[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]How difficult it can sometimes be to make a decision, right? You feel blocked, nervous or scared. You brood over the situation but you do not decide what to do.
How to decide when you do not know what to decide or do not dare to decide. There are times or situations when we have difficulties. So, let us see why that is and how to facilitate decision-making.
We make decisions daily
Actually life is full of decisions, small and large. Usually, there will be decisions that we do not have trouble making. In fact, we do not even stop to think that we are making a decision at that moment.
Drinking water or a soda, what to eat, what clothes to wear are examples of decisions we make throughout the day without attaching it importance. How to spend our free time is a decision. Choosing a task or another at work is also deciding.
Avoiding decision fatigue
However, our decision-making capacity decreases as we make decisions throughout the day. The more important decisions we make, the more trouble we will have not only to make effective decisions but to decide actually easy things such as differentiating between more or less important tasks for example. This decreased ability to judge is called decision fatigue.
Therefore, it is advisable, as far as possible, to limit the number of crucial decisions we make per day. We also need time to recover after making a complicated decision.
What decision fatigue is and why you should avoid it. #decisions #decisionmaking #decisionfatigue Click To Tweet
Making quick decisions
There are times when we suffer the pressure of having to make a decision urgently. If you feel distressed and confused, these steps can help you:
1. Calm down
Inhale and exhale several times slowly to calm down. This will help you think more clearly.
2. Define the decision to make
What is the goal to achieve, that means, what do you want to achieve or avoid?
3. Is that decision of your competence?
Do you have enough knowledge about the matter to be resolved? It may not be you who should make the decision but you ought to delegate it to another person with more experience.
4. Evaluate the risks
Identify the main risk involved in the decision to be made. If the risk is high, what would be the consequence of not deciding right away?
5. Do you have all the relevant information?
Consider if you lack relevant information to make the decision knowingly. If it is risky to make the decision without certain data, look for ways to obtain it. Under time pressure you probably will not get all the information. But if there are facts that can have an effect on the result, you will need to be able to form an idea and opinion as accurately as possible.
6. Use the 10-10-10 technique
This technique is useful for any important decision but it also works for you at this moment of pressure. It consists in visualizing the effects and consequences of your decision. Think about how you will feel in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years if you make one or the other decision.
7. Consistency
Under the pressure of deciding quickly it is not convenient to introduce changes in your way of thinking and acting. Instead of getting creative or taking risks with something you have not done before, trust your knowledge, previous experiences and convictions. Making a quick decision is risky and this minimizes the risk.
8. Request more time
Whenever you can, ask for more time to make an important decision in a well-founded way. If you do not get more time, trust your instinct and your resources to assess the situation and your options.
Do you freeze or get distressed when you need to make a #decision under time pressure? Which steps to follow to make it easier. #decisionmaking Click To Tweet
Making meditated decisions
Luckily we do not always have to make decisions urgently. Then we can take more time for reflection and to obtain the information we need to align the decision.
Even so, when it comes to making a decision that will have an important effect on our lives, fear of uncertainty and failure can paralyse us. We are not sure what the consequences will be. We are afraid of being wrong. That is why it can be helpful to ask ourselves some questions.
It is in your moments of #decision that your destiny is shaped. #TonyRobbins #decisionmaking Click To Tweet
Questions to ask yourself before making decisions
1. What are the consequences in the short and long term?
How will the decision affect your life and your environment? Again use the 10-10-10 technique. How will you feel within 10 minutes, 10 months or 10 years of making one decision or another or not making any?
2. What is the outcome in the worst and best case?
Can you afford the first and want the second? Are you limiting yourself to the best possible result? Sometimes fear stops us from making important changes or thinking big.
3. What are my wishes now and for the future?
How do you want your life to be? How do you see yourself in the future?
4. What do people in my environment think?
Are there people in whose opinion you trust? Then you can ask them for advice. They may help you consider the situation from another angle. However, keep in mind that they will advise you from their own experience and beliefs. They may also be afraid of uncertainty and failure. Therefore their vision may be limited.
5. What does my intuition say?
When we make a decision, our ego, our mind and our heart speak to us. Do fear and vanity or courage and humility lead you? What does your intuition tell you? What would you do if you were not afraid?
