Here are two keys to help you regularly make good decisions to improve your life.
Key 1: Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
How much is a litre of water worth?
Well, if you’re reading this, you can probably get a
litre of water for a few cents from your kitchen tap.
Yet, if you were dying of thirst in a desert, you’d
happily pay a hundred bucks for it, right?
On the other hand, you’d pay a hundred bucks
an hour for a plumber to avoid the water being
there in the first place (in your flooded basement,
that is).
Many people believe value is intrinsic to an object.
Sure, water is water is water, but its value varies
enormously depending on what you need it for.
Decision making is a very personal business
— it’s about assessing what’s valuable to you.
There’s no absolute best job, best car or best life
to be lived: value is in the eye of the decision maker.
How to Apply This Insight
Always decide on your own.
Sure, factor in other people’s opinions, but bear in
mind that they may value things (very) differently.
Blindly following other people’s advice may
lead to disastrous decisions — even if they
are based on “sound” advice from people
with the best intentions of helping you.
Key 2: Your Decision Outcome Can Be No
Better Than Your Best Alternative
Many people believe that if they just think hard and long
enough, great outcomes will result from their decisions.
The truth is: no matter how much effort you put in, no
decision outcome can be better than the best alternative
you considered.
And no amount of analysis or systematic thinking will change
that.
Having a good amount of alternatives to explore and choose
from, then, is essential for making great decisions.
If you’re having a hard time deciding, it doesn’t mean you’re a
poor decision maker: most likely you’re just out of decent
alternatives.
How to Apply This Insight
Generate many alternatives. Before jumping in and
deciding among just two or three options that first
come to mind, spend time generating plenty of new
alternatives.
Take Action:
The next time you have to make a decision use
one or both of these simple keys
At Resilient Minds we help our clients grow their resilience
so they can perform at high levels on the really important
things in all aspects of their lives.
Increase Your Resilience:
Our next open resilience development programme is on at the University of Auckland on November 26th and 27th.
Warm regards
Jamie Ford
‘A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man
follows the public opinion’––Grantland Rice
www.resilientminds.co.nz
Thought Leaders in Resilience, Productivity, and Wellbeing