Knowing if you’re making the right decision can be terrifying. Especially if it involves letting go of a person, place or situation, quitting a job, setting (or resetting) your personal boundaries, or seeking more from your life. In any case, you’re changing direction and you cannot be certain about what lies ahead.

Life is often driven by our unconscious stories.

A lot of decision making is driven by stories based on your personal history. Most of these stories are stored in your unconscious mind, so you may not be aware of how they influence your life. For example, the story of the Saboteur that fuels your fear of making the wrong decision. Or the story of the Victim who feels bad because they’ve finally started to put their best interests first instead of last. Then there’s the story of the Judge that drives the need for everyone and everything to be perfect.

Your capacity to take charge of your decision making and to feel more self assured will remain a challenge as long as these stories are left unconscious.

Recall an important decision you’ve made recently.

Which story below influenced it?

Name it.

Naming the story that is about to influence a decision automatically throws a light on it. It will enlighten you. Naming a story captures your motives, intentions and agenda. Then you will know when to act. Or not.