Creative professionals are trained to see multiple solutions to problems. Sometimes this vision gets ... [+]
In these tenuous times of economic upheaval, pandemic recovery and social unrest, making big decisions might feel intimidating. Decision making seems to need more reflection as many people take a deeper look at big life decisions.
The current environment might be especially daunting for creative professionals, who are trained to cultivate big-picture thinking and imagine numerous possibilities. It’s exactly that vision that can hold them back. But making better and faster decisions can level up a creative career by cultivating a stronger bias toward action.
Enter decision coach Nell Wulfhart, who serves up one offering: one session – and one session only – to help people make important decisions. Why a decision coach instead of seeking advice from your closest confidants?
“I bring perspective, plus a little tough love,” she says. “After a single session people can move on in their lives with confidence.” In short, Wulfhart brings an end to the ruminating.
That ruminating holding us back might look like research. We go three pages deep on Google. We seek advice from all the friends and family. But all that research might not identify every variable, and loved ones may have an interest in swaying you one way or the other.
Wulfhart ‘s technique is to ask clarifying questions, tell it to you straight and guide you with perspective that can get you on your way. In the decision coaching process she uses with clients, Wulfhart begins by helping them identify the foundation of what’s important:
First, articulate your values. Wulfhart begins by asking about values. What’s important to you? Living with a view of mountains? Working with your dog at your feet? Presenting to clients frequently enough to justify your investment in spiffy blazers and stilettos? These all count.
Next, visualize the future you. Do you see yourself leading a creative team? Writing the authoritative book about newfangled widgets? Foraging for exotic mushrooms and selling them at the farmers’ market? Your vision of the future you will help channel your energy in the right direction.
With clarity on your vision and values, Wulfhart helps you examine what’s holding you back and craft a strategy to move forward. She’ll give you specific advice to move you to action.
Step it up. “Most people spend way too much time deciding. I love a pro and con list, but too much wheel spinning is a waste of time and energy,” said Wulfhart. She proposes that the first decision is usually the best, and that the swirl of examining options is just a form of procrastination.
“Reading one more research article is probably not going to give you information that will cause a major change in direction,” she said. She adds that people tend to stick with things long after they serve us. In other words, accept the job offer and try something new.
Beware the cost of waiting. “Lost opportunity costs mean you might miss out on a year’s worth of a salary increase, or the a summer enjoying your new home,” said Wulfhart. And understand that some things are simply “not knowable.” You won’t know exactly what will happen with the stock market, or when you’ll fall in love. Or whether your current company will make a significant pivot.
Look at what’s holding you back. Many people hesitate about a decision because they worry about what people will think of them. Will my friends judge me because I left finance to study animals and work at a zoo? Will my parents be disappointed if I got through law school but I really want to be a designer?
“To make the best decision, people need to look inward rather than out,” said Wulfhart. She says that people postpone decisions because they fear what other people will think of them, “but people are not thinking about you as much as you think they are,” she adds.
Realize that most things can be undone. If you switch careers and don’t like it, chances are you can go back to your previous career, or find another one. If you move to a city and find you don’t like it, it’s not impossible to move again. Understanding this will make a big decision less daunting.
Streamline other decisions to avoid decision fatigue. When contemplating a big decision, reduce everyday decisions as best you can. There’s a reason that capsule wardrobes are big, and not just because the pandemic gave us time to declutter. Steve Jobs famously stuck with black mock turtleneck and Barack Obama only wore grey or navy suits. Fewer choices gives your brain more room to think about more important things. Go ahead and eat the same thing for lunch every day, for just a while, to free up some brain space by putting things on automatic.
Pick the intriguing choice. In Dorie Clark’s The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, she writes that we should “optimize for interesting.” When faced with a choice, pick the one that sound most intriguing.
So just decide already. Go ahead and do the big thing. Make the bolder choice. The risk is usually lower than you think. Remember the wise words attributed to Goethe, Basil King and actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, “be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.”
