Ways to set aside emotions when making an important decision

When making important decisions in life, you are frequently led not by rational considerations or facts but rather by your feelings. What you think and feel is, of course, very significant for several reasons, including the fact that it teaches you what is and is not acceptable to you, reveals your fears, and helps you anticipate potential challenges in the future. However, there are circumstances in which you must be able to put aside your feelings and rely solely on logic. This is not a simple task, but we have compiled some ways to help you do it.

1. Before making a decision, consider whether or not it will be to your long-term advantage

Your biggest mistake is that you judge the consequences of your actions almost exclusively in the short term. Suppose you recognize that immediately, within a few hours or the following day, after making a decision, you will feel good, get what you need, and improve your life. In that case, you will likely carry out everything that is required of you without giving it too much thought.

It is a very different situation if the choice you make will cause you some inconvenience but will ultimately result in a significant improvement in the quality of your life. Because of this, making a decision will be much more difficult. The first thing that will go through your mind is that you will start feeling terrible about yourself very quickly. Because you cannot tolerate discomfort and allow yourself to experience negative emotions, the benefits of the choice you are about to make will be outweighed by those drawbacks. Therefore, if you genuinely want to learn how to make decisions that will change the course of your life for the better, you are going to have to look at the specific choices you make from the perspective of how they will play out in the long run.

2. Decide only when you are completely calm

When you’re feeling emotional, it’s very easy to make a lot of mistakes when you’re trying to make important decisions. Keep in mind that you should always try to make the most of situations in which you can put off making decisions for a little while. Ask for some time to think about what you will say before you respond to someone, don’t jump to any conclusions, don’t insist on coming up with a plan right away, and so on. There is no need to rush; in most circumstances, nothing will change if you wait for your emotion to return to its normal state.

Give yourself the opportunity to fully experience the feelings that you are currently experiencing, whether they be anger, upset, shock, pain, or euphoria. When your emotions have calmed down, you’ll be able to look at the situation objectively, weighing all of the information at your disposal against the benefits and drawbacks of the various options. A further advantage is that you won’t feel the need to make a decision to hurt another person or act by a set of values anymore.

3. After a while, don’t change your mind about a decision you’ve already made

When making an important decision that will have a significant impact on your future, it is common to demonstrate a level of firmness and commitment initially, but after some time has passed, you may begin to question the option that you have selected. If you have identified a strategy for further action, based on the facts available to you, guided by the experience you have gained from life, and drawing on the knowledge and skills available, then you have done everything correctly. In a circumstance like this, having second thoughts is practically unavoidable due to the recurring unsettling idea that one should avoid taking any chances at all costs.

Keep in mind that there is no assurance that everything will go exactly according to the plans that you have made. But this does not mean you have to back down from your choice and continue living in the same environment. If you try to minimize the dangers and at the same time refuse to take any action, which might not get you closer to achieving your objective, you will end up retreading the same ground over and over again.

It would help if you didn’t make any changes to your decisions, at least not before you discover any important new information that might affect the outcomes of your efforts. Be honest with yourself and your decisions; much of your success will depend on whether or not you can stick to the plan you’ve devised without making any adjustments to it along the way.

4. Do what you’re afraid to do

In the process of making a decision, you might run into some challenges, such as being presented with a choice between an easy route that will take you to unremarkable outcomes and a difficult route that, if taken and completed successfully, will bring you exactly what you want out of life.

When presented with this choice, most individuals will choose the first alternative because it is less risky, and they are aware that they have a better chance of emerging victorious from the situation. But you shouldn’t rush to imitate what they’ve done; instead, you should do the things that make you nervous. You will not be able to conquer your anxieties, reach your full potential, or accomplish what you desire unless you do this. When it comes to making choices, you should put your fears to rest and keep in mind that they almost always indicate the path that leads to the best outcome.

5. Do not disregard the advice of those around you

You may miss some obvious factors that could have an impact on the decisions you make. Again, this is because your emotions are causing this to occur: when you are overly focused on how you are feeling, a lot of things are hidden from your view. When faced with challenges of this nature, it is essential not to close yourself off emotionally and to seize every opportunity to examine the situation from a fresh point of view.

One of these opportunities is to engage in conversation with the people in your immediate environment. This does not imply that you should pay closer attention to what they say or think. People are naturally prejudiced and often make assumptions and offer advice based on their feelings of envy, fears, and experiences. The negative experiences they have had in their own lives.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that the people around you have the potential to alert you to possible issues or miscalculations, introduce you to new points of view, and suggest actions to take that you had not previously considered. You shouldn’t just brush off what advice other people give you. Their words frequently contain information that is useful to you and can be gained from them.