What is your DECISION? Everything starts with a choice.
Everything begins with a choice.
We make probably hundreds of choices each day. Some are quite easy and insignificant like if we’ll have toast or a muffin with breakfast this morning.
Others are pretty huge and greatly impactful like whether or not we should invest a large sum of money into a massive advertising campaign.
But nothing starts, whether it’s breakfast or an ad campaign, until we make the choice. That’s a great deal of power, but sometimes that power paralyzes some people and their inability to make a decision can cause tremendous problems for themselves and others.
How do we learn to make decisions with authority and confidence?
How do we make a choice that will finally let all of the pieces move toward an end goal?
Here are a few ways we can become stronger decision-makers.
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- Study it out. Often times, the reason we fail to make a choice is because we don’t feel we have enough information. Do research, talk with other business owners or a mentor, go to a seminar or workshop or consult your own team members. Gather the necessary information and making a decision will become much easier.
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- Understand your own goals. If you are completely sure about your own goals and the direction you’ve set for your company, then making a decision gets a lot easier. If you’re not sure what you want out of your business or if goals are vague, then when a choice presents itself, you’ll find yourself fumbling.
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- Check your mood. Bad decisions usually happen when emotions run high. Check your own emotional state before making a decision. If a client just backed out of a deal, you’ll most likely be upset. When you’re upset, it’s hard to think clearly enough to make a good decision. Waiting it out and giving yourself a little time to become more objective is better for decision making.
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- Don’t let your past dictate your future. We’ve all made bad decisions. We’ve all messed up a big choice. That doesn’t mean we’ll always make bad decisions. All we can do is learn from those experiences and move forward. You are not a bad decision maker, you simply made a bad choice.
It would be great if we could see the future. We could make decisions with confidence if we knew what tomorrow would bring. However, all we have is the information of today and the experiences of the past. Take what you’ve got and learn to make decisions now. And remember, you can certainly avoid making choices, but that also means you’ll avoid making progress.