How to Make the “Right” Decision
In the last month, I became a Master in Mechanical Engineering. I’m not trying to be cool or anything, it’s just the title you receive when you conclude a Master’s degree in any field. Despite not having any real practical engineering experience, I’m a master.
Strange I know.
When you finish a Master program you are presented with two options. Either you continue your academic road and do a PhD or you leave the nest and go to a company.
What should I do?
Training the decision muscle
If there is one thing that students do not experience enough are making important decisions. During these 18 years of being a student, I only had to make an important decision 4 times:
Which area of studies I should follow in school (decision: sciences and technology), which university degree I should study (decision: mechanical engineering), if I should do a masters (decision: yes) and if I should leave my home country to do this master’s degree (decision: yes, in Luxembourg).
Coming back to the decision of continuing studying or getting a job, I can say that this one was easy to make. The academic world is not for me. It is too theoretical. But the decision that came afterward turned out to be one of the most difficult decisions I had to make so far.
Not because I was scared of not getting a job but because I had a really good job opportunity and I was having second thoughts about it.
I know that sounds silly, like a first world problem, but let me explain.
Ego’s Puppet
To be straight to the point, my ego was f*cking with me.
Majority of my free time was and still is occupied with creative activities. This artistic side has always been in conflict with my other side, the scientific, methodical, engineering background. Because this job opportunity does not fit into the typical engineering job and has a certain creative aspect to it, my ego was giving me a hard time.
An internal discussion started, making me go back and forward on my decision almost on a daily basis. Even my girlfriend was getting tired of it. “Just make up your mind already“.
But…This is a very important decision! I need to start off on the right foot! It’s my first job out of college after all! I need to do things right!
This internal discussion of “getting the right job” was fueled by years of engineering school and family expectation. The same feelings of parental approval and leaving the walked path were making this decision even harder.
Note that all of this was in my head. My parents weren’t pressuring me to get a typical engineering job in any way.
It is just the good old Ego playing its tricks. But like a good magic trick, you might not realize when and how it happens…
There is no right decision
Accepting that there is no correct decision is halfway to make a good decision.
If you are trying to make the right decision, it means that you can make the wrong one. This mindset will cause you to over-analyze the situation, leaving you more vulnerable to egoistic thoughts and unrealistic scenarios. By re-framing the situation, you are in some way freed from the pressure of make the right decision.
Yes, in some cases you are confronted with a right or wrong choose.
“Hum.. I wonder if I can eat this mushroom?” Or ” I think I can make this jump”.
Fortunately deciding which career path you want to follow is not a life or death scenario. So chill and relax.
The reality is, there is no right path. Life is a bunch of crossroads. You might lose opportunities but others will appear. Realizing this allowed me to think more clearly and ultimately make a decision that I’m comfortable with.
Don’t try to bend reality by falling into a scarcity mindset or suffering from peer pressure. Instead, try to realize that there is no set path you should follow. Your decision should be in line with your passions and long-term goals.
Follow your <insert preferred term>
Heart, instinct, self, feelings, passion…. You get what I’m referring to.
I’m not much of a believer in spiritual energies and guiding spirits that lead you to the right path. Because it implies that you don’t need to do anything to come up with a decision.
But I do believe that once you look at the pros and cons of each decision you will naturally gravitate towards the one that is deeply aligned with your inclinations.
I felt this to a great degree while making this career decision. During the one month period it took me to decide, the more creative opportunity would boil to the surface.
Having so much time to decide also played a major role in the decision-making process. Time allows the pros and cons of several decisions to sink in, giving your unconscious mind time to process everything.
Take away message
Making decisions is never easy, especially if they have a big impact in our life. Nevertheless, it is crucial to distancing yourself from frenetic thinking and stepping into a headspace where we can identify the pros and cons of each option.
By consciously acknowledging the ego’s influence over us, we become aware of our internal conversation and its pitfalls.
A combination of rational and instinctive thinking allows our conscious and unconscious mind to align the circumstances of our situation with long-term goals and our inclinations.
Enjoyed this post? Let me hear those 👏 Let me know your thought on decision making and how you deal with these difficult moments ⬇️
