How do you make decisions?

There’s a decision you have to make.

Maybe it’s whether to leave a toxic job, take on a freelance project, or ask your employer to let you be fully remote.

You play out each scenario. Come up with pros and cons. You reach out to people in your network to pick their brains. Scroll social media to try and find answers.

And all you can think about is…

  • We’re in a shaky economy, so I should ride it out at this job for another year. 

  • If I take a side freelance project, I’ll suck at my 9-5 and get let go. I can’t lose my benefits, so I better ask for more work to show my commitment.

  • No one is remote, so I shouldn’t entertain it. They will deny my request and find my replacement.

FIVE months have passed, and you’re in the SAME spot – frustrated, unmotivated, and stuck.

Sound familiar?

You likely use fear-based decision-making.

It’s when decisions are made based on being afraid of a possible outcome. These decisions add up and snowball into a cycle of being overworked, burned out, and inability to move forward.

Certain groups women, BIPOC, working-class, introverts, etc. are more PRONE to fear-based decision-making. WHY? Because there’s more to lose. Generational trauma, historical setbacks, bigger risks, and more eyes on us judging our every move.

So we let FEAR drive our decisions.

People of privilege — have larger safety nets to fall back on, such as social acceptance, social capital, generational wealth, or family connections.

They are set up to be more opportunistic. They can be more rational and creative with their decisions. They take action. And if things don’t go as planned, they can more comfortably iterate. 

And this is exactly what sets successful people apart.

Successful people can turn thoughts into action quickly rather than overthink, worry, or allow fear to drive their decisions.

It’s no secret nepotism runs the world, the rich keep getting richer, and white men make up 70% of leadership and 90% of VC-backed founders in the US. It’s frustrating AF!

But let’s channel that energy in a useful way and snag a page out of their playbook instead.

Because there’s good news —

ANYONE can rewrite their beliefs. And ANYONE can adopt new habits, including decision-making. Your beliefs dictate your decision-making (your actions/inactions). Your decisions dictate your outcome (your success).

By ditching old beliefs that hold us back in fear…

  • “No one will hire me. I don’t have enough time for a freelance gig on the side. If I speak up for my needs, I’ll get punished.”

And rewriting them…

  • “I might get rejections, but I’ll learn from it and try new strategies. I can create time by saying no to other things. I deserve to speak up.”

It will begin to SHIFT your decision-making and your actions. Powerful stuff. I can say this because this is one of the most transformative shifts I’ve made for myself. (Still a work in progress, as with most things!)

So let me ask you — do you want to live in FEAR and watch others climb ahead? Or do you want to do something about it and take your turn?

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