Have you ever caught yourself not being able to make a decision?

You waffle back and forth, weighing the options, unsure what is the best way to go? Sometimes the hesitation is due to a limiting belief such as a lack of confidence that you will be able to achieve what you want to do, sometimes you aren’t sure you are worth the financial investment, sometimes you are just plain tired and don’t want to do anything, let alone make a decision.

The decision could be as small as what to cook for dinner, or huge such as deciding whether or not to leave your miserable job.

No matter your inner struggle when (not) making a decision, the issue I want to address is what that (in)action does to the final outcome. Let’s use Lynn as our example. This 40-something mom of two works full time, as does her husband.

Lynn really likes writing, and feels there is a fiction book in her, she even has the general story line mapped out. She learns about a 12-week fiction writing class offered at her local university’s continuing education department — for only $129!

When she first opens the university’s email, she is instantly excited, thinking, “this is it, finally my big chance to write my book!!” And then she gets busy with work or life or family. Later that evening she tells her husband about it. He encourages her, even though their finances are tight, as he sees his wife sparkle as she talks about it.

Lynn, however, has grown more skeptical over the 6 hours since she first read the course offering. As she drifts off to sleep, she starts making excuses why she shouldn’t attend it. Tuesday night is Susie’s piano lesson, who will take her? That $129 should really toward their growing credit card debt. Lynn even starts to think she probably wouldn’t write a good enough book to even make her time worth it.

That’s a lot of skeptical, am I right? Can you relate at all to Lynn’s story?

The next several days, Lynn continues to think about the class. She does some research on the teacher. She looks into other fiction classes offered online as a sort of price comparison. She talks about it to friends, reviewing her hesitations over and over.

All the while, Lynn is very excited about the chance to take the class, she just isn’t sure yet if she should commit.

A full week after she first learns about the class, Lynn decides to just go for it. She pays the $129 and she is very excited, if a little hesitant.

So here Lynn is… 7 days later signing up to do what she wanted to do in the first place. Lynn is ready for a transformation. But you might not believe it. She’s spent no less than 8 hours talking about and thinking over if she should take the class, which was basically 8 hours reviewing her inadequacies and limitations – to herself and to others.

Lynn could have been spending 8 hours writing out the outline of the book. That 8 hours could have gone to sleeping, exercising, meditating, spending time with her kiddos, talking to her friends about how great her book will be, what it will be about, etc.

Besides missing out on those productive 8 hours, she spent 8 hours reinforcing negative beliefs. This is the opposite of what we want. We want POSITIVE in our life! This is basic Law of Attraction stuff here.

We are (rightly) encouraged to embrace saying yes to opportunities that will challenge us and open up our creative powers. But sometimes opportunities come at the “wrong” time in that the answer isn’t always clear.

What I hope you will consider and take away from this is not that you have to rush decisions, but be cognizant of how your mind is operating during the time of decision. If you go into limiting beliefs, or self doubt, or easy-out excuses about something you really have excitement for, you aren’t allowing YOURSELF to grow.

My advice is to just say NO when you get to that place. Ideally say NO to the negative thoughts, but if you can’t, then just say NO to the opportunity and move on. Keep your thoughts positive. Especially your SELF thoughts. This is the most important thing.

The next most important thing is to save yourself the time and headache of wasting that precious time.  

If a similar opportunity comes up for you, something great, but you just aren’t sure… Go ahead and take your time, but please do so mindfully. If it is bringing up negative thoughts, then just say NO! If you can manage it, try to envision how wonderful you will feel after having participated in the transformative opportunity.

Absolutely keep yourself open to grow and to challenge yourself. Say yes to opportunities. But be ready to say no to others. Keep as positive as you can… for your health and your own .