The Power of Decisions

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: THAT IS THE QUESTION

Whether it’s what time you get up, what clothes you’re going to wear, what you want to consume, how you set your priorities, where you travel, your lifestyle, or any other aspect of your life, did you know that you make around 35,000 decisions a day (Decision-Making Made Ridiculously Simple).

According to a 2017 study by Huawei, it turns out that only 0.26% of the decisions we make are made consciously. For example, while people think they make 9 decisions a day about food, their brain makes up to 221 decisions a day only about food. Meaning that there is a significant gap between the number of decisions we think we make every day and the number of decisions we actually do make.

We make decisions every day. And each decision determines a destination. While some decisions have little impact on our lives (choosing a restaurant), others can literally change the course of our personal and professional lives (buying a house, hiring that employee, getting married).

That’s why learning how to make smarter, more strategic, quicker, and more informed choices can make the difference between just enduring life or building the life you aspire to.

Think about the big decisions you’ve made in the past and the impact they’ve had on your personal and professional life… Looking back on them today, do you wish you’d been better equipped to make better decisions?

THE CHALLENGE WITH DECISIONS

Theodore Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the best next thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

I’ve trained thousands of people all over the world to make better choices. No matter where they come from, what they do, what challenges they face or how they think, good decisions, at the end of the day, are always a matter of good direction.

When time comes to decide, you worry about making the right choice. But do you know what the right choice looks like?

Over time, we develop decision-making models that guide every decision we make in different contexts. The problem with most of these decision-making patterns is that they were developed at different times in our lives and have never been re-evaluated, despite the passage of time and the evolution of our beliefs and values.

We must learn to break out of this limiting pattern.

MAKING A GOOD DECISION

Here are the 4 steps to help you making the right decision:

1. Framing the situation: Framing is the thought process you use to clearly define a situation and with as few filters (omissions, distortions, and generalizations) as possible, and then decide how you’re going to deal with it.

2. Determining the real problem: The symptoms, but above all the causes, as well as the desired outcome.

3. Defining the various alternatives (ideally 3).

4. Evaluating the alternatives and choosing the one that best corresponds to the desired end result.

PITFALLS TO AVOID

Pitfalls are out there and numerous. The more you learn to recognize them, the better prepared you’ll be to avoid them and get the results you want once you’ve made your decision.

Anchoring:

Avoid relying only on your own opinions and the opinions of those who support you.

The status quo:

It’s easy to understand why so many people choose not to act. However, it’s important to constantly assess whether the situation is still guiding you towards your goals. If it isn’t, you’ll need to turn the wheel, even if it’s a tiny bend, to get back on track.

The cost of a shipwreck:

You’ve made a bad decision and feel it’s too late to do anything about it, so you keep making decisions based on the original bad choice. You tell yourself that you’ve invested too much time and money in this business to walk away from it. You’re unhappy and dissatisfied, but you keep going. It never works.

Confirming the obvious or “surrounding yourself with people who agree with you”:

It’s easier to confirm our decisions when other people support our choices. Unfortunately, that’s not what you need. Challenge yourself. Ask for differing opinions and listen. The answer may lie in the middle ground.

THE ROLE OF INTUITION

According to some studies, 45% of executives use their intuition, above and beyond the facts, to make their day-to-day decisions. That’s a lot!

Intuition is a kind of flair or instinct that you develop by listening carefully and consciously to your environment. A blend of acuity and daydreaming, it requires you to disconnect from your rationality and enter a state of full awareness. Although instinct is said to be present in all humans, it takes practice to access its powers.

Intuition is an essential business asset for decision-makers:

People considered as intuitive are described by their colleagues as highly experienced, with a high level of responsibility.
Studies carried out in companies have concluded that an organization’s profitability is linked to its leaders’ ability to anticipate and sense things.
The business environment is increasingly uncertain and difficult to predict. In this context, managers need to decide, despite the absence of guarantees about possible consequences.

It’s important to put your intuition to the test, especially if you’re not used to recognizing it.

Don’t blindly follow your intuition and, conversely, assume that only rational data can help you. Maintain a healthy balance between the two.

Consider intuition as another form of data in your decision-making process.