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May 19, 2017 · This is the core distinction between choice and decision. Choice connects to the place of desired intention, values and beliefs. Decision connects to the place of...
- Svetlana Whitener
When making a decision, we form opinions and choose actions via mental processes which are influenced by biases, reason, emotions, and memories. The simple act of deciding supports the notion...
Mar 22, 2022 · HBR Staff. Summary. As a new leader, learning to make good decisions without hesitation and procrastination is a capability that can set you apart from your peers. While others vacillate on...
- Overview
- Take Note of Your Overconfidence
- Identify the Risks You Take
- Frame Your Problems In a Different Way
- Stop Thinking About the Problem
- Set Aside Time to Reflect on Your Mistakes
- Acknowledge Your Shortcuts
- Consider the Opposite
- Label Your Emotions
- Talk to Yourself Like a Trusted Friend
Familiarity breeds comfort. And there’s a good chance you make some poor decisions simply because you’ve grown accustomed to your habits and you don’t think about the danger you’re in or the harm you’re causing.
For example, you might speed on your way to work every day. Each time you arrive safely without a speeding ticket, you become a little more comfortable with driving fast. But clearly, you’re jeopardizing your safety and taking a legal risk.
Or maybe you eat fast food for lunch every day. Since you don’t suffer any immediate signs of ill health, you might not see it as a problem. But over time, you may gain weight or experience other health issues as a consequence.
Identify habits that have become commonplace. These are things that require little thought on your part because they’re automatic. Then take some time to evaluate which of them might be harmful or unhealthy, and create a plan to develop healthier daily habits.
The way you pose a question or a problem plays a major role in how you’ll respond and how you’ll perceive your chances of success.
Imagine two surgeons. One surgeon tells his patients, “Ninety percent of people who undergo this procedure live.” The other surgeon says, “Ten percent of people who undergo this procedure die.”
The facts are the same. But research shows people who hear “10 percent of people die” perceive their risk to be much greater.
So when you’re faced with a decision, frame the issue differently. Take a minute to think about whether the slight change in wording affects how you view the problem.
Whether you left the house without an umbrella and got drenched on the way to work, or you blew your budget because you couldn’t resist an impulse purchase, set aside time to reflect on your mistakes.
Make it a daily habit to review the choices you made throughout the day. When your decisions don’t turn out well, ask yourself what went wrong. Look for the lessons that can be gained from each mistake you make.
Just make sure you don’t dwell on your mistakes for too long. Rehashing your missteps over and over again isn’t good for your mental health.
Keep your reflection time limited—perhaps 10 minutes per day is enough to help you think about what you can do better tomorrow. Then take the information you've gained and commit to making better decisions moving forward.
Once you’ve decided something is true, you’re likely to cling to that belief. It’s a psychological principle known as belief perseverance. It takes more compelling evidence to change a belief than it did to create it, and there’s a good chance you’ve developed some beliefs that don’t serve you well.
For example, you might assume you’re a bad public speaker, so you avoid speaking up in meetings. Or you might believe you are bad at relationships, so you stop going on dates.
You’ve also developed beliefs about certain groups of people. Perhaps you believe, “People who work out a lot are narcissists,” or “Rich people are evil.”
Those beliefs that you assume are always true or 100 percent accurate can lead you astray. The best way to challenge your beliefs is to argue the opposite.
If you’re convinced you shouldn’t speak up in a meeting, argue all the reasons why you should. Or if you’re convinced rich people are bad, list reasons why wealthy people may be kind or helpful.
Considering the opposite will help breakdown unhelpful beliefs so you can look at situations in another light and decide to act differently.
People are often more inclined to say things like, “I have butterflies in my stomach,” or “I had a lump in my throat,” rather than use feeling words, like sad or nervous, to describe their emotional state.
Many adults just aren’t comfortable talking about their feelings. But labeling your emotions can be the key to making better decisions.
Your feelings play a huge role in the choices you make. Studies consistently show anxiety makes people play it safe. And anxiety spills over from one area of someone’s life to another.
So if you’re nervous about the mortgage application you just filed, you might be less likely to ask someone out on a date because you’ll think it sounds too risky.
Excitement, on the other hand, can make you overestimate your chances of success. Even if there’s only a small likelihood you’ll succeed, you might be willing to take a big risk if you’re excited about the potential payoffs (this is often the case with gambling).
Make it a daily habit to label your feelings. Note whether you’re feeling sad, angry, embarrassed, anxious, or disappointed. Then take a minute to consider how those emotions may be influencing your decisions.
When faced with a tough choice, ask yourself, “What would I say to a friend who had this problem?” You’ll likely find the answer comes to you more readily when you’re imagining yourself offering wisdom to someone else.
Talking to yourself like a trusted friend takes some of the emotion out of the equation. It will help you gain some distance from the decision and will give you an opportunity to be a little more objective.
It will also help you to be a little kinder to yourself. While you may be likely to say negative things to yourself like, “This will never work. You can’t do anything right,” there’s a good chance you wouldn’t say that to your friend. Perhaps you’d say something more like, “You’ve got this. I know you can do it,” if you were talking to a friend.
Developing a kinder inner dialogue takes practice. But when you make self-compassion a daily habit, your decision-making skills will improve.
Decidophobia—Understanding the Fear of Making Decisions
4 Sources
Jun 19, 2012 · It may. The line between what constitutes a decision versus a choice may be slight. Let’s look at the definitions in Dictionary.com: Decision : the act of or need for making up one’s mind. Choice : the right, power, or opportunity to choose. When you dive in deeper, the origins of the two words are interesting.
Dec 28, 2011 · Decisions can be as small as our choices of words or what to have for lunch, and they can be as big as how to plan for retirement or what treatment to choose for a disease. They can balance certainties against risks. They can balance short-term gratification against long-term benefits.
Apr 18, 2024 · The choice is yours! Things You Should Know. To make an informed decision, make sure you understand the choice you need to make: why does a decision need to be made? What are your options? Identify the worst-case scenario of each choice so that you’re prepared for whatever comes, and try to have a backup plan in place if possible.
