15 WAYS TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
1. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DECIDING
The first step is to define the decision clearly. Do not just say, I don't know what to do. Be specific about the choice in front of you. Are you deciding whether to quit your job, accept another one, leave a relationship, invest your money, relocate or start a business? A vague problem is difficult to solve because you don't even know exactly what you are trying to decide.
2. LOOK AT THE CONSEQUENCES
Before choosing an option, look at what each choice could actually mean for you. What do you gain? What do you lose? What happens if things go well, and what happens if they don't? Consider the immediate and long-term consequences, including the financial, emotional and practical effects. Do not only think about how you will feel when you make the decision. Think about what living with the decision will look like afterwards.
3. GATHER EVERY RELEVANT FACT YOU CAN
Get the information you actually need before deciding. Check the numbers before investing. Read the contract before signing it. Find out what actually happened before confronting someone. Do not make a major decision based on rumours, assumptions or incomplete information.
At the same time, decide what evidence would be enough to make the decision. Research is supposed to help you decide, not become another way of avoiding the decision. Once you have the information that could realistically change your choice, stop researching.
4. CHECK WHAT IS WITHIN YOUR CONTROL
Do not build a major decision around things you cannot control. Focus on what you can influence and prepare for what you cannot.
If you are considering leaving a job, you can control your applications and preparation. You cannot control how quickly another company will hire you. If you are starting a business, you can control your capital, costs, product and execution. You cannot control whether every customer will buy from you.
Look at the finances, time, responsibilities and resources you actually have, not the ones you wish you had.
5. DISTINGUISH A TEMPORARY PROBLEM FROM A PERMANENT ONE
Do not make a permanent change to solve something temporary.
Not every bad day requires a new job. Not every argument requires a breakup. Not every financial setback requires abandoning a business. Sometimes you need to solve the problem in front of you, not completely change your life because of it.
Ask yourself: Is this a temporary situation that will likely pass, or is it a deeper problem that requires a decision?
6. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT FRAME OF MIND
Do not make major life decisions when you are extremely angry, desperate, afraid, lonely or carried away by excitement.
A temporary emotion should not be allowed to make a permanent decision for you. Give yourself enough time to calm down and think clearly, especially when the decision cannot easily be undone.
7. CHECK WHETHER YOU ARE BEING RUSHED
Be careful when someone is pressuring you to decide immediately, especially when money, a contract or a major commitment is involved. Sometimes urgency is genuine. Sometimes it is simply pressure. If someone says you must pay today, sign today or decide immediately, ask yourself why you cannot have enough time to understand what you are agreeing to.
A good opportunity should not automatically make you abandon basic due diligence.
8. SEEK A SECOND PERSPECTIVE FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE RELEVANT EXPERIENCE.
Seek the opinion of people with relevant experience, not just people who have an opinion.
If you are making a career decision, speak to someone who understands that career. If you are considering an investment, speak to someone who understands the investment. If it is a relationship issue, speak to someone who has enough maturity and context to give useful advice.
Be willing to hear things you do not want to hear. Asking for advice is useless if you have already made up your mind and only want someone to agree with you.
Continuation 👇👇👇
This is free advice from an expensive psychologist. If you’re an anxious person, do everything for fun. Go to a job interview for fun. Submit documents for fun. Start a blog for fun. Anxiety feeds on importance. Don’t make everything a matter of life and death.
Somebody said “The love you receive from someone who knows how to be alone is the most sincere there is.
A solitary soul loves you by choice, not out of a need for company.” and that’s so true.