Decision Making

 Our whole lives are based on the decisions we make in all sorts of circumstances in order to lead as much as possible a peaceful life without hassles. Decisions show the ramifications in our lives & we constantly learn from the process of making correct & incorrect decisions once we get the results. But as simple as it sounds making decisions can be quite a task , this blog will shed light on how to make this tall task a little simpler with easy steps to follow.

Introduction

Decision Making - The process of decision making is a blend of science & art involving a series of steps followed by proper planning which gives the decision as a final product.

Decision making requires great amounts of intellect, cognitive abilities, reasoning powers & exact judgement of how , when , where, what factors of a situation. A sound knowledge of every aspect leads to accurate decision which of course yields the desired output.
There are some key factors which if duly taken care of can help in better decision making. Lets take a look.

Factors

• Upbringing

Lets start from the start, everything has a foundation & so is true for decision making. The most imperative factor that plays a crucial role in decision making is the way parents groom their children. This may sound irrelevant to some people, but 99% of the times when a person finds himself / herself incapable of making a decision its down to how they were brought up as kids.

When parents teach & ask their kids to decide for themselves even when they are toddlers that improves their cognitive abilities & puts them through challenging mental activity of making the right choice. If parents always keep deciding for their children they never learn to take a stand for themselves even they are fully grown adults & always need someone else to take a step on their behalf leaving them completely handicapped in the decisive department.
In order to prevent this, parents must always ask kids to make their own choices, its obvious you can tell them when they are wrong & guide on right path but let them choose for themselves.

• Confidence

The other crucial factor in decision making is confidence, in oneself of course but also in our own capabilities, knowing your & others' strengths & weaknesses correctly helps you in taking the accurate decision. For furthermore guidance on self assessment refer My Blog on SWOT Analysis.

Confidence is partially natural & partially acquired. You can be blessed with confidence in yourself & also it comes with the way you are brought up, your own mental health, your surroundings etc. Building your own confidence can be tough if conditions are adverse & in such cases people struggle to take decisions or if they do they are mostly wrong. Its also very important to know the fine line between over confidence & confidence. Sound awareness of your capacity & realistic approach is always a confident approach to making a decision.

• Analysis 

To make a decision you need to analyse the situation, the people, yourself & all the other aspects involved in the process. To do this you need to have exact knowledge of the process & proper planning which if executed as it is on paper can help you to make a decision in a simplified way.
You should know how to assess the risks, opportunities , profits & losses that may occur due to your decision. You must have a futuristic vision while you decide. Also an anticipation of problems that may occur at spur of the moment, in such cases a Plan B should always be handy to recover the damage .

When people fail to analyse they fail to decide , so make sure you analyse everything & leave no stone unturned.

We have covered the key factors that can affect decision making , now lets see the steps in process of decision making.

• Steps in Decision Making

• Step 1 - Planning

Planning is the key to effective decision making. Meticulous planning is absolutely essential to help you take the correct decision. The more accurate your planning is the higher chance you have to make a correct decision. When you plan , write down your steps in proper order, avoid any confusion, any clutter in steps of planning . You must know what you want.

In order to plan effectively you need to manage your tasks & time effectively the better you are at time management the better you are at planning. Never ever overlook the last minute hassles & always keep a backup or Plan B ready.

• Step 2 - Selecting proper alternatives

In this step you need to select proper options out of the available ones in order to make your decision making as simple as possible. Always choose the easier, simpler & economic options which will yield you maximum output with least amount of time & effort investment.
For example, you may reach a destination via 2 or 3 routes obviously you will choose the shortest, time saving & traffic free route to reach your desired place. This step is often confused as a shortcut , there is a fine line between them , a shortcut doesn't always yield you desired outcome , it makes you steer away from hardwork while choosing proper alternative will make you put in smart efforts to get results that you wanted.

• Step 3 - Priority to the crucial

Once you have selected your alternatives the next task comes to prioritise them accordingly. You must know which task is to be done first so that the rest of the process becomes smooth. Many times people are unable to prioritise the right task & hence fail in the entire process also they tend to get confused.
Prioritise the work on the basis of time, difficulty, urgency & result. Calculate the risks involved in it & gradually start working. The most time consuming, difficult, urgent but high value yielding work must be done first.

• Step 4 - Taking the final decision

After all the above 3 steps are done you finally reach a point where you take the decision. This shouldn't be a problem at all if the rest of the steps carried out are error free. The final decision must be made only once, confidently & firmly without any ambiguity about it , now you cannot turn back & you cannot foul.
Be ready to accept the consequences of your decision, if you are on right track the result should not vary much than your anticipation , if you have made any mistakes results will show that. Learn from them, move on & never repeat them again.

You may take a while to get used to this process but once it becomes a routine you will know how capable you feel to decide for yourself.

• The Last Word

Living life is about taking decisions, good or bad both teach you in their own way. Always remember to put in your 100 % & more & results will be taken care of.
Never be scared to fail, you will fail at some point or the other its law of average it will catch up with you.

After all, everyone makes mistakes but those who learn from them make the difference !

NOTE - In order to understand this topic in finer details I suggest you to read my blogs on SWOT Analysis & Time Management , that will surely help you to get deeper knowledge of this subject.

I hope this blog turns out to be helpful to all those who read it.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog . Thank you so much.

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