I’ve heard it said that the average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. That’s a crazy amount of decisions!
Decisions are everywhere we turn. Big, small, and everything in between. So I wanted to pass on my two best tips today to help you with that process.
There are two broad styles of decision-makers.
I’ve seen a variety of styles over the years, but there seem to be two general types. Which is more you?
The first are the decisive deciders. They look at the choices before them, and just decide.
No hesitation, no debating, no extensive investigation, no angst. Just decide and done.
I have a daughter who has this style. I’ve always admired her ability to just decide without hesitation, but honestly, I’ve also been a bit mystified at how she can do it with almost every decision, big and small.
Personally, I relate more to the other camp that struggles a bit (or a lot) more – we’re the debaters, deliberators, and, often, delayers. (These tips are especially for you!)
Faced with a decision, there can be a lot of mental drama.
What are all the options? How might they all play out? Am I going to like the outcome? Who is going to be affected? What is the right thing to do?
It’s easy to get stuck – paralysis by analysis is definitely a real thing.
We can keep thinking about it, researching, debating, and asking our friends’ opinions.
Our tendency is to want to have it all figured out before we make a move, but that’s actually very counter-productive.
If this is you, I want to share my secret for cutting down the mental drama and making decisions you can feel really good about, along with a practical strategy to do so.
The secret can seem a bit counter-intuitive – but it truly is the secret to getting unstuck.
Clarity comes from action.
Clarity does not come from thinking about it and trying to have it all figured out.
We must take a step to move out of the “thinking about it and asking your friends” realm in order to get clarity.
What action can you take to move one step closer to your goal of having the decision made?
Take someone to coffee to ask questions, volunteer for a couple of hours, tour a school, job shadow for an afternoon, do an informational interview, or get factual data (not just opinions).
This is why I offer aptitude testing for those deciding on a career and major direction. We get objective data about your natural abilities and find out which combination of careers are the best-fit for you. Leads to so much clarity.
I’ve also learned a super helpful strategy for making decisions that are the very best for you.
Establish criteria for your decision first.
Criteria is a decision-maker’s best friend.
Think about what factors are important to you – these are your criteria.
For example, if you’re deciding on a new couch, you might care about comfort, color, size, delivery time, cost, where, and how it’s made.
Or if you’re deciding on colleges, you might care about cost, location, campus organizations, good programs in your desired major, and study abroad options.
Establish criteria in the areas that are important to you, and list them on an evaluation grid.
Run your options through the evaluation grid, reaching out and researching to get the information you need to evaluate how well each option meets your desired criteria.
The best choice for you will become so much more obvious, and you’ll have much more confidence you’ve made the right decision for you.
Try it out and let me know how it goes.
I’m here to help!
To your success,
