If You Follow These 2 Rules to Make Decisions, You're
More Likely to Succeed in Life
It’s estimated that we make about 35,000 decisions every day.
These decisions include: what to wear, what to eat, and what to
say. In the latter case, you’re likely to have to decide thousands of times a
day on what you are going to say to others. This could range from ordering your
morning latte at your local café – to putting your point across persuasively in
a team meeting.
Decisions… Decisions… Decisions…
They are constantly needed for us to actively partake in life.
However, were you taught how to make decisions at school? Probably not. It’s
likely that you were also not taught that effective decision making is an
essential component of success.
To help you out, I’m going to give you a brief tour of what
skillful decision making looks like, and how you can learn to do it.
You Don’t Need to Be a Know-It-All to Make Right Decisions…
There are two little-known methods of making great decisions.
These two methods have been tried and tested over the years by the vast
majority of the world’s most successful people.
Can you guess what these methods are? (Please compare your answers
to what you’ll read below.)
Winners in Life Make Decisions Quickly
·
Indecision leads to mental fatigue. By making quick
decisions, we can maintain our mental vitality, which gives us the best chance
of making the correct decisions going forward. As an example… You need to
decide on how to reply to a customer complaint letter but keep putting it off.
This ongoing issue is likely to negatively impact any other duties or decisions
that you need to make at that time. Instead, decide how to reply to the customer
– and then write the letter.
·
Quick decisions put you ahead of your
competitors. Imagine for a moment that you run your own company that sells
computer software. Your industry is super-competitive, and you constantly need
to offer new deals and new products to stay in the game. You hear about an
exciting new piece of software that is trending across social media. However,
you’re not sure whether the software will be a good fit for your business. You
could choose to ‘wait and see’ how the software sells for other companies, or
you could decide to take the plunge and become a reseller immediately. Luckily,
you picked the latter, as the software proves to be one of the most popular
releases for years. You won big, because you acted quickly.
·
Perfect decisions are a myth. I know what
you’re thinking… Surely, if I spend time weighing up the pros and cons of a
decision, I can come to the perfect conclusion? Unfortunately not. In fact,
it’s a common misconception that a perfect decision is just waiting to be found.
Think of it this way, if you seek the perfect decision, you are probably going
to end up making no decision – and thus taking zero action. Successful people
look for the best decisions, but they also understand that perfect decisions
are few and far between. For example, if you’re looking for a new job, firstly
decide what area of work you would like to do. Then narrow this down to
specific roles. You may end up with just one role, but usually it’s better to
keep your options open by having several alternatives.
Winners in Life Stick to the Decisions They Make
·
It takes time to see whether a decision was wrong or
right. Let’s say that you want to move home to a city that you’ve
always enjoyed visiting. You sell your current apartment, and then immediately purchase
a property situated in the heart of the new city. After your initial enthusiasm
has worn off, you begin to see the negatives: the city is noisy, it’s polluted,
and you don’t know anyone. At this point, you could conclude that you made a
bad decision. However, if you were to give the new apartment and city more
time, you may change your mind. For example, you may discover quiet, green
parks for relaxing in nature. You may also start to make friends with people
you meet when you’re out and about. Eventually, you may come to love your new
home.
·
It’s easier to make further decisions based on your
initial decision. Career decisions are at the top of most peoples
‘difficult choices’ list. You may have one idea, but your partner or family may
have other ideas for you. The secret is to reach a decision promptly – and then
stick to it. This has a number of benefits. Firstly, once you have made a
decision, you can get on with the required steps to achieve your career goals.
Secondly, when you come across any challenges to reaching your goals, you’ll be
able to take the necessary decisions within the context of your initial
decision. This will help you to make the right choices – and with the least
amount of mental effort.
5 Surefire Ways to Help You Stick to the 2 Rules When Making
Decisions
While it may take some time to break your current habits,
becoming a great decision maker is easier than you may believe.
Implement the below methods, and watch both your decision making
and success begin to reach new heights.
Set your decision criteria
The most important thing when it comes to decision making is
knowing exactly what you want to achieve. If you’re not absolutely clear on
your objectives, then it will be tough to come to any decisions.
Imagine that you were considering taking up a new hobby but had
no idea where to begin. If you leave this to chance, you’ll probably end up
doing nothing. A better approach is to analyze what you are already good at and
enjoy. For instance, if you love listening to music, then learning an
instrument might be a great hobby for you.
Stop endless information gathering
In today’s ‘information age’, we’re led to believe that
researching all the facts and figures before making a decision is a necessity.
This is okay, until you find yourself becoming addicted to unearthing more and
more information about something. When this happens, you become a full-time
researcher, and a no-time actioner!
Break free from this ‘analysis paralysis’ by knowing when you’ve
gathered enough information to make a good decision. You can see this
demonstrated in detailed reports that always include an Executive Summary. For
busy CEOs, the Executive Summary gives just enough information for them to
understand an issue – and to make a decision on it.
Assess the risk/reward ratio
Every time you make a decision, there is a risk that something
could go wrong – but also a reward if something goes right. Let’s say that you
need to decide on a whether to accept a promotion at work. The new position
offers more money, but also comes with more responsibility.
To make a decision on this offer, you would need to assess
whether the extra money was worth the added responsibility. To give you another
example, professional investors live by their chosen risk/reward ratio. Before
each investment, they decide what the potential gains are, compared to how much
they could lose. Only once they are happy with this ratio do they decide to
invest their money.
Decide on a backup plan
However good your decision making, there will times when things
go wrong (sometimes badly!). For this reason, it’s vital to always have in
place a backup plan when making major decisions. Professional athletes are an
excellent example of this. At any time, their career could be prematurely ended
through injury. Because of this looming threat, most professional athletes have
a backup plan ready to be actioned. This could be a university degree that will
allow them to quickly move into a new career, or if they want to stay within
athletics, then they may have taken the necessary training to become coaches or
psychotherapists (for example).
Create decision making habits
First-rate decision makers didn’t become that way overnight.
Instead, they honed their decision making over months and years. You must do
the same. Start by getting into the habit of making decisions promptly, and
then sticking to them. If you struggle at first, then begin with small
decisions, and then move onto the bigger decisions when you have more
confidence to tackle them.
Outstanding achievers have learned how to be great decision
makers. Fortunately for you, the secrets to their success have now been
revealed to you.
Take this knowledge – and begin immediately applying it
Craig J Todd
http://www.lifehack.org/600142/if-you-follow-these-2-rules-to-make-decisions-youre-more-likely-to-succeed-in-life?ref=mail&mtype=daily_newsletter&mid=20170607_tuning_v1&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&action=click
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