Can’t decide – Too many choices!

Decisions are something we need to make every day.  From small decisions to large decisions – and it’s not always easy making them.

Does it have to be about yes or no?

Recently,  I was sitting in a bakery when a mum and her two kids came in for a treat.  The mum asks the kids to choose which cake they would like.  The kids ran up and down the counter carefully eyeing up the range of cakes on offer and pondered the options, looking like they were tasting each one in their imagination first. One shouts  ‘I want the cake with the smarties.  No, can I have the one with the chocolate topping or maybe …”  It went on for a few minutes before the mum got frustrated and said, ‘Make a decision, which one do you want?’.   The kids who by saying yes to one treat,  had to say no to all the other options. 

What is a decision?

Decision is a Latin word derived from two words.  Cision is to cut, De is from. So, it basically means to cut from.  When we make a decision, we cut off from other possibilities, in other words when we make a choice and say yes to one thing, it means we have to say no to other possibilities. With so many choices in life and business some people find it really difficult to make big life decisions.

Napoleon Hill, author of the famous book Think and Grow Rich said that ‘LACK OF DECISION was near the top of the list of the 30 major causes of failure’,  He said ‘This is a fact’. 

The pain of procrastination

Procrastination is the opposite of decision and is something we need to overcome if we want to do better in life.    This is relevant at every stage  – at Government level,  business or personal level, indecision impacts productivity and slows down the marketplace.  It slows us down and often causes us to miss opportunities.

Back to the bakery

Making the choice to go with the doughnut and say no to the cupcake faces us with the biggest challenge to decision making – how is my choice going to impact my life?  Some decisions have very short-lived impacts.  Which cake I choose, or what I have for dinner isn’t that material, however some decisions can have life changing and in cases catastrophic impacts. 

So how do you decide?

People use different strategies for making big decisions, like changing jobs or ending a relationship, moving to a new location, or starting a business.  One of the most common approaches is to make a list of ‘pros and cons’.  Quite often the list of con’s will be longer because it is driven by fear.  Of course, by its very nature it is ineffective to compare (pro’s) positives and negatives (cons) because you are not comparing like with like.    

Another approach is to use the rubber band model.  When I have a big decision to make, I think of a large rubber band pulled in two directions.  One direction is not right and the other wrong, they are simply different. On one side, make a list of ‘what is holding me’ and on the other side a list of ‘what is pulling me’.  This way you end up with two positive lists to compare and contrast and choose the one that one appeals more.  

I will be talking about decision making and other skills to ensure a prosperous future during my new course, The Prosperity Vibe, based on the teachings of Napoleon Hill in his worldwide best seller Think and Grow Rich.

For more information or to book a call with me to discuss whether this course would be a good fit for you please log onto my website www.evelyncormican.com and book a call or telephone on 00353 (0) 876083846