Here are 10 tips for how to make good decisions.
1: Successful People Turn Small Decisions Into Routines
One of the best strategies successful people use to work around their decision fatigue is to eliminate smaller decisions by turning them into routines. Doing so frees up mental resources for more complex decisions.
2: Successful People Make Big Decisions during the morning
The average person’s mood bottoms out approximately seven hours after waking, between 2 and 4 pm. That’s when the incidence of on-the-job errors spikes.
3: Don’t make permanent decisions based on temporary emotions.
Strong decision makers know that a bad mood can make them lash out or stray from their moral compass just as easily as a good mood can make them overconfident and impulsive. Get your emotions in check.
4: Successful People Evaluate Their Options Objectively
Weigh your options against a predetermined set of criteria. Not only does this take out some of the subjectivity, but it makes deciding easier.
5: Successful People Sleep on Tough Decisions
If you can sleep on a tough decision, do it. Sleep allows your emotions to run their course. You’ll wake up feeling more mental clarity.
6: Successful People Don’t Wait Too Long to Decide
It’s important to gather information before making life-changing decisions, but successful people put a limit on how much time they give themselves to gather said info. Otherwise, you run the risk of analysis paralysis. So set a deadline next time you’re gather info on a big decision and stick to it.
7: Successful People Exercise to Re-Energize
Stress produces cortisol, the fight-or-flight chemical in our bodies. When you’re tasked with making a big decision, typically your cortisol levels spike. Cortisol makes thinking clearly and rationally tough. When you’re struggling to make a decision or you’re feeling stressed, try exercising.
Even just 30 minutes of exercise is enough to get an endorphin kick that will bring back your mental clarity.
8: Successful People Always Go Back to Their Moral Compass
Having a moral compass or set of values you can return to whenever you’re tasked with tough decisions is key. Without a home base to return to, you’ll feel lost and more stressed, further diminishing your ability to make good decisions.
9: Successful People Ask Other Successful People for Advice
When making decisions, it’s easy to get influenced by confirmation bias. That’s when you choose an alternative and then gather information to support that decision, instead of gathering information and then choosing a side. Tne way to beat confirmation bias is to get an outsider’s point of view. This second opinion will help you see your blind spots.
10: Successful People Reflect on Old Decisions
Successful people rarely make the same mistake twice. That’s not to say they don’t make mistakes at all. But successful people tend to have what’s called a growth-mindset, meaning they’re open to learning to do something different next time they’re faced with the same challenge. In contrast, people who keep making the same mistakes, tend to have fixed-mindsets.