What do you do when faced with a difficult decision?

I try to avoid having to make it.

Firstly, I wish you luck in your decision making!

I usually have a gut, emotional, instinct. I then think it over, talk it over, try to use logic and reason, try to change my mind from the emotional decision to one I assume must be right, since it is more reasoned.

In the end though, it will always be the emotional and probably less smart side of me that will win over. After all the pondering, it will just hit me “right THIS is what you have to do” and then, better or worse, I stick to it and don’t look back.

Face it square on stare it down & come out on top. Whatever you think is right works every time. Go with your instincts then your right even when your wrong. Good luck.

Flip a coin. We usually already know the answer but because the decision is so difficult we chose not to deal with it. You already know what the decision is. As @Jadey said, listen to your gut.

Sometimes it helps to write out the pros and cons to the issue. But I agree with @Jadey, usually your intuition will tell you what the right decision is. Sometimes you just have to learn to trust your intuition.
If it’s not too personal, let us know what you decided and why you went that way.

i’m horrible with making any kind of dicions and avoid them as much as possible. i always tend to mess it up.

I use a coin :D

Sometimes,I’ll make a pros/cons list,sometimes,everything you’ve listed and sometimes drive myself crazy thinking about it :)

For the truly tough calls the pro/con list is good place to start. If time is of the essence…I always meditate on it…a clear mind is the best path for a right call. Then I call my only trusted friend and ask them. Those 3 elements help me make those truly tough decisions.

Personality is always the decision maker for me. ;-)

A lot depends on the type of decision, and especially on how much it affects others besides myself. If others are affected, I think they should be consulted.

I haven’t found lists of pros and cons to be helpful at all because they do not get to the heart of something. Numbers don’t mean anything. Just one good pro or con could be enough to swing the balance.

I do ask myself some questions that usually help:

1. Is it reversible or irreversible? An irreversible decision is much weightier. If you sell your car, you can’t take it back. If you cut your hair, it can grow out again.

2. If it is irreversible, it is a case where if you don’t do it now you can always do it later (quit your job, paint the house, sell your stock), or is it now-or-never (accept a position, get an abortion, volunteer for an assignment)?

3. What’s the worst that can happen if I do? What’s the worst that can happen if I don’t?

4. Short of the extreme (the worst that can happen), what are the consequences of each choice?

5. What yardstick am I using? For example, if I have a goal or purpose, does this choice take me toward that goal or away from it? If it is about well-being, does it add to or detract from my own well-being and that of others? If it has a cost, what is the worth of this relative to other things? Is it the best use of resources?

When I’ve thought of all the factors I can, I listen to my gut. If I go against my gut I am nearly always wrong. Once I know what my gut (instinct, intuition, heart) tells me, then I can make all the lists of reasons I need.

[Edit] You do have to know what your priorities are, or any decision is going to be unnecessarily hard.

I make a choice and inevitably learn to live with it.

I always flip a coin. If I start going for the best 2 out of 3, I have an opinion and I stick with that . . .

Generally speaking, “difficult” is a description we usually apply to anything we’d rather not do. I tend to agree with @HumourMe, by endeavoring to avoid any situation that places me in a position where I’m faced with making a decision I’d rather not make.

The consequence of not being able to avoid such a situation places me in a position where I’m likely to make myself unnecessarily miserable. I’ll temporarily ignore or delay making the decision, which accomplishes nothing more than delaying the inevitable.

I could just have well have made the decision and be done with it, but it’s just not my nature.

I ask my invisible friends what to do.

Here’s what I do. I think about how this will affect me from one perspective and how it will affect me from another. I usually think about how one would look at it differently than the other. I would compare/contrast/balance each option, or possibly opportunity. Then, I would see into how this affects others. Then, I would make my final decision. Or, you could just sleep on it. But don’t think too hard!

My husband has a great technique. You toss a coin. If you are disappointed with the results that came up, it means you should choose the other option.

I try to gather all the facts that I can. Only if they seem to balance 50/50 do I go with a “gut instinct”. Since my instincts are usually wrong, I’ll take the opposite of what my “gut” tells me.

make a pro/con list

Sleep on it. Talk to people. Ask for advice.

Deny it exsists like everything else I find unpleasant. My time is too short for realistic sensabilities.

Get drunk, or act like I’ haven’t a clue