Sometimes in life it can feel as though we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Perhaps we’re trying to make a decision about whether to stay and put up with where we are, or leave now to find something new?
Or choosing whether to keep the peace and stay quiet, or speak up and create conflict?
Or wondering whether to say yes and go all in, or no and let it go?
It makes it really hard to make a decision, especially as they often feel like opposite extremes with significant consequences.
We can get stuck in the either/or - bouncing back and forth between them and never finding a place to land.
The good news is that there are pretty much always more options if we give ourselves the room to explore, or at the very least a way to make adjustments to one or the other.
We can ask ourselves questions to open up our thinking, for example:
If both of these options no longer existed, what would I do?
On a scale of 1-10, if one choice is 1 and the other is 10, what would be a 3, a 7, a 6?
What’s most important to me here? What’s fixed and what’s flexible?
What are 10 other possible ways I could achieve what I want?
How would 10 year old me approach this? What about 30 year old? 80 year old?
The goal isn’t to find an answer straight away, but to open up our thinking and give ourselves more options.
It’s hard to feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, much easier to feel like we have choices or the possibility to find a different solution.
So if you’re trying to decide between 2 options and neither feels good, remember it doesn’t have to be one or the other.
There’s often another way if we’re open to asking “What if…?” and exploring the alternatives.
And we can end up with something that feels just right.
Wishing you a wonderful week,
