Yes-No-Maybe Rule #2 – Hit pause when you sense urgency.

This is important because stress impedes our ability to make decisions that support our long-term goals and happiness.

Here are two reasons why.

• Stress is a survival state that our brain triggers in response to conditions perceived as unsafe. This stress response instantly changes our mind, body, and emotions so we can react with urgency to survive these conditions and relieve the unpleasant feelings of stress.
• The stress response is usually triggered by conditions similar to a past negative experience. It floods us with the negative feelings, limiting beliefs, and negative expectations from that past negative experience, distorting our perception of the present.

Making decisions from this distorted stress perspective can often lead to regret.

Fortunately, you can use a stress release method (ours or your own) to turn off your stress response. The sense of urgency will subside and so should the negative feelings, limiting beliefs, and negative expectations.

Once you are back in a calm and peaceful state of mind, then you can make decisions that support your long-term goals, health and happiness.

Take a look at this common example. When stressed, we are more likely to grab the junk food that we know is not the best choice for our long-term health goals. The same holds true for other short-term coping devices like smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc. People turn to them to feel better in the moment, not to feel better in the long-term.

And stress not only affects our ability to make good decisions for our health, it compromises every aspect of decision making including those that affect our finances, relationships, purchases, jobs, etc.

 

Stress has become such a common part of life that we’ve learned to ignore it. However, now that you know urgency is a sign of stress, you can use that sense of urgency to stop yourself from making those immediate gratification stress decisions that you may later regret.

A sense of urgency may come from within you or from someone else. In either case, when you feel it, stop and regroup before deciding.

Consider the consequences that result from urgent stress decisions. Even short-lived consequences – like eating or drinking too much – will add more stress to your life. It’s hard to even think about the amount of stress added by longer-lived consequences like buying the wrong house or marrying the wrong person.

Just knowing how much urgency and stress hurt our ability to make good decisions can help. When you’re facing a decision and feeling a sense of urgency, always hit your pause button, resolve the sense of urgency, then consider the question again when you are in a calm and peaceful frame of mind.

Avoiding urgent stress decisions helps you not only have less regret and less stress in your life, it helps you fill your life with favorable results that you can revel in and enjoy. And without the need to deal with consequences, you’ll also have more time to enjoy those favorable results.

 

1. Before you decide anything, take a second to notice how you feel. If you’re calm and relaxed, go ahead and decide. When you’re feeling urgent or stressed, hit pause until you are in a calm peaceful frame of mind, then decide.
2. Notice when you are having a stress response and take note of your typical symptoms. Use that list of symptoms to identify stress responses as soon as they happen so you don’t unconsciously rush into decisions that might cause regret.
3. Should you discover that you feel stressed or urgent on a regular basis, find a way to release your stress. Whether it’s our Stress Release Method or another, releasing your stress will not only help you make better decisions, it will improve your health, confidence, relationships, and ability to achieve.

 

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this rule so please leave your comments below. Tell us how urgency has affected your decisions or ask us questions about this rule and how to apply it. We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

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