Are you one of those who spends some time every day deciding what clothes to wear? When you meet a friend for a drink, do you always leave the other person the responsibility of choosing the place? Is going to an all-you-can-eat buffet hell because you are overwhelmed by so much food to choose from? Well, keep reading because what I’m going to tell you interests you.
With this article I intend to help you learn to make intelligent decisions and end the bad habit of indecision to be at peace and satisfied with your life.
Notice that one of the things we do most in our daily lives is make decisions. From the moment you get up until the moment you go to bed. And your life is a direct consequence of all of them.
When we think about making decisions we normally think about big and transcendental decisions like studying philosophy or mathematics, or whether or not to marry my boyfriend, etc. But throughout the day we took many others. Having toast or cereal for breakfast, going to work by bus or walking, etc… And on many occasions, what makes the differences are these small decisions
Common mistakes when making decisions
Part of the ineffectiveness when making decisions has to do with the habit of not knowing how to recognize a series of errors The main ones are the following.
1. Focus on what you reject
Don’t focus on what you stop earning, which in economics is known as the opportunity cost, but what you can gain if you choose that option This way you will not fall into the dreaded analysis paralysis, which is neither more nor less than not making any decision due to excessive analysis.
We become procrastinators. We leave for later what we should decide now. If you wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, is ready, clear and there is no risk or uncertainty, you will never make a decision. To avoid this error, Set a deadline for resolution and stick to it
3. Being afraid of making mistakes
Error is part of the success process. Successful people make a lot of mistakes What happens is that they make mistakes early, young, cheap and only once in each thing. That’s the idea. You’re going to be wrong no matter what. And those mistakes will be great teachers for you. Therefore, lose the fear of error.
Before continuing, I would like you to write down on a piece of paper a question about which you have to make a decision. I want this article to be as useful as possible and to help you at least with the most immediate question you have.
You already have it? Let’s go for it!
Tips for making good decisions
To improve your decision-making capacity, follow these guidelines.
1. Establish what is priority and secondary in your life
The first comes first. And many times we do not put the first thing before making a decision. And we make decisions based on the secondary goals of our lives.
I recommend that you do a list of the most important things in your life 5 things. And rate them from 1 to 5, according to their importance. And when you have to make a decision, ask yourself how it affects these 5 things. By order. If it favors them you will be making the right decision, if it does not favor them you will be making the wrong decision.
2. Implement firewalls
Firewalls will be limits that you will not cross when making decisions. Or what is the same, you make the decision, before making the decision. With this you avoid making a decision in the heat of the moment or letting yourself be carried away by emotions. So, you protect yourself
Example: Going to a job interview knowing that less than X money, more than X hours or less than X responsibility, I will not do it, I will not accept it.
3. If you have made a bad decision, let it go
Jump out as soon as possible. Life is too short to insist on things that do not bring you anything Sometimes we make a wrong decision and hope it changes. We are stubborn. And I’ll tell you something, every day that passes, as you have invested more, in time, in money, in resources, emotionally, every day it is more difficult for you to make mistakes.
This applies to a book that you have started reading and you don’t like, a course that is not what you expected or a relationship that does not fulfill you.
4. Accept the worst possible scenario
Assess what is the worst possible, real, scenario for making the decision. I clarify that it must be real, because there is no need to dramatize Thinking you’re going to end up under a bridge. And as I said, it is important, because if you are prepared for the worst possible scenario, you accept it and you can face it, then you don’t have to be afraid to make that decision.
5. Simplify and stick with 2-3 alternatives
Instead of thinking through 50 possible options, try to reduce them as much as possible to 2-3. The fewer options we have, the less our mind will wander and consequently we will make better decisions.
6. Use the “hot coffee” technique
If a very hot coffee arrives at your table, what do you do? You wait, let it cool for a few minutes and then drink it. Well, with decisions that seem urgent we can do the same
Example: A co-worker comes to you and tells you that you have to decide the date of the vacation now or your wife asks you if you want to accompany her shopping. Don’t make the decision in the heat of the moment, wait a little, cool down and make it.
Of course, be careful and don’t get so cold that you become a procrastinator.
7. Make the decision when you take action
Action is the bridge that connects thoughts with results. So in any decision, the process ends not when we think about it but when we take action.
8. Trust your intuition and creative ideas
People think that people who make rational and thoughtful decisions do not usually follow instinct. Intuition is that thought, that feeling that is on an unconscious level and that gives you different vibrations depending on what you think about.
On the other hand, according to studies of people who have to continually make decisions for work, more than 49% let themselves be guided by intuition They themselves say that intuition is trained. As you make more and more decisions, your intuition becomes more refined. And they also dare to have creative ideas. Therefore, taking wise ideas is not at odds with letting yourself be carried away by intuition.
9. Be silent
It is difficult to make good decisions in our hectic daily lives; from one side to the other, in the car, surrounded by people and noises. It is very easy to stop making decisions because you have to do things. A moment of silence is the best thing that can come to you for taking decisions.
A while in total silence. Go to the park, the beach or find a place where you can be quiet by yourself and where no one will bother you. No wi-fi, no phone, no watch.
It is time to take the role from before, with the decision that you did not know how to make and apply some of these techniques. You don’t have to apply them all at once. Stick with the ones you like the most or think best suit your case.
I just have to thank you for coming this far and I hope that all this information I have given you is useful to you. If you dare, I’ll wait for you in the comments and on the networks.
