What else might be true?

While many people want to believe that their conscious (i.e., logical, data-processing) mind controls all their decisions and their behavior, this is not always so. Many decisions, changes and shifts take place below the level of consciousness. It is not uncommon to find yourself doing things despite your logic-based conscious decision to do just the opposite! The implication of this fact is not that you need to throw up your hands and give up - it is to realize that there are other ways of knowing, deciding and changing that you can tap into and use to your advantage beyond those traditionally based on data and logic. You can call the source of this "other knowledge" by whatever name makes you feel comfortable: intuition, a higher power, the universe, your unconscious mind - what you call it is not important. The important point is that you can have access to it if you can do the following:

1. Learn to be still

Unlike the intensive data gathering you do to make a conscious logical decision based on data, to tap "other ways of knowing" requires that you be still. You need to stop stuffing your brain with new information - you need to clear space so that the answer can "bubble up."

2. You need to "ask the question" without trying to drive the answer

Ask the question (e.g., What should I do? What do I need to know?) and then let go for awhile. Forget your usual tactics of asking everyone around you for input, researching on the web, or engaging your conscious mind in active debate.

3. Get your conscious mind out of the way

Often your conscious mind will have a hard time disengaging from the conversation and analysis around the dilemma/decision you are facing and you will need to take steps to get it "out of the way." One approach is to ask yourself the question you need answered just before you go to sleep. Another is to engage in some repetitive, but not too mentally challenging, activity such as gardening, folding towels, jogging, or house cleaning that will mildly distract your conscious mind.

4. Listen for answers in non-traditional ways

The primary mechanism by which your conscious mind communicates with you is via words you hear in your head. It is the internal dialogue that you engage in. While sometimes other sources of knowledge will also present themselves in this way - as a voice you hear in your head answering your question or telling you want to do - often you may receive your answer via other modalities - for example, visual or kinesthetic. Even when the answer from your non-conscious resources presents itself through a voice in your head it is frequently distinguishable from your conscious voice in that it comes accompanied by a feeling - a feeling of "sureness" of "rightness" or of "relief." While your internal conversations with your conscious mind seem intellectual or cerebral, the communications from your other sources of knowing often feel multi-dimensional and invoke feelings.

5. Acknowledge your other sources of information

It is important to be respectful of, and appreciative for, the information you receive from sources other than your conscious mind. As silly as it may sound, it is important to "give thanks" or express gratitude for the answers or changes you experience.

6. Act on the information you receive

It is often the case that our "fact gathering and logical processing" decision muscles are strong and frequently used while our muscles for accessing and using other sources of information have atrophied. To strengthen the latter we must act on the information we receive from these "other" sources so that we can experience the concrete evidence that they actually work.

The Bottom Line

The message here is not that using data and logic to make decisions is a bad idea - it is that it is only one approach. It is not "the way" it is "a way" and there are others that can be useful in some circumstances. If you can accept the notion that the belief: "The best decisions are made from data and logic" is just an assumption and not a "fact," then this will free you up to add additional options to your decision-making toolbox.

If you make a decision to "do something" or to "change something" based on facts and logic - but then notice that it doesn't "stick" - it may be time to acknowledge that you have already tried utilizing all the conscious resources you have, so that you can then move on to try a different approach.