Decision Making 101

          

 

Making A Decision

 

Often times people have a very difficult time making a decision, and then once the decision is made they spend hours, days, or months second guessing themselves.

 

In 2000 I had been married for 14 years and living in our new house for eight years.  We had yet to buy furniture for our living room.  The decor was pretty much 1978 Salvage Yard.  When my friend offered to sell me her antique love seat and two arm chairs for $150.00 I jumped at the chance.  It was the closest thing I could find to what I had hoped to put in our living room.  (Now of course I can find what I want everywhere!)

 

Now a decision had to be made.  The furniture was in sad disrepair and needed to be refurbished.  I found a wonderful place that would come to the house with all their swatches.  Then once I made my decision they would take the furniture with them and bring it back when it was done.  I was excited.  My husband wasn't going to be home so he though that I should have a couple of friends over to "help" me decide what would look best.  So I called the girls, chilled the wine, and waited for the furniture guy.  We settled in while we were waiting and talked about all the fabric and colors I could go with.  The man arrived at 1:00pm, I told him what I as looking for and he showed me three swatches.  At 1:15pm he was walking out the door with the love seat and chairs, and the girls were sitting there with their mouths hanging open.  As the door closed, they looked at me, and in unison asked "how did you do that?"  "What?" I questioned.  "You just 'decided', just like that, in like five minutes" they asked perplexed.

 

So, I explained how I make a decision. 

 

First and foremost the issue at hand must "feel" right.

I knew I had to get the chairs recovered.  I knew this man would do a good job at a fair price. 

 

When you are going to make a decision, make sure if feels like it is the right thing to do.  You don't need to over think it, but you do need to listen to your heart.

 

Second, as best as possible try to have a clear idea of what the outcome of your decision will be.

I had spent years looking at furniture, fabrics, colors, and designs.  I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted the furniture to look like when it was done. 

 

Think about all the outcomes that are possible.  Think about what you want to happen, and what could happen.  Decide how you will deal with the situation if it doesn't work out the way you want it to.

 

Third, do your research.

I had literally spent years looking for the furniture I wanted and it just didn't exist.  So I knew that the furniture before me was as near as I was going to get to what I wanted at the time.

 

While you are doing the second step, see if you can speak with others about the decision you are about to make.  If they have experience ask them to share it with you. Find out what challenges you may encounter and how you may need to prepare.  Be careful who you ask for input.  You want to make certain that they do not offer their opinion.  You are strictly seeking knowledge.

 

Fourth, weigh the pros and cons.

I could have waited longer, but after 14 years of marriage I wanted to have a nice living room.  This was a no brainer.

 

If you have a decision to make and you are feeling stumped, the best thing to do is get out a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle so that you have to columns, and write Pro and Con at the top of each column.  Then start writing.  List as many good reasons and bad reasons that you can find.  If you find that you are even,  you may want to assign a point value to each thing you have listed.  Then tally up the points and your decision should be more clear to you.

 

Fifth,consult the Divine.

If you are at all spiritual, here is where you would contact the divine.  Just prior to making that final decision.  Now many may say the process should begin with this, and it very well should if that is how you feel.  I usually play by the rule "God helps those that help themselves" so I do all the work and then say... "Hey, what do you think?"  Once you have all the information, spend some time in meditation.  Sit in stillness.  An answer will come.

 

 

Good Luck! And may all your decisions be made with wisdom.

 

WARNING!  Do not induce alcohol or hallucinogenic narcotics to the above procedure.  Doing so will cause serious misapplication of one or more of the steps.