Summary
What we do each and everyday, even in those in-between moments, affects the quality of our lives directly. If the choices we make each and everyday send ripples that ultimately can shape the long-term course of our lives, it makes sense to put as much thought into those choices as possible.
It can be an overwhelming process – especially today in an age in which we are all deluged with an overabundance of information. Even deciding where to go for dinner can be an exercise in endlessly researching countless options. So how can we even begin to develop a framework for making better, more constructive decisions?
Regardless of the decision that awaits you, there are some standard best practices we can all follow to ensure that we are setting ourselves up for success with the choices that we make. Read on to learn more about how you can best optimize the choices you make to ensure a better tomorrow.
Transcript
If you feel like modern life has become increasingly complex, you are not alone. Deluged with a flood of information and communications from our hyper-wired society, it is little wonder that many of us find it harder than ever to choose a path in life. With so many paths seemingly wide open, it can be truly baffling to decipher which route is the best to take.
It’s tempting to perennially subscribe to the notion that “tomorrow is another day”; that our choices in the here and now have little impact since we can always get a mulligan on the next round. But the truth is that the choices and decisions you make – on matters large and small alike – directly impact the quality of your career, relationships, and legacy on this planet.
While none of us have access to perfect knowledge or can operate in complete confidence that we are taking the right path, we can strive to make our decisions with the very best spirit in mind. There are numerous examples of choices you can make that will help to better the odds that you will ultimately find yourself on the path to success.
I’m just one person. By no means do I have all the answers to what it takes to succeed in life, especially when it comes to the wide range of fields that readers may be pursuing success in. But I can shed some light on what types of strategies have proven to be most effective in helping me reach the level of success I have.
Simplify The Situation
The first key to making better decisions is to winnow down the amount of things that you do. Too many of us needlessly overcommit our time and energy because we don’t want to say no and disappoint someone, or we truly are being offered a wide range of excellent opportunities.
The problem with trying to do everything is that you ultimately wind up doing nothing. Rather than flailing in the wind at every opening that comes your way, guard your time jealously. Commit yourself to carrying out just a few key activities – and carrying them out with excellence. If you have laid out your core priorities that you are focusing on, you will be able to much more effectively screen out all of the distractions and diversions that are jockeying for your limited bandwidth.
Sleep On It
Another key step to making better decisions is to not make impulsive choices. Train yourself to step back and take the long view. We too often exalt those who seem decisive merely because they act quickly. True wisdom often requires taking quiet time out to reflect and consider your decisions from the long-term view. So don’t refrain from “sleeping on it” when it comes to making a big decision that could potentially have long-term implications for you and your family.
Taking this time to reflect before making major decisions will increase the odds that you make your choices with logic and reasoning in mind, rather than being buffeted by the emotions that can often well up when you are in a big moment. By removing yourself from the intensity of the present and thinking about what you want your life to look like down the line, you will be much more likely to choose accordingly on the best information available to you.
Avoid Information Overload
Resist the temptation to drawn yourself in too much information and data. With the amount of knowledge available at your fingertips or in the inside of your smart phone, it can be tempting to research every single decision you have to death. A certain amount of homework is good for ensuring you are making an informed decision, but you also run the temptation of losing the forest for the trees. Be sure to combine information that you have extracted from second-hand sources – like reading – with your own intuition, experiences, and personal values.
Advisory Circles
Another key component to making better choices is to have a cadre of trusted advisors and confidants that you can have delicate conversations with. Just as business and government leaders have their “kitchen cabinet” stable of advisors, you should know whom you can depend on to give you unvarnished advice. This may well often be individuals who have known you for a very long time who have good insight into who you are and where you come from. They may well be the most likely figures to help you keep perspective on who have you have set out to be from the beginning, regardless of where the twists and turns of life have taken you.
Calm Leads To Better Decisions
Also keep in mind the impact that your environment and surroundings have on you. If you are stressed and torn about a big decision that you have to make, it may likely relate to the environment that you are maintaining, either at home or at the office. You can avoid this by making some small steps to ensure that your environment is stress-free and conducive to thought. These steps would include making sure that you have access to natural light as much as possible, with minimal clutter or distractions which may relate to the distractions you are feeling in your process of sorting out the decisions that you need to make. These may all seem like minor, cosmetic factors, but they play a subtle and deeply rooted impact on the way that you think and feel and perceive the issues in front of you.
No One Is Perfect
There is also quite a lot to be said for accepting the limits of how much you can expect. As much as you may want to optimize your choices to allow for the best possible outcome, you may find greater peace of mind ultimately by learning to accept some limits on what you can expect from the future – and how well things have to turn out. Rather than striving for nothing short of perfection, be patient with yourself and allow yourself some room for growth in the future. Knowing how to pick your battles and how to prioritize what you care about will allow you to avoid going “to the mattresses” on every single issure. You only have so much bandwith – rather than overanalyzing every issue to death, be content with simply doing your best.
Have Conviction
Once you have made a decision, try to avoid wavering too much and changing your mind immediately. Allow some time for your decision to fully play out, including the consequences, before you make a hasty change of course that may only dig you deeper into a ditch. At the same time that this spirit of remaining resolute to your decisions is important, you should also strive to maintain a certain degree of flexibility and openness. Be open to the idea of change –including changing your mind. You can imagine why this combination of determination and agility is a rare combination to find in a leader. Rather than being beholden to any particular school of thought, you will be far more effective if you do know when to stay the course and when you need to revisit your original assumptions.
Remember that your decisions can ultimately be left up to the whims of fate and chance, so be kind with yourself – and with others. You are doing the best you can with the uncertainties of life. However, taking these steps will give you a decided advantage in meeting them.
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