We take 100’s of decisions every day. Our thoughts and actions are so fast that we really do not think twice on most decisions.
These range from simple things such as what to wear to where to invest our money.
Just think about it.
Do you really think much about buying a pen worth Rs5? Do you go look for a specific brand? The grip on the pen, etc.
Not really, right?
And if you are doing that as well, then my friend, you are going to start experiencing – Decision fatigue.
So we keep taking these decisions, most of which, we do not even think twice about. Will such decisions be affecting our life in general?
No. But imagine, if you start looking at life-changing tasks as the small ones. You end up deciding on them in a split second and not really accounting for anything. That could result in some bad decisions. The impact could be massive!
So this blog is an attempt to give 5 ways using which you could take better life-decisions.
- Look for long term benefits in every decision – We are emotional beings. And our emotions are short-term biased. All we can think most of the time is the impact soon. For example, if you had Rs20,000 in excess with you, how would you invest them? The brain wants to put it in a scheme now and see benefits in the coming week or month. Truthfully, any plan that assures results in a month is not to be trusted. We have to look at the longer-term benefits of our time and money. This is one way to see better results and making the right decisions.
- Take risks in places where you can – A risky behaviour makes your brain go into hyperdrive. Try to take risks in all spheres of your life. At your work – try to do at least one radically different idea from others and your style. Doing that something different will expand your thought process. Taking that risk will excite parts of your brain and keep you motivated. In your personal life – Be excessively bold or different. It will be a change for your spouse or date and can help you explore unknown parts of your relationship. Read and make it a point to understand difficult books. That is food for your creative brain. Take it up as a challenge. It will make you proficient in your day to day tasks. Soon you will be insanely good at taking right yet tough decisions.
- Push towards lesser regrets in life – We do not do things we like. There are plenty of reasons for not doing them. But they get stored in your head as regrets. Going forward, ask yourself this question: Will I regret not doing this?. If the answer is a yes, then just do it. You might succeed or not. But it will improve your quality of life and the decisions you make.
- Write down your thoughts – In cases where many things are happening, it is hard to decide. Write down all parameters and factors. Map them out. This will improve the quality of your decision. Many consultants use this method in their daily work.
- Make your life simpler – The number of things we accumulate but do not use are reminders of our wrong decisions. They pull us down indirectly in our hopes. That treadmill which you have not used more than once. That 360 camera which you have not used after the first time. Remove such items from your life. I’m not telling you to be a minimalist. Sell things you are not using. This will improve your decision-making ability not from the money you earn by selling but by the peace you get from the right decision.
Those were the five ways I thought could help in making ourselves awesome at life-decisions.
Good luck!