Is there a work-related decision that keeps nagging you? Do you feel stuck and not sure why you are unable to take the necessary steps to get off the dime?
Not a work week goes by that I don't hear clients describe some type of indecision that keeps them up at night or plagues them during the day. Indecision occurs for many reasons, with the most common linked to stress or fear.
When you are overly stressed, you might experience an array of physiological and emotional effects. From confusion, constant worry or a racing mind, to feeling overwhelmed, apathetic and helpless, the impact of stress directly impedes your ability to make decisions or focus clearly on difficult matters that demand your attention.
Just when you think stress must be the culprit in your indecisiveness, you might also consider how fear plays a part. Fear, as a co-conspirator in indecision, has you obsess about worst case scenarios associated with your decision that reflect all that you don't want to happen. Fear grabs your attention, and sets up a physical and emotional response of fight or flight, as though what you were imagining was actually true.
With stress and fear at work, it's next to impossible to think clearly enough to resolve difficult issues.
Your way out of indecision may not be to face into the issue, but to look in another direction and lessen the factors that are setting up barriers. For example, you might engage in a simple activity that has a calming effect on you, or one that takes you out of your day to day responsibilities, even for an hour or two. A walk in nature can immediately help restore balance by reducing stress.
When fear controls your thoughts, you are caught up in a future scenario that has not yet happened and you respond as though it was your current reality. Recognizing this phenomenon at work is the first step to gaining control over your fear. It's important to breathe deeply as you begin to refocus your thoughts on the outcome you want.
It may take discipline to resist the overactivity that leads to stress or those worrisome ideas that keep you in fear. But, the satisfaction from making a decision should make the effort all worthwhile.
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