How do you make decisions?

Decisions are important and their timeliness is as important as all other considerations used to arrive at them. How do you make your best decisions? Here are some tips.

Minimise middle of the road decisions: Such decisions tend to be ‘non-decisions’ compared to firm decisions. When you don’t make a firm decision, things ‘hang’ and prevent you from focusing fully on what’s ahead. Always make bold decisions to move forward without worrying about any loose ends.

Resist being led only by what makes you happy: Anytime you have to make a decision either for yourself or on behalf of others, take the approach that moves things forward and allows you to deal with it once and for all. That means a decision that may be difficult could still be in your interest without necessarily making you happy in the short term. If you think about decision making this way, you will be less likely to with vacillate.

Make decisions a real solution: Decisions are not ‘nice to do’ things simply to occupy you. They are meant to improve outcomes. The more difficult a decision is, the more critical it is to be decisive. If a decision needs time, make the time. If you water down decisions and avoid issues that need resolving, you’ll undermine the quality and timeliness of what you could achieve.

Stop the maybe-ing: Going with ‘maybe’ when you can be more definite can waste time. When you are not sure, but time is of the essence then trust your hunch. Going with your gut can feel uncomfortable, but will help you avoid leaving a decision hanging simply because you don’t have all the data. Give yourself a deadline to make the decision if you are prone to wavering.

Stop rearranging the problem: Decisions often relate to solving a problem. Don’t rearrange the problem in the hope it will work itself out or because you’d rather not face the decision. Have the right perspective on it, but don’t make a problem look like something else in order to ‘’give yourself a break’’. Decide.

Now take action: Reflect on how you make decisions. What can you improve?