Decision making is one of the most frequent things that one does daily. Small to big choices are made every now and then from what clothes to wear, what route to take when driving to work, or even concerning career moves.
It is true what they say that your personal decisions can make or break you.
Set a Personal Deadline for Decision Making
Some people have difficulty in decision making. You may take too much time thinking about what you should or should not do and so most of the time decisions are made at the last minute when there’s really no time to think about it too much. Here’s an example, which commonly happens to a lot of people: You’re in a restaurant trying to decide what food to order. You are taking too much time deciding so when the waiter asks you; you just blurt out one of the menu items that are right under your nose. Later on, you feel like you should have ordered pasta rather than a burger. A better example that can hugely affect someone’s life is when faced with a career decision. Say for example you were offered a managerial position but you’d have to move to another office location. You put decision making on the side for later until it’s time for you to actually give your answer already, but you realize you haven’t given much thought about it. In the end, you just make a decision without really thinking too much about it.
Overthinking When Trying to Make Decisions
Decision making requires you to think things over; however, a lot of people just think too much about it and forgets about the more important things. Some may think too negatively and for the example given above, one may say, “My boss is trying to move me to a different location because he dislikes me” rather than just thinking positively, “I am very thankful that my boss is giving me the opportunity for career growth!” To avoid overthinking when faced with a huge decision, it is best to write down the pros and cons and decide from there.
Set Limits and Focus on Your Personal Values
One must always set limits when decision making because greed, selfishness, or too much ambition may cause bad decisions. Align your personal values and stick with them. If getting promoted to a managerial position means another person’s job has to be sacrificed in exchange of your career growth then you might as well think it over and realize if it’s worth it.
Embracing Rather than Expecting Failure in Decision Making
Don’t think that failure is inevitable when making decisions. Your decision making process doesn’t guarantee you a perfect outcome, and failure is possible, but you must learn how to deal with it. You should learn how to embrace failure and treat is a learning experience. As much as possible, rather than expecting it, avoid failure when faced with critical choices. However, you must be ready to face consequences just in case you fail. It will be better if you have a backup plan.