It often happens that we look outside ourselves for advice, this is likely because we become overwhelmed with our own thoughts, ideas, or strategies to solve our personal problems. We instinctively need an outside opinion to make us feel as though we are doing the right thing. While doing this can help in some cases there is something very important that many of us fail to realize. The people you are asking don’t have a clue! Often they are just giving advice in an effort to help you, or even worse, to build up their ego or make themselves feel important. This doesn’t get you any closer to your solution, so what do we do?
Step 1
Go inside
“It is not to be without, but to be within” - The Buddha
The very first thing to do when faced with a tough decision is to stop, and look inward. This means to drown out external stimulus momentarily. With practice ,you can do this in under a second. For harder, bigger decisions some people may need to go to a quiet place, but when you get better at this, you can drown out your environment very quickly just like you would ignore someone you don’t like.
Step2
visualize
Next, visualize what outcome would actually fill up your heart or make you feel best inside. This is also called thinking with the heart’s mind or listening to intuition. This takes some practice but guess what, you have opportunities to practice this everyday with simple decisions, such as what you make for dinner.
Once you have the general answer to your problem then you can run it by “others” to formulate an action plan.
Step 3
Ask the right people
“ If you can’t teach in your underwear, you shouldn’t be talking about health”
Paul Chek
Only ask your question to people who already have accomplished the results you are looking for. I can’t count how many times I have asked people that I love and trust for advice on money, that have no money. You need to be aware of this habit because if you take advice from people who are not living it, then you can end up more confused ending up back at square one. Although this seems obvious for us, when you look at your past you will be surprised at how many times we all do this everyday. I’m not saying people you trust don’t have good advice but if you really want to get to the solution fast and efficient, always look to someone who has done it before. Remember, we are trying to find the best answer for our own unique situation, as well as an action plan to carry out the solution, as effective as possible.
Step 4
Execution
Break it down into small pieces and attack