A good name for the disease of INDECISION is Mental Paralysis. It is primarily the result of the fear of failure. Because of some past decisions that did not turn out too well, we often become so afraid to make the wrong choice that we cannot make any choice. In this week's lesson, we will discuss how to avoid being indecisive.
Avoiding decisions can prove to be a costly mistake. No human being is all knowing. You're going to make mistakes, even when you do your absolute best to avoid them. Since you don't know everything, and can't possibly be aware of everything that is going on around you, some of your choices will end up big mistakes that you will regret. Your job is to learn from your mistakes. They are there to teach you. Benjamin Franklin once said that, "The things that hurt, instruct." So you see, even your mistakes have the potential to serve you, if you make it a point to learn from them.
The end result of not choosing or deciding is that someone else will make the choices and decisions for you. Ultimately you will lose the ability to direct and control the events of your own life. If you are willing to allow others to determine the quality of your life, then don't complain when you end up doing things that you'd rather not be doing, because someone else had to decide for you.
A good life is full of challenges and every challenge calls for a decision. There is always the risk that you will decide incorrectly, but making NO decision can be much worse. We cannot grow into mature adults if we avoid failure by being indecisive.
As managers of our businesses, we should always encourage our employees to be decisive and empower them with the responsibility to make decisions. We should always support them when they made a bad choice and help them to learn from their mistakes. It is very difficult for a business to grow and stay healthy if all decisions have to be made by one person. Multi-National Corporations can only grow to their enormous size by having mature employees at every level, responsible for the decisions pertaining to their jobs and departments.
In my previous business, my partners and I became skilled at delegating responsibility to our management team. We then encouraged our managers to do the same with those employees they were responsible for. By doing do, everyone was making decisions regarding their individual responsibilities and the entire organization was not dependent on the choices of a few leaders at the top. When employees are empowered to decide for themselves, they become more valuable to the organization and are earn higher salaries as a result of increased efficiency and productivity.
The best way for anyone to overcome indecisiveness is to learn and practice the skill of decision making. A basic method that always worked for me is the Ben Franklin Method. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and list the pros and cons of your decision. Then choose the most obvious decision based on the criteria. This method is very simple yet very effective.
The best time to learn how to make decisions is when you are a child. Encourage your children to be decisive so that they will have plenty of practice by the time they are adults. However, if as an adult you tend to be indecisive, TODAY is a great day to start practicing the skill of decision making and begin to watch your life BLOSSOM!
In the end, there is no way to avoid making decisions. Your life is a continuous stream of decision making. If you're reading this at your computer right now, whether you're aware of it or not, you made a decision to do so. You could have done many other things with your time. But you decided to read this article instead. And when you're done the article, you'll decide to do something else, and so on. Hopefully you'll find value in our weekly lessons and come back often to learn more.
Try to enjoy making both small and big decisions with confidence. Once you decide, don't look back and second guess yourself. Your first decision is usually the RIGHT decision. And knowing in advance that some of your decisions will be wrong and being comfortable with this fact in advance, will build your confidence level. Make decisions often and become a skilled decision maker. Your experience will be a great asset for future decisions and your percentage of good decisions will incrementally rise. Being decisive can pay dividends throughout your lifetime. It can improve your lifestyle and make your visit to planet earth a more pleasant experience. Beginning today, Avoid being indecisive!