Aligned Decision Making

This past weekend I had the honor of speaking at the Wanderlust Festival in Mont Tremblant, Quebec. I gave three hour long talks related to what I teach in my books, including a full on sauerkraut making demo. It was a LOT of fun, but also a ton of work went into preparing for the talks, getting my team and my family to Canada, and showing up fully for each presentation in unknown circumstances.

As soon as I finished my third and final talk I was surprised to not feel that sense of “OMG I can breathe again.” I realized that I actually felt relaxed, happy and supported the whole weekend!

As a wellness professional (and a mom!) it can be tough to decide what opportunities to commit to. From the outside, events and travel can look like so much fun (and they usually ARE in the moment), but they’re still a ton of work. And even when you love your work as much as I do, saying yes to an evening or weekend event usually means time away from my family.

Reflecting on the experience there are a few pieces that went into this particular weekend that made it feel so good. These are practices that I try to go through before any big commitment, not just work related events, that help me feel more and more in alignment with my decision, and ultimately more in alignment with ME.

As a Libra decision making is inherently tough for me so this decision making process is something I’ve refined and practiced over the years. It’s still a work in progress but I do find when I take the time to do the process I’m sharing with you today, the outcome usually feels better than if I simply use my brain or go with what I think is the most logical choice.

Here are my 3 tips to aligned decision making:

• Ask your intuition – In my books and coaching programs I teach about connecting to your intuition. I apply this practice to my food and workout choices, but also to business and travel decisions. I’ve been strengthening my intuition muscle for years so usually I hear an answer or response right away, but if I don’t, I know I need to spent a little more time getting quiet – it might be in a meditation or a simple hand on belly, hand on heart moment.

• Get support – Often times if I’m not feeling a clear YES on a decision it means I need to get support. Sometimes this means talking out all the options with my husband, a colleague or someone on my team, or sometimes it means I need to support the decision in another way. For example, I knew Wanderlust was going to be a lot of work so I decided to bring Emily from my team along to help support me through the whole weekend.

• Let it be fun – Most of us are just not having enough fun in our lives (especially with our work)! If after asking my intuition and getting support around a decision it still doesn’t feel as sparkly as it could, I ask myself “How could this be more fun??” Originally, I hadn’t planned to have my mom, husband and Navy at the festival, but when I tuned in I felt that the weekend would be so much more rewarding if we could all be there together.

Next time you have a decision to make, try one (or all three) of these practices and see how it feels! And when you find something that works well for you and makes your decisions easier and better – USE IT. We often forget all the tools we have to support ourselves in our lives.

I’m grateful for this amazing opportunity, my incredibly supportive team and family AND all the lovely people I met at the festival. I truly felt connected to myself and my work throughout the whole weekend, and inspired to share and teach more.