Making important decisions is very difficult. The hardest part is trying to anticipate what it will be like and how you will feel once the decision is made. The problem is that anticipating how you will feel is nearly impossible.
How many times have you made a decision, and once you started to live with it, you realized you made the wrong choice? You couldn’t predict any feelings you’d have after living with the decision.
There is a way to bring your mind and emotions to that place before deciding. Best-selling inspirational author Alan Cohen
When deciding between two choices, you emotionally commit to either and flip a coin. Heads might be choice A and tails choice B. Now, here’s the key. You observe how you “feel” about the outcome – heads or tails. For example, maybe you’re thinking about moving to a new city. You’ve decided that heads mean you go and tails mean you stay. If you flip the coin, it comes up heads, and you feel bad then maybe it’s the wrong choice to move. If you flip the coin, it comes up tails, and you feel bad; maybe moving is the right choice. If you flip the coin, it comes up heads, and you feel exhilaration and relief, then maybe moving is the best choice.
Here’s what’s going on. By doing this exercise, you’re taking your mind and emotions to where you’d be after your apartment has been rented or your house has been sold. The result of the coin toss simulates how your mind and emotions will react once you’re locked into a decision. At this point, your brain goes to full power in figuring out if it’s the right choice and how to carry it out. Your brain will signal you to go full steam ahead, abort, or adjust.
Try this coin toss technique. It might save you from passing up great opportunities and going forward with choices that are a bad fit for you.