Dare To Live Without Limits Week Of 7/18/2022

Procrastinating on a decision rarely works in your favor

A decision is an action you must take when the information you have does not lead to a clear answer or choice. Often, it’s difficult to know what the right decision is. No one wants to make a bad decision. Every predicament has a finite time limit for you to make a decision. Some issues require immediate action, while others are far less critical.
Decisions cannot be avoided by procrastination. Issues rarely resolve themselves. People who routinely opt for doing nothing when faced with a dilemma are in effect allowing others to determine the outcome.
Suppose you receive two job offers, each with its own good and bad points. You are torn between the two jobs and don’t want to make the wrong choice. So you take no action while you analyze and agonize. While you are deliberating, you lose one or both jobs to whoever was next on the hiring list. So when you made no decision, your prospective employers made it for you.
Very few decisions are irreversible. In most cases, if you make a decision and are unhappy with the outcome, you can make a new decision to correct the situation. Although you can’t guarantee that every decision will be perfect, you are still better off being proactive rather than passive.
People who are most often pleased with their decisions make them promptly and change them slowly, if at all. Those who are unhappy with their decisions make them slowly and change them quickly and often.
All anyone can hope to do is make the best decision possible with the most reliable information available at the time. Hindsight is always perfectly clear but the view forward is less so. It’s a rare situation where the choices are so clear that making the right decision is obvious.
Most of life is lived in a gray area where decisions are judgment calls. Virtually all decisions you make will have positive and negative components. Making an effective decision requires weighing all of the options and choosing the one that is most beneficial.
Although you may feel it’s helpful to get outside input, advice from others is not necessarily suitable. A particular decision might be great for one person yet deleterious to another. This is because each person has their own unique set of values and goals.
In order to make decisions that are right for you, you must first have a clear understanding of your goals and values. These will serve as a measuring stick with which to evaluate your different options.
Decisions you make must be based on your own objectives and desires. Everyone you ask for advice will offer an opinion based on their perspective. As well intentioned as they may be, their suggestions may not be appropriate for you or your situation.
Before making any decision, identify the potential positives and negatives for each course of action. You must be sure that the information you are basing your decision on is accurate and applicable. Any decision based on erroneous information has great potential to cause undesirable results.
Note what options you have if you are later unhappy with a particular decision. Obviously, any decision with irreversible consequences has to be given much more consideration. Once you know your goals, have gathered accurate information about your options, and understand the benefits and drawbacks of each option, you are ready to make your best decision.
Make decisions promptly. Putting them off rarely works to your advantage. Welcome the freedom to make decisions. Each one is an opportunity to steer your life on a course of your choosing.

NOW AVAILABLE: "Dare to Live Without Limits," the book. Visit www.BryanGolden.com or your bookstore. Bryan is a management consultant, motivational speaker, author, and adjunct professor. E-mail Bryan at bryan@columnist.com or write him c/o this paper.  2022 Bryan Golden