By Brenda Bowen

35,000.

Research shows that on average, adults make 35,000 decisions per day (Sahakian & Labuzetta, 2013). Life is all about making decisions! Some decisions are big and can alter the course of your life. Other decisions are small, for example, deciding what perfume or cologne to spray on for work. Those quick decisions can happen unconsciously, dare to say “automatically” and can be made fairly easily and quickly. 

Unfortunately, the majority of adults were not taught at an early age the proper steps of decision making. When faced with a blurry challenge we tend to respond immediately with emotions. Responding with emotion can be very positive once we have learned to balance it with cognitive thinking resulting in rational thoughts often referred to as “Emotional Intelligence.” However, we all know that is not always the case.

There are certain steps that can be taken to help transform a blurry situation into a clearer situation for better decision making.

#1: Set aside your emotions – Clear your mind.

#2: Identify the Problem 

#3 Deadline – Is there a timeframe or deadline in which the decision must be made? If not, create one yourself. 

#4: Gather your information – This is the time to recruit assistance and gather valuable advice.

#5: List your options – List your results accompanied by its risks. Always mentally prepare for the worst scenario. Remember, higher risks do not alwamean negative results.

#6: Take Action! 

#7: Review – Did the decision made give you the expected results? If not, why? What should be done differently?

As with everything we want to improve on, practice makes perfect! On the daily, choose one of the daily 35,000 decisions that you will be making and utilize the decision-making steps above to assist in formulating your decision. Remember, great decisions address the root cause, not just the symptoms. If the root cause is not addressed, the problem is likely to just continue repeating itself.

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