This Is Your Year - Week 20 - Decision Making

The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making --knowing what to do based on the information available. While not being critical can be dangerous,  so too can over-analyzing or waiting too long for more information before making a decision. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes. 

Which job should I take, What car should I buy? Should I ask him to marry me? Am I ready for another baby? Life is full of hard choices; the bigger they are and the more options we have, the harder they get.

As it happens, our brains are fairly binary. They can react quickly when presented with two options, especially when one is clearly better -- stay here and drown in the rising waters or climb onto that big rock and be safe? Easy choice, easy decision.

When presented with more options, though, we choke up. Jump onto the rock or climb the tree? We don't know which is clearly better, and research shows that most people will not choose at all when presented with several equally good options.

Practice, experience, and rules of thumb can help us to make those split-second decisions. Fortunately we don't normal face immediate, do-or-die decisions -- we usually have the luxury of working through a decision. 

What kind of decision maker are you?

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