Decision Tools
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I think most people can agree that decisions about our jobs and careers are some of the most convoluted or emotional ones that we make. There are so many opinions of what we should do, so many expectations for our success – both self-inflicted and societal. There are numerous forums, job platforms, ‘mentors’ and professional organizations and coaches providing guidance. They often prescribe the perfect approach - who is in your network, quality and quantity of people in your network, how often you network, how to network, etc. And somehow through all of this advice, we lose ourselves and what we truly want. In this way, we give over our power and presume others know what’s best for our success.
In reality, we are the one true source that knows what is best for our success. The fact is, we are all unique. Given this, we are not meant to follow one set formula for success. And regardless of our religion or belief system, we have 1) a Higher Self that is all knowing and 2) a ‘council’ of guides who know us and our journey and are always standing by to help guide us through our decisions. The guides can be anyone from our ancestors to angels to the Divine. All we have to do is ask for their guidance and then intuit our next step on the path. Often, we are unaware of our innate wisdom, an ability to tap into the knowledge of the Higher Self, and the intuitive guidance always available to us. |
Simple Practices/Tools
There are 2 simple practices or tools at our disposal that can help us tap into the wisdom of the Higher Self and our guides.
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The Body Test
If you haven’t already used it, the Body Test is one of the best tools at our disposal for career-related (or any) decisions. The Body Test is laughable in its obviousness and simplicity. We have it at our disposal at any time. Yet in discussions with a wide variety of my colleagues over the years, the majority confess that they haven’t used it at all for their career decisions yet stress intellectually about career decisions. Here's what you do: To ensure you’re focused and ready for this exercise, I recommend giving yourself 5 minutes of deep breathing before you start. This will help you to center yourself and shift from whatever environment or thoughts preceded this exercise. Ensuring you won’t have any interruptions, then sit quietly with the decisions before you. You simply sit - in quiet, centered, uninterrupted - with each of the options you are deciding upon. And you monitor or read your body’s reaction to each option. The options you pose to yourself can be between a choice of jobs, a choice of career paths, a choice in how to handle a work scenario. Sitting uninterrupted will allow you to just focus on your body and its reaction to each scenario or decision. When you pose each option, sense what your body feels in response to each. Do this uniquely for each option as well as from a comparative standpoint. |
For example:
Job 1: Your stomach feels like it’s knotted, or your chest gets tight, or you feel nothing at all. Job 2: You feel light, happy, or excited. Comparison: Even if you got nothing at all for Job 1, feeling your reaction to Job 2 tells you that while Job 1 could be ok for you, your heart is really calling you to pursue Job 2. This test can be really helpful when strong opinions are coming at you from friends, colleagues, a boss, a mentor. It helps you be true to yourself and feel the conviction to do what is best for you. The more you use the Body Test in life, the more you’re willing to let your intuition shine through. You gain more confidence in your decisions. And you feel more conviction in trusting yourself before seeking input or validation from others. |
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Automatic Writing
Another free and simple tool is that of automatic writing. It gives us a way to channel our intuitive guidance from our Higher Self or even our guides to help us cut through intellectual noise and just let guidance come straight through. Grab pen and paper or your laptop to type. Then I recommend starting the same way as the Body Test to ensure you’re focused and ready for this exercise. Before posing any question and writing any response, ensure no interruptions for at least 10 minutes. Start with at least 5 minutes of deep breathing to center yourself. Now, sitting quietly with the decisions before you, ask (yourself internally or speak aloud) the question. Then without thinking about it, just start typing or writing. Keep going until you just stop because nothing else is coming. If you have to, in order to get it started and not overthink, tell yourself you’re just making something up and start typing or writing. Before you know it, information will just start coming through you onto the paper or laptop. As with the Body Test, the more you do this, the more comfortable it will be for you. You will stop to question whether it’s your mind or your guidance. You’ll begin to realize that what you write is not something you would normally think or say and is truly from a higher source of insight. |
I hope these tools help you on your career journey. And remember, these tools aren’t just for career “advice”. Use them to choose a doctor, a choice in purchased products, whether or not to do something – the uses are literally endless. If there’s a difficult decision to be made in life, you now have 2 tools for helping guide you through it! And they’re not just any tools – they’re ones that are from the highest source of guidance!