As I wrote last week, my husband and I are in the midst of figuring out where we want to live and whether now is the right time to buy our first home. After finding ourselves stressed to the max with analysis paralysis, we turned to a 16th century priest to help us clear the way.
So what does a 16th century priest have to do with decisions?
Why? Well, St Ignatius of Loyola knew a thing or two about making decisions with an anxious and conscientious personality. He struggled with this in his own life, and sought to outline a process to help the anxious and confused make good decisions. He focuses on taking actions that move you where you want to go. That sounded good to us, so we looked into what his discernment process was.
The Ignatian approach to decision-making
A step-by-step process for using this approach can be found here. The process has some basic steps, such as ensuring you are actually able to make a decision and that you know what the various options before you are. From there, it is an iterative process of seeking information, reflecting on the information and moving towards a decision.
There is an emphasis on taking time to reflect, listening to both the logical and emotional sides of your being. What does the information and advice say that you have compiled during the research step? How do you feel about that information or the decision you’re contemplating? St Ignatius notes that feelings of peace, joy, calm and enthusiasm are important markers that can guide you to the right decision.
I find this focus on both logic and feeling very helpful. It saves you from making the ‘right on paper’ decision when it all feels wrong, but also helps you avoid making a decision based only on emotions.
So, how’s it going?
We’re still working through this process around our home-buying decision. At this point, we haven’t found our way clear to anything yet. I can say that having a process to follow has been deeply helpful in itself. We’ve got steps to focus on that slow down any emotional rush, but also stop us stagnating. Taking more time to reflect will, we both hope, allow things to become clearer. I’ll let you know how we go.
