Big decisions take time

Many of my clients make big decisions while we’re working together—to change jobs or fields, to move to another city or country, to pursue an exciting but daunting new project. Part of the momentum that drives people to seek out coaching in the first place is the sense that a big decision is looming just up ahead, and you want some company as you approach it, someone who can help you map the terrain and confirm that your rope is secured to the rock. But then there comes a moment when the decision has happened, when it’s in the past, and a changed future gapes before you. Sometimes, people are wont to look back over their shoulders, to verify that the decision really did happen, to wonder if it’s not too late to go back. And my advice in those moments is the same every time: wait. Give the decision a few days or weeks to settle in, to distribute itself evenly across your body. Big decisions can take time to reach every part of you, as if they started in your head or your heart but need time to spread themselves all the way down to your toes. I think of a freight train, where the first car has already switched tracks even while the last car is miles behind. It will catch up, eventually; you just have to give it time.