Are you staring down the barrel of what could be one of the biggest decisions you’ve ever made? And are you wondering just how you’ll make this decision and what the implications will be?

Some of the hardest decisions can be the ones between your head and your heart, and while it’s easy to say “follow your passion”, unfortunately we can’t yet pay our bills with passion and enthusiasm. The biggest decisions in life are rarely black-and-white, and they can have huge implications on just how your life will look a few years down the line.

Here are some tips for making life decisions:

Listen to your gut

Sometimes we already know what we need to do, but we take far too long to actually make the decision since we’re afraid of what will happen. This means that we go through a lot of mental drama involving careful planning, a pro and con list, and deep analysis before we make our decision. While all of these things are excellent ways to think logically about your decision, often we already know what we want to do, and our gut will let us know what it thinks if we really listen.

Advise a friend

One good idea is to take all of the emotion out of it, since this can cloud your mind and make it even more difficult to make a solid decision. Instead, pretend like you’re advising your friend what to do, which will take some of the emotion away. This can be a little tricky, but pick a friend who has similar traits and a similar outlook to you, and you’ll find that mentally talking “them” through the decision can be a great way to be logical about the process.

Get a tarot reading

If you’ve never had a tarot reading before, these can be a great way to discover the right decision. Whether or not you believe in the process, there’s little doubt that you should consider getting a tarot reading if you’re someone who likes to have impartial input into your decision making process. A tarot reading can open up even more options, and can help you discover the path that will lead to the most happiness for you and your loved ones.

Take past decisions into account

If you’ve made past decisions that have either worked out well or have had the opposite result, it’s time to spend some time analysing these decisions. What did you learn from the decisions that were unsuccessful? And why do you think the decisions that worked out well had the result that they did?

Ask what was good about each decision, what was bad about them, and what you can learn which will help you with the big decision you’re making now. Also, don’t focus on the short-term effects, but focus on your life as a whole, so you can be sure you’re not being too narrow when you look at individual decisions.