Our lives are the sum of the decisions we’ve made and didn’t make.
Good, Bad, or Ugly, our lives are defined by our ability to make good decisions.
Since our lives are governed by making decisions from the moment we wake till we go to sleep, it is imperative we learn to make them better and faster.
There are basically 3 types of Decisions you will be faced with.
1. No-Risk Decisions – These will be most of the ones you will decide on each day. What will you watch on TV, what will you wear, or which coffee shop to stop at on the way to work?
2. Low-Risk Decisions – These will be decisions you have to make with very little at stake. Which hotel will you stay out, what gym will you join, or where will you go on vacation?
3. High-Risk Decisions – These Decisions are important and will have lasting results. What job or career will you pursue, or do you buy a business? Do you get married?
Decision-making is a muscle that can grow stronger with the right kind of workout or weaker through indecision.
Once you know what type of Decision you are facing (No, Low or High Risk), you can apply these steps to make better and faster decisions.
1. Avoid Decision Fatigue – This will drain you of energy and focus by taking too much time on the hundreds of decisions you Must make daily. For the No & low Risk, give yourself 5 seconds to decide and move on. The more time you stress over these small decisions, the more you set yourself up for failure and a life of anxiety. It is so much better to make a snap decision for these, even if you get it wrong, rather than paralyze yourself with indecision.
2. Follow your WHY – What is your Purpose & Passion? Once you know this, you can use these as a guide to decide which direction you should take. Ask does this take me closer or further away from my Purpose and Passion?
3. Get comfortable with Failure – No matter how good and fast you get at making Decisions, you will be wrong at least 25% of the time. True Failure can ONLY happen when you Don’t make the decision. We can recover & Learn from making bad decisions, but not making a decision at all means something or someone else will make the decision for us. This will lead to a life of regret!
4. Make your High-Risk Decisions when you are at your peak energy and focus. For me, this is very early in the morning. What times of the day are you at your best?
5. Go with your Gut – There will be times you just can’t decide because all the choices are equal. What do your instincts tell you to do?
6. Stop Over-Thinking – We live in a time with overwhelming information, and this can lead us to overthink. Set a time limit for these Decisions and stick to it to protect yourself from Paralysis of Analysis!
“People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.” Napoleon Hill
Find Your Passion…Find Your Life!