From the desk of Grace Lange,
Decision fatigue… dun dun duuunnnnnnn
I really hate making decisions.
Whenever I have more than a few decisions to make, I completely shut down.
I have always wondered why this was, and then I looked this up:
When it all started…
I have struggled with this as long as I can remember, but lately it’s been even worse.
I am in my senior year of college, graduating on May 14th.
I have to decide what I want to do with my life.
I have to decide where I want to live.
I have to decide who I want to marry.
I have to decide what I spend my time doing.
Then I have to make the little decisions like what to wear each day, what to eat for every meal, what to spend my money on, what people I want to spend my time with…
WE ARE CONSTANTLY MAKING DECISIONS… and I was going crazy.
It always seemed like whenever I had a really big decision to make, making those little decisions were even harder.
For instance, a few weeks ago I was really struggling with deciding what I wanted to do after graduation.
One Wednesday night I was asked to speak at a church event, then I was planning to hang out with a friend after. After the church event, I get a call from my friend saying she needs to cancel.
No big deal, right…
Except there I sat, left with the decision of what to do now.
So what did I do?
I called my boyfriend, my mom, and my sister and asked their opinion of what I should do.
A simple decision of just going home or asking another friend to hang out, turned into a whole fiasco, because I had so many other, bigger decisions crowding my mind and my ability to think clearly.
So what did I actually do?
I went to Dairy Queen and ate my sorrows and confusion in chocolate ice cream, because avoiding any other decisions sounded like the way to go… but it’s the way I always take. It’s the easy way.
I needed to change.
Lately I started to realize my tendency to put all of my decisions on the back burner and avoid everything when I had something big going on in my life.
I realized that I needed to just let go of some of these decisions and choose to only control what I can really control.
I can only control this one moment.
I think decision fatigue really just comes from worry. When we sit and ponder our decisions for longer than we need to, it leads us to thinking that it’s all up to us, and if we don’t make the right decision the world will end.
Well, I have a little bit of exciting news for you..
We aren’t even in control of our lives! God is!
He has it planned out completely, and he already knows which decision you will make before you even make it! So why are you worrying about what will happen if you do or don’t go to Dairy Queen and eat a large chocolate blizzard?!
I know this seems so simple, so there is one other thing I have started to do.
I have started to put timelines on my decisions.
If I know that I have a big decision coming up, like recently when I had to decide to run or not run for Miss North Dakota, I give myself a timeline of when I need to make a decision by.
Once that date hits, I make that decision and I stick with it. I own that decision, because the more you sit and worry about it, the harder it is going to be to make those little decisions like what to eat for breakfast tomorrow.
What decision is holding you back right now?
I’d love to hear about your experience with decision fatigue…
You should grab your ticket for our new event RESET YOU: Re-Align with what matters in 2022 to spend time with other women, hear their stories, and get back on track to reach your yearly goals!