In our web era, unless you live off-the-grid and under a rock, you are being bombarded with information. Like the rest of us, you face the information overload challenges of our age in being able to tune into appropriate choices for ourselves. For virtually any problem, hundreds of “how-to” solutions are readily available at your fingertips for virtually any problem. But they can’t all be the best choice. Which one is right for you? Here are four ways to help transform your confusion into clarity.

1) Connect to your values.

Why it works:   Any major life decision has the potential to create more fulfillment–or more misery–in your life. This depends primarily on how aligned that choice is with your core values. Remembering your core values helps put your decision in the context of your meaningful life.

Why people resist doing it:  The thinking egoic mind always wants the easy fix, the quick buck, the instant solution. Often the choice that will create the most fulfillment in the long-term does not appear the most immediately gratifying to the thinking egoic mind.

How to do it:  Create possible future scenarios of your alternative choices. How would each choice affect your ability to live your core values in your life? Are some core values impacted more than others? How would you feel about yourself and your life in each of these projected alternative realities?

2) Aim for the more objective big picture.

Why it works:  Confusion comes from the conflicted emotional mind. Viewing alternatives from a larger more objective perspective brings new clarity.

Why people resist doing it:  We are driven by our emotional minds. There is almost invariably an unconscious emotional agenda for any decision we make, including the “decision” to be confused. If you can have the self-awareness to acknowledge this fact, it can often help you “de-bug” the emotional filters that are preventing you from seeing things more clearly.

How to do it:   Ask yourself, If I had an emotional bias that was clouding my perspective right now, what would it be? If it feels right for you, ask a trusted friend to help you see what you might be missing. Being this intentional about getting at the truth can shift your emotional perspective to see things more clearly and objectively.

3) Eliminate fear-based bias.

Why it works:  Confusion usually has fear at its core. Fear of making the wrong decision, fear of commitment, fear of failure, fear of success, and innumerable other subconscious fears can keep you in a unending thought loop of analysis paralysis. Eliminating fear brings the truth of any situation into the light.

Why people resist doing it:  Facing fear is uncomfortable because it can feel like acknowledging weakness or powerlessness.  The irony is that unless fears are faced they remain in your subconscious mind affecting your decisions and behavior.

How to do it:  Ask yourself: What fears are present here? Am I wanting to avoid something out of fear? Is there something that needs to be addressed? Is there something I want to be true that I fear is false? Use an emotional clearing technique such as tapping to eliminate any fears or wishful thinking that might be clouding your clarity.

4) Tune into the wisdom of the heart.

Why it works:  Clarity does not come so much from the thinking mind as from the heart’s recognition of truth. In fact, clarity is instantly recognizable in that it causes thinking to cease.

Why people resist it:  We live and are educated in a society that values brain based, linear, logical thinking.  We are simply not taught to listen to our body based wisdom when making decisions.

How to do it:  This method takes a bit of regular practice to learn but once mastered can yield remarkable results. It is an energy medicine technique that clears limited thinking patterns and aligns you with your higher mind.

Begin by mentally focusing on your heart space while tuning into your feeling of indecision/confusion. Then tune into how the indecision/confusion feels in your body as sensation. Does it feel like dizziness, tension, heaviness, tightness, constriction?

Once you become aware of the sensation, ask yourself if you can let it go. Visualize opening a window or door in the location of the sensation and let the energy leave. Continue to do this until you feel lighter and your mind becomes quiet. Now try to remember your original state of confusion/indecision. Notice what comes into your awareness.

I hope you find these techniques helpful.

How about you?  What do you do when you have to cut through confusion to clarity?  I would love to hear about it.  Please leave your comments below.