I had a bit of a hard time deciding how to go about this topic, the title and even the image to use and somehow, I ended up just starting and going through with the process until I got to this stage and I see progress, that is what matters. I'm not a decision making person even though I've gone through a series of them growing up.
As the eldest in my family, there is almost no day without taking one decision or the other as I have responsibilities to care for. Even with all those many decisions taken, whether they turn out good or bad, I'm yet to get used to the feeling it brings.
The feeling you get when you have to make a decision especially, major ones? I doubt I'll ever get used to it.
I don't know for others but there are more decisions I've taken that I wished I could take back after witnessing the result than the ones I feel proud taking at those times I did. It doesn't mean, these wrong choices or decisions at some point were not beneficial to me, I just wish I had it much better than I did.
Making major decisions like the ones related to one's status, family matters, jobs and even schooling, they are hard to come to a stand that would work out fine on the long run. But the thing is, these decisions must be made.
How and what steps do I take when making decisions?
How I make these decisions doesn't take too many steps as I seem to lose some patience at these times. I know it's always best to keep a cool head and calm mind when one is about to make a decision but we do know there are times we have to make hasty ones that would take too long for anyone to keep a cool head first.
In such a time, I just go with my gut and having it in mind that "I lose, or I win". I mean, decision making is a small war of thoughts and actions to risk in winning or losing and we count our losses to win in the end. That kinda consoles me so I go ahead to decide.
The special steps I take to make decisions that could make or mar are:
- Acknowledge the situation and possible outcomes:
It's one thing to be faced with a problem and it's another to think positively or negatively about it. Accessing what the problem or situation is and then providing myself with possible outcomes from that situation depending on my decision is a step I always try to take. It works fine when you don't have to hurry in making a decision, take your time.
- Research and learn from others mistakes:
Not every situations are new to me, some I have seen people go through them before and some, I've had to learn from similar situations. This helps me to think better when I have to take a decision that may seem similar to what I've seen or experienced before. Making research is another step I take too, especially when it is a very new situation. Today, there are countless guides online to research on before taking some decisions.
- Ask questions, stay calm and play cool
I try not to act with fear when I want to make a decision especially the ones that I know would play a big part of my life. It's not easy but whenever I succeed with this, I tend to come out stronger. Asking questions about what I am not sure about works almost all the time. Although, I was never like that but it's in the past and I don't see any wrong in asking important questions to better my decisions.
How I cope with the outcome of my decisions?
Whatever the outcome is, especially when it turns out to be a bad decision, I try to stay positive and think of another decision to make to get out of it. Crying over it for too long is not my style and I'm one of those who thinks life's too short to worry too much and have too many regrets.
I've once cried over a wrong decision but that didn't stop me from making more of them, it only taught me better on how to go about new decisions.
First image designed with canva
