How To Make A Decision

We are all good at giving out advice but it’s different when we have a conundrum ourselves. Experience sometimes teaches us how to make a decision but it’s difficult for some people to do all through their lives. There are different approaches, which often reflect our personalities.

The scientific method involves writing down pros and cons on a piece of paper and seeing which column comes out longest. A more laid back person may leave it all to an eight ball or a Chinese fortune cookie. Others avidly follow their horoscope or have their tarot cards read to guide them. In times past, this is just the method that rulers used when they had important choices to make. How to make a decision can mean delegating to someone else, if only to offset any blame away from ourselves. Leaving it to fate can be fun as long as the decision isn’t too serious.

Someone wrote a book called The Dice Man in which he traveled round and based all his decisions on the roll of the dice. If we all went through life doing that, it would be chaos. Sometimes the best advice on how to make a decision, especially one we have been wrestling with for some time, is to completely forget about it for a while. The break in thinking can often pop the right answer into our heads just when we’re not expecting it. How much weight we give to other people’s advice is a debatable point. Often, when we ask advice, we have already subconsciously made our decision and want someone else to validate it.

People with high-powered jobs have to make vital choices everyday. Some are financial decisions that affect the stock market and the jobs of thousands of people. Medical staff are the ones that really have to know how to make a decision. They have to function in stressful situations and decide quickly, often in life and death situations. Pilots and air traffic controllers are called upon to do the same. In these situations, people have to be confident and instill confidence in others. Military leaders who show indecisiveness will not gain the respect of their service people. Standing in a war zone and tossing a coin does not foster good morale.

Everyday, we, make small decisions; what to wear, what to eat etc. How to make a decision should come easily, after all we get plenty of practice but important decisions are a whole different ball game. Sometimes, when we are standing at a crossroads and frozen to the spot, tossing a coin seems as good an idea as any.

How To Make a Decision

One skill that is necessary for success in life is decisiveness. Many of us don’t really know how to make a decision on our feet. We tend to second-guess ourselves and make our approach to choices a little more complicated than they are. Following are some ways to help you learn how to make a decision without fret.

The first thing you want to do is oil the system. Practice how to make a decision on a regular basis. Be confident and soon you will be comfortable with your choices. Why waste time running options through your head without results. Once you know how to make a decision you are well on your way to being confident in your ability.

Having options is great if you have time. You aren’t going to want to use your new “how to make a decision” skills on a major life-changing event. If you are looking for a new job or considering relocating you might want to take a more in-depth approach to your decisive action plan.

Writing things down is a great way to work through a problem. Brainstorm your different options and be exhaustive in the task. You might find that you will come to how to make a decision just by going over as many options as you can muster. The next step is to weed out the options that aren’t going to work out.

Once you have your options narrowed down to a few you can start considering the pros and cons of each. This is a time-consuming approach but it is how to make a decision that works though your different options as well as the possible ramifications for your choices.

Part of knowing how to make a decision has to do with your intuitive nature as well. If a choice doesn’t feel right then it probably isn’t for you. Even if the option is mostly positive it isn’t the best choice if your intuition tells you otherwise. Trust your instincts when exploring how to make a decision.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice especially if others are directly involved in the outcome of your decisive action. An aspect of how to make a decision relies heavily on your interactions with others. No matter what, though, the final decision is up to you. Once you become comfortable you will be confident in you decisiveness. It just takes a little practice.