There's nothing worse than dealing with an indecisive person. It's hard to spend such a long amount of time trying to make a decision, especially when often times it can be about something simple like which movie you want to see, where to eat or worse what to wear!
I will also say, there is nothing worse than BEING an indecisive person. It's not that I don't know what I want, it's just that I like to critically examine every option before I make any big (or little) decisions. I want to avoid making a mistake. I am afraid of failure.
So, if you know somebody who is indecisive, I'm sure you are quite familiar with the frustration that comes with trying to make plans with them. Try to be patient.
Here are 5 things every indecisive person understands.
1. We are people pleasers. It's true. We so desperately want to make choices about things that are going to be pleasing both to ourselves and to others. We want everyone to be happy and to feel like we are making good choices in life. We feel like our choices are a reflection of us and therefore want to make those choices as mindfully as possible. It's a good thing, and a bad thing I guess.
2. We are fairly agreeable. Most of the time the reason why I struggle to make a decision is because I could genuinely be okay with any of the options in front of me. It's just that I like to consider all of the options and the possible consequences of each one and how those may outweigh the choices. The truth is though, that this alone can end up feeling incredibly paralizing.
3. Choosing a group activity is hard. I'm a natural leader so I'm often called on to make decisions that impact the whole group. For example, if the gang and I are heading out to dinner for a girls night, everyone turns to me to decide on the place and time. Lot's of the time though, I couldn't care less about where we go, I just want to hang out with my friends. Making the decision for other people when I am barely able make a decision for myself is nearly impossible.
4. I'm afraid to fail. Even though I fully understand that part of the human condition is failure on a daily basis. I am afraid to fail. I worry that certain choices will cause me to fail or lead to a failure. Now obviously, this goes slightly beyond choosing what to eat for lunch and is aimed more towards the bigger decisions in life like what to be when I grow up, how to raise my children or where to invest my money.
The truth is, being indecisive is just a symptom of a lot of other factors. It's definitely something to work on, but if you happen to know somebody who struggles with indecisiveness, just know that they are struggling with a lot of different fears and a list that is probably much bigger than this one. At their core they just want to make the RIGHT choice. In most situations it would be helpful if their loved ones could just reassure them that they have their support no matter what.
