An Easy Decision Making Tool: Toss A Coin

How do you make a decision? Do you weigh up the options carefully, plumping for the safest, cheapest, easiest, most sensible? Do you worry endlessly about consequences and never make a decision at all? Or do you jump in and make a decision and worry about the consequences later?

For many years I have tried (and failed!) to do the first of these – and do the ‘right’ thing. The problem is, the ‘right’ thing is often the ‘wrong’ thing for me. The sensible decision is usually the one decision which will stifle my spirit, bore me to tears or keep me in a situation I hate. And I like flying by the seat of my pants – it’s far easier than all this pros and cons bull. I now toss a coin to help me decide.

For someone who has been known to be indecisive on occasion it is marvellous…and rarely wrong. The simplicity of a coin toss appeals to me because it is quick, easy and relatively uncomplicated – no evidence gathering, no researching, no discussing, just a flip and there you have it – a decision! And I don’t just mean for small decisions, like pizza or pasta? I have decided whether to buy a house, go to Australia for a year, leave my job to start my own business, and buy a car…all on the toss of a coin.

I can see some of you twitching at the very idea of this – not exactly scientific, responsible or sensible, right? Correct! I’ll tell you what it does do though, it focuses you very quickly on what YOU want. Imagine you wanted to decide whether to look for a new job, you toss a coin and it comes up tails…stay at your current job.

Your stomach sinks, you stare at the coin and think…best of 3! Then best of 5, best of 7, best of 9, best of 73. You see, I’m not suggesting you take the advice of the coin! Merely flipping the coin will give you an indication of what it is you want – in the above example, you want to leave the job. Deep down, the decision is already made but your conscious mind is getting in the way with the endless pro’s and con’s of making a decision.

By tossing a coin, you can find out very quickly what it is you really want. Many years ago I was trying to decide whether to buy a house. Every signpost pointed to yes – it was the done thing, the sensible thing, an investment blah blah blah. Even the coin toss agreed, I should go for it.

But I carried on flipping that coin for 10 minutes, wanting tails to come up. Suddenly I realised there was one overwhelmingly good reason for me not to buy a house. I didn’t want to. If I had, I would have doubled my money by now. I don’t regret it for a second. The coin was wrong, but it did tell me what I really wanted. What does the toss of a coin tell you?

- Something to Play With -

Take a decision you have been struggling with, and toss a coin…what does the coin toss tell you? (note how you feel, not if it’s heads or tails!) For the next week, try this method of decision making – get in touch with your intuitive leanings and quit wasting time endlessly weighing up the pros and cons! Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave a comment here or pop over to my facebook page and leave a comment there.

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If It Is Not A Definite ‘Yes’

I’ve been thinking about doing something for a while now – an oppotunity that I like the sound of, and have put off before for a few months. Then a new opportunity presented itself to me today, which is not as convenient, not as clear-cut as the other…but I find myself pondering ways I can rearrange my schedule so that I CAN take advantage of this. Which reminded me of a rule I (usually) live my life by:

If it’s not a definite ‘yes’, then it’s a no for now

See, we often berate ourselves for not doing something we ’should’ do…but the truth is that if it was a definite ‘yes’, we would do it. So rather than wasting time umming and ahing over decisions you are not 100% certain of, live your life by this rule. If it’s not a definite yes, then it’s a no for now. Tomorrow your decision may be a definite yes. But for today if it’s not a definite yes, then it’s a no for now.

Imagine how much time we would save by not dithering, mithering, worrying, obsessing over our decisions if we lived by that simple rule.

Love

Donna.x

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OnTheBeach – Start As You Mean To Go On

Start As You Mean to Go On

I woke up this year optimistic, feeling that life is brimming with possibilities, looking forward to the future and bubbling with ideas. I am looking forward to 2009. Louise Hay (see this month’s recommendation) says that we should make the decision every year that THIS year will be the best year of our lives. And for the last 10 years, I have been working up to that decision. Before that, I would look at the year gone by and weakly hope that this next year would somehow magically improve.

Bizarrely enough, until I actually started to make some changes and make decisions about what I wanted from life, life didn’t magically change. It took a decision that I wouldn’t live that way any more, that I would ‘do something’ to make life different. So I threw out the old ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ and started to plan my life, set intentions for my life, let myself dream about how life could be.

I’ve often had to work at feeling optimistic as I’d spent at least 15 years turning myself into a dyed in the wool pessimist, but this year the optimism bubbled through with the dawning of a New Year. I had started how I fully intend to continue the year. Did your year start as you would like it to continue? Or do you want to make a decision now to make this the best year of your life so far, and take action today to start as you mean to go on in 2009?

On New Year’s Day, I put a poem on the blog – I Promise Myself by Christian D Larsen – go and read it if you haven’t already. Copy and paste the text, print it out and put it up on your wall. I have. It says everything about how I want to spend this year. For today, I will just pull out the one line “To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.” As my optimism was there waiting for me on the 1^st, I think I owe it to do my best to make it come true.

You may not be feeling the joys of a New Year, after all it’s cold, it’s dark (in my hemisphere anyway), you may be broke after Christmas. But you do have a whole New Year stretching out ahead of you, where you can either weakly hope that someone will wave a magic wand over your life, or you can grab hold of that wand and cast a spell over your own life. Start 2009 as you mean to continue it – and I wish you all the love, luck and laughter you deserve this year.

Something to play with

Every moment is a chance to begin something new – if you were to start this year as you mean to go on, what will you do today to make your life amazing?

Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave me a comment below.

A note from Donna

I hope you guys had a lovely holiday, and are feeling refreshed and ready for a New Year. I have, of course, had far too much to eat, watched far too much TV and although my brain is raring to go, my body is still in hibernation mode. Maybe I’ll fool it this time next year with a trip to Sydney for the New Year fireworks? Anyway, I wish you all the joy you can pack into this year, and I’m looking forward to hearing what you’re up to in the coming months and sharing what I am up to.

One thing I have decided is that the Christmas 20% off offer will continue until the end of this week, so if you have been thinking about getting coaching with me, now’s the time! Go to http://www.donnaonthebeach.com/blog/index.php/2008/12/18/festive-coaching-offer/ for more details.

And lastly, you can now follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/donnaonthebeach – I am trying to get my head around tweeting, so fellow Tweeters come and find me and show me round. Thanks a million!

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