7 Important Steps to Take when Making a Decision ...

1. Write down Your Options

One of the first steps to take when making a decision is of course to take a little piece of paper and write down your options. There might be a lot of alternatives, so make sure you list them all. Take your time and write down every suggestion you have, no matter how crazy or impossible it may seem. Then, talk to your loved ones, ask them for suggestions and write them down as well. Make sure you haven’t missed a thing, so you’ll have all the facts when you come to make that decision.

2. Analyze Possible Outcomes

After you list all the options you have, analyze every possible outcome and every scenario and add a little plus sign (+) for positive or a little minus sign (-) if you think it might be negative. You could also write down next to them the likelihood of each of those scenarios to actually happen. Make sure you estimate those percentages based on existing research and on your observations, so you won’t let your fears get in the way of making an important decision.

3. Pretend You Are Advising One of Your Friends

Sometimes, your emotions can cloud your judgment and that’s why, when you have an important decision to make, try to detach yourself a little bit and simply pretend like you are advising one of your friends. Maybe it will seem a little bit silly at first, but if you manage to concentrate, you will be able to see things from a new perspective, you’ll be able to be more objective and you won’t let your feelings get in the way of making the right choice.

4. Limit the Amount of Information You Take in

I know you may think that the more information you have on a certain thing, the more you’ll be able to make the right decision. Sometimes though, too much information can damage that decision making process and there is actually a lot of psychological research that suggests the fact that people encounter different obstacles when making a decision, when they have too many options to choose from or a lot of time to think about them.

5. “Flip a Coin” Trick

This is another very helpful trick you can use when you have to make some important decisions and you can’t simply choose between all those different options you have. Try flipping a coin and if you realize you don’t like or you don’t agree with that answer, and you find yourself flipping that coin again just to get another result, then I think you’ve already made your choice and maybe you were only too scared to admit it. On the other hand, if you find yourself to be extremely happy that your coin has fallen heads-up and you don’t want to try again, then there’s your answer too. This trick will help you pay attention to your own feelings or desires.

6. Be Prepared for Any Negative Outcome

I know you can’t always be prepared for everything, but you should at least try to do your best. Before making any important decision, try to visualize every potential negative outcome and think about different ways you can react to it. Think ahead and always be prepared for the worst. If indeed your choice won’t be the best one you could have made, at least you’ll have a backup plan you can use to make things better again.

7. Let Go of Your Fear!

Don’t let fear cloud your judgment when you’re trying to make an important decision. Don’t let anything get in the way of your success! Even if things won’t go as planned and you’ll make some mistakes along the way, you’ll still be able to learn a lot from them, so don’t be afraid of failing because nobody’s perfect after all.

Making an important decision is never easy especially if there is a lot at stake. Try to approach the problem from various angles and listen to your emotional instinct as well. Did you ever regret making a certain decision? What other important steps be taken when making a big decision? Please share your opinion with us in the comments section!

Sources:
wikihow.com
lifehacker.com