Tag Better Choices

Making Better Decisions

Steve Keating 2 Comments

It has been said that every decision we make, makes us. I believe that is true. It’s also true that the better our decisions the better our lives will be. Yet, many people struggle to make decisions. Their progress in life is hampered because they can’t, won’t or are simply afraid to decide. What they often fail to realize is that not making a decision is in fact a decision. It’s a decision to do nothing. That’s almost always a bad decision. 

It’s almost impossible to “fix” a decision that wasn’t made. When you make a bad decision all you have to do is make a better decision to fix it. Making more and better decisions is a valuable skill that can be developed through practice and a thoughtful approach. Here are some steps to help you improve your decision-making abilities.

  1. Define the decision: Clearly understand the decision you need to make. Identify the problem or opportunity you’re facing and define the desired outcome or objective.
  1. Gather information: Collect relevant information and data related to the decision. This might involve conducting research, consulting experts, or analyzing past experiences. Ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing the decision.
  1. Identify alternatives: Generate a range of potential options or solutions to consider. Avoid limiting yourself to just one or two choices. Brainstorm different possibilities and explore creative alternatives.
  1. Evaluate the pros and cons: Assess the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. Consider the potential risks, benefits, costs, and consequences associated with each option. Consider the consequences of the consequences but don’t paralyze your decisions making ability by over analyzing. You must find balance here. Prioritize the factors that are most important to you or align with your objectives.
  1. Consider your values and priorities: Reflect on your personal values, beliefs, and long-term goals. Ensure that the decision aligns with your principles and supports what matters most to you. Sometimes, it may be necessary to make trade-offs or compromises. But, and this is big, do not compromise on your core values. Fight for them. If they aren’t worth fighting for then they aren’t really core values to begin with. 
  1. Analyze the potential outcomes: Project the potential outcomes of each alternative. Consider the short-term and long-term consequences and how they align with your objectives. Assess the likelihood of success or failure for each option.
  1. Seek diverse perspectives: Engage with others who have knowledge or experience related to the decision. Seek different viewpoints, feedback, and advice. This can help you gain valuable insights, challenge your assumptions, and identify blind spots.
  1. Trust your intuition: Intuition can play a role in decision-making, particularly when you have relevant experience or expertise. Listen to your gut feelings, but also balance them with rational analysis and evidence.
  1. Make a decision: After weighing the information, alternatives, and perspectives, make a choice. Avoid excessive hesitation or indecisiveness. Trust yourself and have confidence in your ability to make sound decisions.
  1. Take action: Implement your decision and follow through with the necessary actions. Develop a plan, set deadlines, and allocate resources as needed. Be adaptable and willing to adjust your course if new information or circumstances arise.
  1. Evaluate the decision: Once you’ve implemented your decision, evaluate its effectiveness. Assess the outcomes and learn from the experience. Determine what worked well and what could be improved for future decisions.
  1. Reflect and learn: Continuously improve your decision-making skills by reflecting on past decisions and learning from your successes and failures. Seek feedback and seek opportunities to refine your approach.

Remember, decision-making is a process, and it’s normal to make mistakes. Sometimes you won’t need this entire process. Sometimes you’ll use all of it but the process will be brief. Sometimes, the process will require a significant investment of time. 

In any event they key is to make a decision. But, it’s not really a decision until you act on it. Acting on a decision is vital to effective decision making. By consistently practicing and refining your decision-making abilities, you can enhance your skills and make more informed and effective choices over time.

And remember, the better your choices, the better your life!

Making Better Decisions

Steve Keating 1 Comment

Somebody really smart once said that our lives our made from the choices we make. I believe, good or bad, we are all only one decision away from a completely different life. That means we need to be certain we are making the best decisions possible in our life. 

Making decisions is a complex process. It involves weighing various factors and considering the potential consequences of each option. Some decisions are so complex that many people decide not to make them at all. But deciding to not decide IS a decision. 

It’s a decision to allow other people or random circumstances to choose your life’s course for you. That hardly ever works out well. So YOU need to decide, even with all the risks that can come with a decision you’re better off deciding than not. 

So here are some steps you can follow that are likely to help you make better decisions.  They can also remove some of the stress associated with decision making. 

