Making Good Decisions

Making decisions is hard. Especially when they relate to the future. So what is it that we can do without the benefit of hindsight, to spare ourselves pain and regrets later in life? Something that I would advise is learning what is involved in making good choices. For me, it comes down to three basic ingredients:

• Clear Head
• Good Communication
• Access to Correct Information

Clear Head

While getting a good night’s sleep and having a good education are very important, the foundation of clear thinking, in my experience, is found in your ability to balance two basic emotions. Greed and fear.

Living in a mindset of fear will close doors to opportunities and set you up for a lifetime of mediocrity.

Living in a mindset of greed will make you a perpetual wishful thinker who loses all ties to reality.

Whenever making a decision ask yourself if you threw one of these prisms entirely out of the window, or if you have examined the situation long and hard from both angles.

Good Communication

Setting out clear goals in a timely manner for both ourselves and others can be crucial for success.

If you just came to an important realisation an hour ago, you should not rush in to change the course of your life to suit this new development. Allow others involved in the project to get used to your ideas and give you feed back. Allow yourself time to plan and think things through with this new development in mind.

Formulate your objectives clearly so as not to be sidetracked by developments and wishes that are unrelated to your current goals.

Access to Correct Information

There has never been a good ruler who had bad advisors. Make sure that the input you base your decisions on is honest and correct and is not driven by the corrupt or uninformed thoughts of people who have their own agenda.

Don’t operate in a vacuum, but remember that you can trust your friends, neighbours, family and news sources, but still double check the pertinent information that they provide.

Finally, keep in mind that while it is important to hold on to any experience that you gained through poor judgment, it is also important to know how to forgive yourself and move on.  You need to allow yourself the opportunity to learn.  Nobody can learn without making mistakes along the way.  It is the path to wisdom and understanding.