Making the right choice isn’t always easy whether because of overthinking, doubting our choice right before going ahead with it, or plain and simple “Just can’t deal with it right now” kind of feeling. Making better decisions might not always be easy, but it’s also not impossible.
4 practical tips to making better decisions
To take control of your life, it’s important to make choices aligned with our values, goals, and priorities in life. Being mindful with our choices limits regrets in our life, making us proud not just of the success but also the failures in our life.
1. Decision-making technique
One of the biggest roadblocks in decision-making is overthinking, overanalyzing things. That’s the formula for indecision. And the formula or one of the best ways to make faster & better decisions is Edward de Bono’s 6 thinking hats technique. It’s essentially about looking at a thing from every angle and choosing the best option.
There are 6 imaginary thinking hats of different colors – white, red, black, yellow, green, and blue. We put these on (so to speak) one by one, thinking more deeply a certain way and writing it all down on paper
- White here represents facts and data.
- Red stands for what we feel about the options, what is our gut feeling about it.
- Black is about coming up with the worst-case scenario, what’s lacking, all that could go wrong.
- And with yellow we look at all the opportunities, the benefits, the ways it can all work out.
- Green is for thinking creatively, for out-of-the-box ideas, thinking beyond the ‘givens’ of the situation.
- Finally, it’s time to put on the blue hat, consider everything and choose the best option.
But the key is to commit to that choice. Making better decisions doesn’t guarantee anything unless and until we stick with it, take action on it. Believe in the process that led us to that choice and give that decision a fair chance to prove its effectiveness.
2. Making better decisions faster
What makes us doubt our choices? There are a lot of right answers, but the most common ones are – we aren’t sure it’s the right thing to do or not, we doubt our ability to pull it off, and sometimes it’s the fear of missing out on something good that spirals us down the indecision rabbit hole.
That means, if we are clear about our priorities in life, know our strengths, weaknesses, willingness to learn inside out, and have a clear idea of how far we are willing to go our boundaries, then we are able to assess the risks, benefits, potential of any choice more confidently.
The 6 hats technique becomes faster because we don’t have to spend time over every option thinking, rethinking, and doubting… we know for sure which ones work for us and which ones don’t.
Plus, when we ask why before making any choice, why are we doing it, why does it matter to us… we are able to say pretty surely how much effort we are ready to put and how far we are willing to step out of our comfort zone to make that thing happen.
Decisions aligned with our values, goals, dreams, and priorities make us more confident in our choices, especially when they demand a lot of sweat, discomfort, and a sharp learning curve.
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3. Making tough choices
Now usually, we can choose between options and decide which one to go with by simply asking which one would we rather prefer, or which one would we most regret losing out on. But, sometimes it’s not that straightforward. They are either equally good or equally bad.
The quicker approach is to take a step back and think of it as something a best friend has come to you for advice. When we distance ourselves from the issue, we are able to see things more clearly with less interference of our emotions…. and so are able to choose more objectively… the options become clearer.
If that doesn’t work, watch the video up top to know the strategy to use… and also the 4th tip about gut feelings when making decisions.
