13 Tips To Effective Decision Making

By: Jason Johns

There are some people who find it really easy to make decisions whilst other people get tied up in procrastination and find it impossible to make decisions - particularly very important decisions. When the decision is big and has a major impact on your life it can be very difficult to make a decision because you might be worrying about making the wrong decision or even worried that you can't undo the decision once you've made it.

It is natural for us to have regrets about the past - many of our biggest regrets can be put down to having made the "wrong" decision, but the question is, what is a right decision and what is a wrong decision? It may be that you followed your guy instinct or perhaps you listened to advice from people around you. There are so many reasons why we make decisions we later percieve as wrong, and everyone makes a "wrong" decision on occasion.

The following 13 tips are designed to help you make powerful and effective decisions.

1) There is no right or wrong when making a decision. There is only the decision that you make. A decision is a choice between alternatives.

2) Never make a snap decision about anything. If the decision is one you can quickly reverse, such as where to go for lunch, then you can make a quick decision. If it's a bigger decision such as moving house or quitting your job, then take time to think it out.

3) Make notes when you are making a decision - perform a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis if you have to. Write down all the possible solutions and information, including how each option will effect both yourself and the people around you. Often by writing the options down the solution becomes clear to you.

4) Avoid allow decisions to stack up. Making decisions one at a time is much easier than dealing with the pressure of lots of decisions all at one.

5) If your decision is going to effect other people then talk to them and find out their opinions and needs.

6) When you've made a decision, stick to it. You can never be totally sure you've made the right decision, but when you've made one stick with it unless there are extremely valid reasons to change it.

7) When you have made your decision, and before you take action on it, think about what will happen if you take this course of action and ask yourself if anything could potentially go wrong if you followed through with this decision.

8) When you have made a decision, commit yourself to it whole heartedly and don't let the what if's bother you.

9) Visualise the outcome of your decision and follow it through in the comfort of your own mind. Visualise all the possible outcomes before you actually take action and follow through on the decision.

10) Believe in yourself and in your ability to not only make a good decision, but to follow it through.

11) Before you make any decision, review the facts that you have relating to the decision. If necessary, go and find any more information you need in order to make a good decision. Remember to give yourself time to analyse and absorb the facts before making your decision.

12) Base your decisions on what feels right to you - your gut instinct will usually guide you very well.

13) Look at the objective of the decision, the alternatives and any risks before making the decision.

These 13 steps will help you to make more effective decisions. Every day you are faced with decisions from small ones, such as what to eat for breakfast, to larger ones. Making effective decisions will help you to enjoy life more.

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For more information on how you can make powerful and effective decisions see my making effective decisions program at: www.stateofhypnosis.com/recommends/decisions

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