Decisions.  Decisions.  Decisions. 

     Spin that drum again, and watch those Bingo ping-pong balls clatter around and crack into each other.  Does your brain feel like that when you’ve got more to decide than you want to decide?  Do you sometimes feel that there’s never enough information on the table to make the kinds of firm, strong decisions that you’d like?

     Henry David Thoreau once said of decision-making that we only ever have limited knowledge.  So, how can we make the most of that?  Next time you’re confronted with information-overload, and need to make a decision that doesn’t send you to a shrink, a prayer-rail, a sorcerer, or a lobotomist, try the following steps:

1. Of course, you knew this was coming, but it works: Take a couple of deep breaths [See “Are You Breathing?” under Magazine Articles tab above]
2. Draw a vertical line down the center of a page and put the decision topic centered at the top; put a + on top of the lefthand column and a – on top of the righthand column.  Itemize in the appropriate column every positive and every negative thing you can think of that will or could result from the decision, remembering that “will” is definite and “could” is not!
3. Next, give each item on each side a #1 (best or most important result or consideration or priority), or #2, or #3 ranking.
4. Go away!  Go get a glass of water (or shot of vodka . . . another decision!), or take a walk around the block, or sleep on it if there’s enough time; then come back and look at your list.  Edit it with your fresh perspective; move things around; re-visit the rankings.
5. Now decide! 

     In personal growth and development groups, participants are often asked to attack difficult decisions with a similar (scale-of-justice weighing) process that involves putting their left hands out, palms up, and saying: “On one hand, I think (or feel). . . ” followed by putting their right hands out, palms up, and saying: “On the other hand, I think (or feel) . . . ” and then assessing not just the words that surface, but the tone of voice used, the body language, and the impression given of imaginary physical weight related to each point. 

     Either way, by sticking an unemotional evaluative process into your decision making, you are forcing yourself to slow down, weigh all the options as you know them (with limited knowledge), and make a decision that’s typically going to be more rational, more logical, more realistic than one made on the spur of the moment.

     Quick and emergency decisions of course rarely afford the opportunity to dissect and evaluate every available consideration.  So, in those events, instincts come more into play.  It is highly unlikely, though, that even an emergency response wouldn’t leave you time for a deep breath or two or three . . .         halalpiar     

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