Tea or coffee? Toast or cereal? Bring an umbrella or chance it? According to American psychiatrist Lisa MacLean, the typical person makes about 35,000 decisions a day. No wonder when your partner asks what’s for dinner, it can feel like the last straw.
Know your values
At the heart of good decision-making is a level of self-knowledge: making the right decision for you. Any decision can have a bad outcome, but you will most regret the choices that go against your personal values.
Kimberly Singh FCPA, CFO and chief wellness officer at growth and leadership training company Populis, says the first step is to write down your personal values and beliefs. “If it’s difficult, think back on past decisions you have made and how you felt after you made those decisions and lived with the results,” she advises.
Examples of personal values include dependability, generosity, integrity, family open‑mindedness and sustainability. If you find yourself coming back to money or belongings as a driver of your decisions, look deeper: the underlying personal value might really be something like security or self-reliance.
Once you have a list of your values, rank them in order of importance. When you have a decision to make, consider how the choices align with this list of what’s most important to you.
The star model
Once you have identified your values and the traits that could influence your decisions, Alison points to the STAR model to guide your decision-making process.
Stories and scenarios: what is the situation, and what are your options? You should have at least three options: a best outcome, a worst outcome, and something in-between.
Time mastery: do you need to decide now? If not, how much time do you have? Use it to get more information.
Adaptation and assumptions: use additional information and discussion to test your hypotheses and consider alternatives.
Revision and resilience: know when to stick with a plan and when to reconsider, especially if new information becomes available.
Singh has one last piece of advice: do not waste your energy on decisions that will clearly take you in a different direction from your true north. “Distractions can often be disguised as opportunities. For us to not be distracted, we need to truly understand our personal path and how we intend to get there.”
Top tips for decision making
2. Get multiple views.
Ask for people’s opinions, but do not limit yourself to just asking friends or family. People who sometimes disagree with you may offer a perspective that is worth considering.
3. Use a decision tree.
Plot out the possible outcomes of different choices and see how they compare. Making lists of the pros and cons can also help you to determine the best choice.
4. Make big decisions in the morning.
Try to make big decisions when you feel well rested and energised.
7. Decide, then move on.
Once you make a decision and act on it, resist the urge to second-guess it. You made the best decision you could, based on the information you had.
Resilience in decision making
Health: Try for at least a small amount of semi-regular exercise, and eat well.
Purpose: Know that what you do makes a difference, at work and at home.
Feedback: Reflect on, share and discuss your successes and your failures.
Joy: Do things you enjoy: spend time with friends, dance, laugh and recharge.
“Think of these four pillars of resilience as the legs of a table,” says Alison.
“You might be able to neglect one pillar for a while, but it makes your table wobbly. Neglect two of these pillars for too long, and your table will become really unstable.
“You’ll be more prone to making the errors that can lead to bad decisions.”
Definition:
the final/last straw
idiom (also the straw that breaks the camel's back)
C1
the last in a series of unpleasant events that finally makes you feel that you cannot continue to accept a bad situation:
Losing my job was bad enough, but being evicted was the final straw.
She's always been rude to me, but it was the last straw when she started insulting my mother.
Ref: CPA
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