NickVenturella.com 10-5-14

Anxiety of big decisions

October 05, 2014

Have you ever been in a position where you have to make a big life decision that will impact more than just you?I'm talking about a decision like staying at your current job or taking a new one that's been offered to you, or finally jumping off as a entrepreneur/business owner from the steadiness of a full-time job.Making such a decision has an impact on your current routines and possibly your lifestyle as well as those significant people in your life who depend on you -- your family.How do you know which decision is right?The anxiety of making such decisions comes from not knowing how things will pan out until the decision has been made and you're in it.You typically want to minimize any negative impact on you, your healthcare, finances, perhaps your lifestyle and certainly your family and their adjustment to the decision/change.I've determined that such decisions bring anxiety from two directions:First, there is the fear of "what could be" if you keep things as they are?  Where can things go for you if you stay where you are and simply keep things the same?This often feels like an easy decision because you're familiar with your current day to day routines.  At least, you know what to expect in the short term.  However, when there's an option for another route, it makes you question, "what is the future if I stay in my current situation?"  The fact that there may be another option makes you anxious about your current situation.On the flip side, there is fear in making the decision to make a change to a new job or jumping off into your own business. This fear may take the form of questions like, "what if I don't like it?," or "what if it doesn't work out?"The decision to actually make a change is often a bit harder because you don't have something familiar and known, like your current situation, to fall back on -- making this decision launches you into uncharted territory, and that causes anxiety.While there can be a lot of excitement around the possibility of something new, there are practical realities you end up needing to address, like how does the change impact you and your family.  Does it move you down the path of doing more of what energizes you and will that help to positively affect those who depend on you?In either case, the anxiety comes from fear of the unknown -- what can happen with either decision that can't fully be predicted?Beyond that, it's really the fear of making the "wrong" choice.  However, is there truly a "wrong" choice?What's the worst that can happen if the choice made doesn't work out as planned?Who knows, even if you make a choice and it doesn't seem to pan out as expected it could very likely lead to something else positive that would not have come about if you hadn't made the decision you did.You certainly want to weigh the various pros and cons in making such a decision, and I suggest including your family and trusted mentors or your life coach, but this is one of those gray areas (reference from last week's eNewsletter) where there is not a clear "right" or "wrong" answer.I think you simply have to get to the edge of your comfortability then commit to whatever the unknown outcome brings you as you make your decision.Need help planning your life's next steps?  This can help.  Hit reply and let me know what you think.