Not everyone makes decisions in the same manner. Carl Jung, the swiss psychologist, noticed people functioned in different ways. 

When faced with a choice, some people make decisions based on the facts, the logic behind the choice. While others will decide according to their personal values and what feels right to them.

These differences are based on how we prefer to use our minds. and it’s connected to our “natural mental wiring”, so to speak.

2 Types of people?

Have you watched the movie series Divergent? I haven’t read the novels yet (sorry Veronica Roth) but I’ve watched the movies several times. And they always get me thinking, as a good science fiction plot should do. 🙂

In this series, teenagers leave their families of origin when they reach a certain age. And they become members of specific groups, called “factions”, who gather all people with the same personality type. They are chosen by that one thing as if they were unable to behave in different ways…
…or so it seems. And here’s where the movie gets interesting.

Lots of people think of personality types like that.

And by doing that, they put themselves into a box, or they resist being put into a box!

That’s not what Jung intended with this personality type thing.

It’s was created as a tool to help you become aware of how you’ve been doing things. 

In other words, to help you understand what your preferences are. 

Because what you prefer to do, it’s what you do again and again…becoming very good at it as a result.

But it also shows your blind spots and the path of development you can take to “ achieve wholeness” as Jung would say.

So please, please, while reading this article, in fact, while reading any of my articles about personality types, keep in mind that we are talking about preferences here.

Instead of saying: “I am…” Say “I prefer to…”.

With that in mind, let’s see how your decision-making process impacts your business.

How is your decision-making style impacting your business?

There are two ways of making decisions, depending on what is your measuring stick for choosing one option over the other.

Some people prefer to use logic and analysis. They need objective criteria to make sense of things. They use tangibles like numbers, statistics, amounts of things. I call these people Thinkers.

When launching a business or a new program, they may ask things like:

-How much money will I make with this program?

-What kind of structure do I need to launch this new service?

Other people prefer to make decisions based on their personal values. They use subjective criteria, like their personal beliefs, as the reason why they choose to follow through on something or not. I call these people Feelers.

In a project they might ask themselves:

-How will this work impact other people?

-How important is this project to me?

Those two ways of making sense of the world are valuable and important. Each one can focus on one aspect that the other finds difficult to process.

Discover your blind spots.

Most healers, coaches, therapists, artists, and holistic practitioners have feeling preferences.

That’s just the way we are wired. We prefer to make decisions with our Feeling function.

The problem with this is that when we are in “Feeler” mode, our thinking circuits are not engaged, and vice versa.

We make painful mistakes because we don’t pay enough attention to key aspects of our business. And end up feeling disappointed for the bad results, and even second-guessing of our sense of purpose.

I’ve seen this problem again and again.

And yes. I’ve suffered it first hand, too.

Just to name a couple of examples, it shows up in things like…

–Choosing a business idea that is deeply meaningful to us, only to see there aren’t enough people interested in our service. (When we could have validated our business idea easily before jumping full in with it.) or…

–Committing to a marketing technique that we like a lot, like a podcast, to find that it isn’t giving us the followers we expected. (A closer look to podcast statistics would have told we the reality of what to expect from a podcast).

A 3 step process for making wiser decisions (if you are a healer or a coach).

First of all, let me tell you this:

“Don’t sweat the small stuff”.  Not every decision needs to be taken as a life or death thing.

Most of the times, you can go with your heart, and you will be fine.

It’s on those other things, when you feel confused, and are agonizing over a decision when this 3 step process will be very handy to you.

Step 1) Use your values as your guiding principle.

This is especially useful for either-or choices, but you can use it when you are faced with multiple options, too.

Pick one of the options. Then ask yourself:

• -How will this decision impact other people? my clients? my family? myself?
• -Will this strengthen or break my connection with others?
• -Will this be congruent with my beliefs and what’s important to me?
• -Will this choice reinforce or weaken my own sense of identity?
• -Is this option aligned with my personal values?
• -Is it appropriate to do this or not?

Step 2) Use your analytical mind.

Now it’s your turn to engage the “thinking function”, as Jung called it, the analytical circuits in your mind. Don’t worry if it feels boring or less exciting than going with your heart. That’s completely normal. But doing this will give you a broader view of your options. 

• -Write down a detailed and clear explanation of your options.
• -Make a list of all the pros and cons.
• -Are there any theories or frameworks that explain what you want to do?
• -How much money, time and effort will this cost you? (use real numbers)
• -Can you find statistics or numbers related to your project?
• -What’s the most efficient option that you can choose?

Step 3) Sleep on it.

Make a temporary choice.

After you’ve come up with all the ideas from the previous steps, it’s time to make a temporary commitment to one of the options. 

Then go to sleep.

Jot down any dreams you’ve had, right after waking up.

Or write down how you feel if you can’t remember any.

Your unconscious has been working on your problems while you were asleep. And there is a lot of wisdom in that part of yourself!

This is how I make the important decisions in my life.
But I would love to know…
Do you have any question about this process?

Please share below.