximum Results on Your College Admissions Test.

Body Awareness
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Take a deep breath, then ask yourself, “How does my body feel when I think about ___?” Does it feel tight, anxious, or rigid? Does it feel open, relaxed, or energized? If you are choosing between options A and B, which option literally feels better?

Do Something… Else

Don’t just sit around mulling over your decision. Live your life!

Don’t try to think about the issue. Don’t try to avoid thinking about the issue.

Chances are, your mind will naturally wander back to the decision every now and then. When your mind revisits the matter, what is “its” stance?

For example, when choosing Acing It!’s cover designer, I had a few great options. Instead of sitting around staring at the designers’ portfolios, I stepped away from the question. Over the next few days, my mind kept coming back to one of the portfolios. I then decided to hire the designer of that portfolio—stepping away from having to make the decision allowed me to make it with much more ease.

Going for a walk or a run is a great “do something else” activity. You might wind up with your answer sooner than you’d expect!

Flip a Coin

When you have a few good options (and let’s presume you do, because if an option were obviously terrible, you already would have eliminated it), sometimes all it takes is a coin flip—which is really just a way of forcing yourself to choose one option and see how it feels.

Do you feel relieved, excited, or simply okay about moving forward with that option? Decision made.

Do you feel regret or disappointment? Go with the other option.

If you aren’t clear about your instinctive response to the coin flip, do something else, but live as if your decision has been made. How does it feel when you spontaneously think to yourself, “Okay. I’m going to do ___.”

Accept the Uncertainty

The thing is… you won’t always feel 100% confident in your decisions.

​You’ve had to make big or small uncomfortable decisions before. Many of those decisions probably worked out well—maybe well enough that you don’t recall how challenging or ambiguous the decision was at the time.

As for the decisions that didn’t seem to work out as well—so long as you learned from the experience, adapted, and kept going—turns out, they worked out okay, too.

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​If you are interested in setting up a complimentary consultation for an Test Prep or Mindset Coaching package, be in touch.​

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