Making important #decisions for our life can be complicated. Which questions help you gain clarity. #decisionmaking Click To Tweet
Steps to make important decisions
In addition to asking yourself the above questions, the following steps will help you make decisions when you are having a hard time.
1. Define the decision and the desired result
Just as in case of making decisions under pressure, it will be necessary to define your decision. What do you want to achieve? Ask yourself what the best possible outcome looks like. Also assess the consequences in the worst case.
If you have asked yourself the questions I have proposed before, you should have the answers to this point.
2. Set a deadline to make the decision
Sometimes we may have a given deadline. For example, when it comes to deciding on one job offer or another, you will not be able to postpone the decision forever.
For other decisions it must be ourselves who define the deadline. This can be difficult. But if you do not set a date, you will postpone the moment again and again.
3. Add restrictions to limit your options
If, when making a decision, you do not take into account the restrictions, you can feel overwhelmed with all the possible options. This is like being in a big supermarket in front of a shelf with all kinds of candy.
Just as you do not like all the sweets, not all options will be valid for you. According to the decision to be made, you should consider your personal, professional and family situation, your interests and your desires. So, consider what limitations you should take into account so that the options are valid for you.
4. Identify the options
Given the restrictions, what options do you have left? Considering the limitations you will surely be able to rule out a few options. Therefore it will be easier to identify the possible options you have left and thence make a decision.
5. Consider the pros and cons
Next, create a table with a column for the pros and another for the cons for each of the options. Take time to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages, positive and negative consequences of each option.
Of course it will not be as easy as choosing the option that has more points in favour since some pros will weigh more than others. But putting it all black on white will help you gain more clarity.
6. Decide and do not look back
The time has come to decide on an option. Which one is closest to the desired outcome and will have more benefits for you? Which has less negative consequences? Remember that not all pros and cons will have the same importance for you.
Even if you have asked trusted people for advice and are going to take their opinions into account, remember that you know yourself better than anyone. What you value may be of little importance to another person. Or what you consider an intolerable negative effect may not be as important to someone else because of their circumstances.
When choosing an option, keep the big picture in mind. Also, consider whether your decision is sustainable in the long term.
7. Start taking action
Once your decision is made, start taking small steps in the desired direction. The path is created by walking. Until you take action, you will not be able to dispel the uncertainty about the benefits and consequences.
8. Check your decision
As you move towards the chosen option, you can evaluate and review your decision. Few decisions are irreversible. However, even if it is, it does not mean that you cannot adapt your action plan to the circumstances.
Do you think you were wrong with your decision? If things do not go as expected, consider what you can do to obtain what you wanted.
You know you should make a #decision but postpone it time and again? These steps help you gain clarity and take action. #decisionmaking Click To Tweet
Not making decisions is also a decision
Now you might think that if making decisions is so difficult and tiring, you rather avoid doing so. You may avoid making a decision for fear of uncertainty about the effects or for not wanting to be responsible for the results.
However, both making a decision and avoiding doing so has its consequences. Not deciding puts us in a passive position. At first glance it may seem easier not to act or to shut up about something. However, that way we have also made a decision, that of watching from the sidelines, not sharing what we think or acting as we should.
It seems easier to say later on that you already knew that it was going to go awry, that you would have done it better, that they do not do things as you would do them and so on. However, consider that you actually have no right. You decided to stay passive, not to clarify things, not to help them turn out well. At the end of the day we can all be very smart. But the brave at least try. They take action, influence the course of events and take the reins of their life.
And in the end it is not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years. #AbrahamLincoln #decisions #decisionmaking Click To Tweet
Recap
Remember that there is no right or wrong decision. Until we make a decision and move in a direction, we do not really know how things will turn out and all the consequences they entail. But do not put pressure on yourself thinking that it is so definitive that there is no going back. Frequently there is the option to withdraw if we have not burned all bridges. But often, we do not want to go back and just need to adapt our decisions or action steps to improve the outcome.
Do you have trouble making decisions?
Do you find it difficult to make decisions? What do you have most trouble with? The pressure of time, the uncertainty about the consequences, the number of options?
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