Understanding & Overcoming Indecisiveness: STUCK at the Crossroads
Have you ever found yourself STUCK in an exhausting loop of ‘Should I or Shouldn’t I?’
Whether it’s a small daily choice or a big life decision, chronic indecisiveness (indecision) can quietly or not so quietly, sabotage your time, your confidence and your goals and intentions.
As a life coach, mindset coach and hypnotherapist, I see how indecisiveness is more than just ‘being bad’ at making decisions. It’s often a symptom of deeper subconscious blocks that can absolutely be shifted.
Let’s explore why indecisiveness (indecision) occurs, what it costs us and how neuroscience and mindset work can help us break free.
What Causes INDECISIVENESS?
1)Perfectionism:
With you thinking that you have to make the ‘perfect choice,’ you can feel like you’re in a trap. Perfectionism often freezes decision-making because it’s demanding more certainty than real life can ever offer. As is often stated, ‘Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.’
2)Fear of Failure or Regret:
Many folks avoid deciding because they’re afraid of making the “wrong” choice. This fear is rooted in survival instincts; our brain seeks safety in the familiar and perceives uncertainty as a threat. This is why any type of change will cause discomfort. You must learn to feel it and walk through it.
REMINDER:
The primary job of your brain/mind is to help you to survive and to keep you safe. To your brain/mind, survival=familiarity.
3)Overwhelm & Cognitive Overload:
Though I don’t like using the word ‘overwhelm,’ (our subconscious hears us) it’s important to say that many people do feel it. Cognitive overload has become a big issue in recent years because of the proliferation of social media, multiple sources of information and increased expectations due to these.
When you have too many options, you may experience mental paralysis and analysis paralysis.
When your brain is bombarded with so many possibilities, it basically short-circuits. This is where neuroscience helps us to understand the limits of our working memory.
4)Learned Helplessness or Past Trauma:
If you’ve been criticized or punished for past decisions, you may subconsciously believe you ‘can’t trust yourself.’ This is not uncommon particularly if you have a history of trauma which many of us do.
Mindset work and Hypnosis help you uncover these subconscious beliefs and start changing them.
The HIDDEN COSTS of INDECISIVENESS
-Emotional EXHAUSTION: decision fatigue can help lead to stress, anxiety and shame (read prior blog posts on Shame).
-Drains your TIME: minutes of weighing options, trying to narrow them down…………and analysis paralysis, can turn into hours which turn into days and into weeks spent ‘thinking about it.’ You want to ‘feel’ first in your body, and your mind will follow suit. Mindset coaching helps teach you about Mind & Self-Mastery.
-Diminished CONFIDENCE: over time, indecision creates a loop of self-doubt: “I’m just not good at making choices.” This is not true. It’s a skill you can learn even if you were conditioned differently.
-Missed OPPORTUNITIES: Let’s say that you stall. The job goes to someone else. The relationship fades.
It’s important to realize that whatever decision you make is the ‘right’ decision. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, you learned what you don’t like or want and you learn and develop personal growth.
What Can YOU DO About It?
Here’s where the power of coaching and neuroplasticity comes in. Neuroplasticity is the ability of our brains to change. Our brains are malleable.
Your brain can learn a new way(s) to decide. You can rewire old patterns and build new, healthier and more empowered habits.
1)MINDSET coaching
A skilled Mindset Coach helps you identify your limiting beliefs, like “I’m not ready,” or “I’ll mess it up,” and helps you to learn how to reframe and replace them with empowered thinking and behaviors. This creates clarity and action, which are necessary.
2)HYPNOSIS & Subconscious Reprogramming
As a hypnotherapist (hypnotist), I use hypnosis to help bypass conscious resistance and speak directly to the subconscious, where fear-based patterns live. The theta brain wave state of a hypnotic trance allows your mind to become more open and more suggestible to post-hypnotic, positive suggestions.
Clients often find themselves making clearer decisions without even knowing it (consciously), simply because we removed the blocks at the root.
3)NEUROSCIENCE TOOLS & Daily PRACTICE
-Automatic WRITING and DECISION journaling: you can track small decisions and their outcomes. This builds trust in yourself. Then you can build to larger decisions.
-Be TIME specific: this is part of making and achieving a goal. Give yourself a time limit to decide. Your brain works better under healthy constraints.
-SCRIPTING & Visualizing Your FUTURE SELF: Use visualization and hypnosis to connect to your decisive, grounded future self. This creates a NEURAL model for action. New neural pathways develop and new thought and belief patterns develop.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Decision-making is a SKILL, not a trait!
You were not born indecisive. You learned it. Which means---------you can UNLEARN it.
Whether your indecisiveness is costing you your peace, purpose or progress, there are powerful tools to help. With the right mindset work, neuroscience-based coaching, brain/mind & body connecting and subconscious healing, ie: hypnosis, you can stop second-guessing and start leading your life with clarity and confidence.
Ready to become the version of you who trusts your gut (intuition) and takes aligned action?
Let’s work together. As a Life and Mindset coach/hypnotherapist, I’ll help you reconnect with your inner authority so you can make decisions from a place of power (inner power), not fear.
BOOK a Clarity session today@ www.gigiarnaud.com
…….and let’s get you UNSTUCK.
With smiles & love,
Dr Gigi
PS: Let me know if you’d like to do a deeper dive into how hypnosis changes indecision patterns in the brain. Be in touch @