  • Identify the decision: Start by identifying the decision you need to make. It’s important to be clear about what you want to achieve and why you need to make the decision.
  • Gather information: Once you have identified the decision required, gather as much information as you can about the options available to you. This could include research, advice from others, and your own experiences. Sometimes you’ll need to “trust your gut” when making decisions. Know that your “gut” is likely a life experience that you have forgotten but your subconscious mind has not. You almost certainly know more than you realize, trust yourself. 
  • Evaluate the options: Consider the pros and cons of each option. Think about the potential benefits and risks of each choice, and assess how well each option aligns with your goals. Go deep here, consider the consequences of the consequences of the consequences. Play the “what if” game. What if this happens? What if that happens? Good decision makers are seldom surprised by an outcome of their decisions. That’s because they have considered all the possibilities. 
  • Make a decision: Based on the information you have gathered and the evaluations you have made, choose the option that best aligns with your goals. 
  • Take action: Once you have made your decision, take action to implement it. This may involve communicating your decision to others, taking steps to put your plan into action, and monitoring your progress. You may have felt a weight lifted off your shoulders when you made your decision but you need to understand, it’s not a real decision until you act upon it. 
  • Evaluate the results: After you have taken action, evaluate the results. Assess whether your decision has led to the outcomes you were hoping for, and whether you need to make any adjustments or changes going forward. I like to assume that some adjustments will be needed. Having to make adjustments is not the sign of a bad decision, it is a part of making your initial decision even better. 

The better your decisions the better your life will be. You make tons of decisions everyday. Most are made subconsciously. Some of those can have a bigger impact on our lives than we realize but it’s the ones that keep us up at night that really matter. Don’t allow other people or circumstances to make those decisions for you. You are better off making a wrong decision that you can fix rather than surrendering control of your life to someone else’s poor decisions that you can’t fix. 

Make your decisions fearlessly. Know full well that you are in control of your life and you’re only one decision away from having exactly the life you want. 

A Different and Better Year Ahead?

Steve Keating 2 Comments

If you randomly ask 100 people if they would like 2018 to be “better” most everyone would say yes. When you ask them what they are going to do to ensure that it is indeed better you’ll likely get just as vague an answer as the question you asked. 

 

The problem with the question of course is that “better” can be defined in literally millions of ways. Better to one person might be less rain in 2018 but if your a farmer in a drought stricken area less rain would be the exact opposite of “better.” 

 

The more specific you are in stating exactly what “better” looks and feels like the greater your chances of actually having a better 2018.

 

Setting goals for yourself in 2018 can most certainly help, making resolutions almost certainly won’t. But whether you have goal or resolutions heading into the new year your best chance of having a better 2018 is simply to make better choices and decisions.

 

You likely have far more choices than you realize and you have a ton more control over the circumstances of your life than you think. If fact, if you’re like most people you don’t actually consider just how much of your life you can change just by changing the choices you make. 

 

You choose your friends… do you ever consider that? Do you complain about one friend to another? I suppose everyone does that once in a while but if you are consistently complaining about one or two people in your life then you should be asking yourself why you are allowing them to be part of your life. 

 

The most successful people do not complain about things they have control over, they just choose to change them. You get to choose your friends and you get to choose most of the people who are a part of your life. 

 

You are basically the compilation of the five or ten people you spend the most time with. That means one of the fastest ways to change your life is to change the people you hang out with. 

 

That’s not always easy, in fact it’s frequently hard, but it is worth considering and then doing if you want to be in control of your life. 

 

Another choice most people seldom consider is their thoughts. You DO choose what to think in any given circumstance. You can look for the good or the bad in most any situation and more often than not, you’ll find what you’re looking for. 

 

Your thoughts play a major role in controlling your life because your thoughts almost always are reflected in your actions (even if you believe you can hide your thoughts from other people) and it’s your actions that people pay attention to. Always remember, people believe some of what you say but they believe everything that they see you do. 

 

I’d encourage you to pick one day, one single day is all you’ll likely need, pick a day and consider for just a second or two why you thought what you just thought. Where did that thought come from? Before you do something pause for just two or three seconds and ask yourself why you’re doing it. 

 

It will likely take far less than a day for you to realize how many choices you actually make without considering how much those choices will impact your life.

 

Sooner or later we all sit down at the table of consequences. Whether what you eat at that table is sweet or bitter is the result of hundreds of choices you make each day, many without even realizing it was a choice. 

 

Once you realize how many choices you actually make in a day, many without even thinking, you’ll have a chance at making better choices. Better choices lead to a better life. 


So what exactly does “better”mean? Well that’s just another choice that you get to make for yourself.