04 Dec Making career decisions in our professional career

We all face significant decisions that define the trajectory of our professional career: launching a business, changing sectors or roles, upskilling through training and/or studies, or even taking a pause to rest or rethink our career strategy.

It is common to feel doubt, blockage, or even fear when facing certain choices. We live in a fast-paced environment with multiple responsibilities and a volume of information that exceeds our capacity to process it. In this context, deciding is not always easy.

Common paths when making decisions in our professional career

• The Analytical Approach: We gather data, weigh pros and cons, and consult experts and trusted people. This approach is solid and rational, but sometimes leads to a well-known phenomenon: analysis paralysis. The more we think, the harder it seems to choose.

• The Intuitive Approach: We decide based on accumulated experience, instinct, or the urgency of the moment. Well-trained intuition is valuable, but it requires distinguishing it from emotional impulsiveness.

The ideal is to combine both approaches from a place of self-awareness: understanding what we are looking for, what we value, and where we want to go.

The invisible factors that condition our professional career decisions

Behind every professional career decision are variables that we don’t always see clearly:

• External Expectations: Partner, family, team, organization, or professional network.

• The Impact of Emotions: From anger or frustration to momentary enthusiasm.

• The Fear of Making a Mistake or missing out on unique opportunities (the well-known FOMO).

• Option Overload, which generates anxiety and causes us to lose focus.

• Cognitive Biases, such as confirmation bias, which lead us to validate what we already believe.

• Fatigue and Stress, which reduce our ability to see clearly.

How to improve our career decision-making

According to Begoña del Campo, a neuropsychologist and specialist in mental reprogramming, 95% of all the decisions we make are done from an unconscious cerebral level. She further clarifies that many choices we attribute to reason actually have a deep emotional foundation.

There is no magical, infallible formula, but there are practices that strengthen clarity and confidence. Here are some examples:

• Manage Your Energy: Making quality decisions requires rest, physical well-being, moments of pause, and perspective.

• Work on Self-Awareness: Identify your values, limiting beliefs, fears, and true ambitions. A professional who knows themself reduces friction when deciding.

• Accept Uncertainty: There are no perfect decisions. A margin of risk will always exist, and it is a natural part of growth.

• Listen to Your Intuition: Decades of experience generate valuable internal patterns. Intuition is not irrational—it is integrated knowledge.

• Seek External Support: A neutral professional—a coach, mentor, or consultant—can help us see what we cannot, identify biases, and clarify priorities.

In my experience, it is key to learn to listen to ourselves; our body is our internal compass, and it is advisable to learn to interpret its signals before they worsen.

A Final Thought

Throughout your professional career, when did you make decisions driven by fear, exhaustion, or external pressure? And when did you choose from clarity, personal coherence, and confidence in your experience?

The difference between these two realities often marks not only the result but also the way we progress on our journey.