MAKE BETTER DECISIONS

You make decisions large and small all the time. When the alarm goes off in the morning you choose to jump out of bed and get to your meditation . Then you eat a good breakfast and/or workout, get dressed and get on with a great day. While at work you choose to do your best, look for the good in your boss and express gratitude for your coworkers. When you get home the choices continue as you eat a healthy dinner, spend time with your family and read this book about mindfulness and meditation practices. Your decisions color your reality and determine the quality of your life.

So, how can you make better decisions? The clarity you gain from your practice plays an important role in clear decision making. At the heart of using meditation to make clearer and more effective choices lies the power of being fully present in the moment. When you observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment you can examine them with discernment. Through mindfulness, you disentangle the web of thoughts and emotions that often cloud your decision-making process. 

Let’s be clear. Meditation is not an escape from decision-making. It’s a portal to deeper self-awareness and better decisions. Meditation reveals layers of thoughts and emotions beneath your conscious awareness. This is a way to unearth the hidden beliefs, biases, and desires that shape your choices.

One technique within the realm of meditation is the choiceless awareness practice. Simply observe the parade of thoughts and emotions which crosses your mind. That’s right, you don’t have to do anything except watch! Instead of focusing on a specific judgment or choice, open your awareness to whatever arises. This technique allows for a “big picture” view of your changing inner landscape. With this approach the ebb and flow of thoughts and emotions don’t entangle you in their narratives. By cultivating choiceless awareness, you detach from the noise and gain clarity on what truly matters.

Meditation also nurtures a cornerstone of effective decision-making: emotional regulation. By observing emotions without being swept away by them, you gain emotional clarity—a crucial asset in making sound choices that align with your values and goals.

Visualization is another tool you can integrate into meditation to enhance decision-making. Imagine yourself immersed in a scenario. Through visualization, you explore the potential outcomes of your choices, allowing you to connect with your intuition and gut feelings. This technique bridges the gap between conscious and subconscious thought and provides insights that may elude your logical analysis alone.

So, you can think of your meditation practice as a mirror that reflects your authentic self and your desires. Imagine a mirror that reveals the changeless essence of your being, untainted by influences like your ego, your expectations, your past, your goals, etcetera. Through meditation you strip away outside expectations, fears, and pressures, and connect with your inner compass to make choices that resonate with your core values.

When you can connect with your changeless self, you will discover that meditation also fosters patience. Through meditation you cultivate a patient presence. You gain a willingness to embrace uncertainty and delay immediate gratification for the sake of long-term fulfillment. So you can step back from impulsive decisions and take the time needed to weigh the options. When you are patient and unhurried in the moment, you make clear decisions.