Decisions, decisions, decisions . . .
Sometimes the decision is simple and there are only two choices – left or right at a tee in the road, up or down in the elevator.
More often they are not: Should I look for a new job? Should we move closer to our parents? Should I go back to school? When we simplify multi-dimensional life decisions into a left/right, up/down type inquiry we put ourselves on a teeter-totter of indecision and frustration – in motion but not going anywhere. We are gripped in the tyranny of the “or”.
You know what I mean. On a teeter-totter you can only go up and down, pro, con, either, or, yes, no – all the while staying in one place balanced on an immovable fulcrum. Isn’t that how it feels when we are stumped by an important decision? We make lists of pros and cons, prioritize them, and hope that an answer will pop off the page. Instead, we ride up and down the list still no closer to an answer.
How do we get off the teeter-totter? By expanding our options. It may sound crazy but creating more choices busts up our seesaw thinking and opens our minds to the bigger picture.
Next time you are stuck on the teeter totter play the 5 options game. Write down 5 different options for actions you could take. You have two already – the either/or choices sitting on the ends of the teeter totter. Come up with three more options. If something sounds silly or impossible, write it down anyway – these are the seeds of possibility.
Once you have five options, spend some time with your new list of choices. Are there any appealing ones? How can you mix elements of several to get a better choice? Does something completely new come to mind? How does it feel to be off the teeter totter?
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