How to Make Decisions Effectively

WholeLife Matrix: Financial Viability / Resource Management

“I am not a product of my circumstances.  I am a product of my decisions.” — Stephen Covey

 

Each day, we are confronted with decisions that need to be made.  Some are trivial decisions like what to wear that day, others are more significant like whether or not to continue a relationship or what direction to take a career or business.  In this article, we offer some ideas on effective decision making.

One idea to help you make decisions is to minimize the amount of decisions you need to make so that you can focus on the truly important ones.  When doing research, collect a reasonable amount of data, but don’t get bogged down with too much information or over-analyze the information.  These ideas also apply when dealing with customers. Giving costumers too much information or too many choices can leave them confused and unable to make a decision about what product or service to buy.  So it is a good idea to put information into a concise and easy-to-follow format, such as a bullet point list.

Another way to minimize the amount of decisions you need to make is to pre-plan the things that you will do each day and automate as much of your routine tasks as possible so that you don’t have to think about them every day.  For example, a lady I spoke with told me that she now wears only black pants so that she won’t have to spend mental energy each day thinking about how she will match her pants with her blouses. That is now one less thing to worry about, which gives her more time to focus on more important matters.

Fear of making a bad decision often keeps people from moving forward and creating new experiences in their lives. But it is possible to be too careful, even with major decisions.  Sometimes you just have to get started and deal with issues as they come up, as with starting a new business or getting married. Making good decisions comes from experience and from making some bad decisions. Also, many decisions are not as major as we think they are and can be changed or reversed.

A good decision can be something that takes you out of your comfort zone and leads you to trying new things and grows you as a person. Ask yourself if the decision will get you closer to or farther away from what you want. Also ask yourself if, later in life, you might regret not making the decision. Make decisions based on where you want to be, not based on where you are currently. Creating a spreadsheet can help you evaluate the pros and cons of each potential decision.

When making major decisions, use both data and what your gut tells you.  Also consult someone who has been in that situation before. Their knowledge can give you insights and help you arrive at the best decision for you.

In the WholeLife Matrix, the way we manage resources for our business effects the information in the following categories:

1. Market
2. Clients
3. Prospects
4. Competitors


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Ralph White
Business Coach, Author, Artist & CEO
310.372.8538 | Ralph@Consulting2Win.com
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