Picture this scenario: It’s 11pm, after a long day at work, and your laptop screen is filled with ticket information for that family vacation you so desperately need.
$4000 for the vacation. It’s beyond your budget, but you really want to go. At 11 pm.
Let’s have a moment of honesty here, is this the best time to make this decision?
You probably wouldn’t make this kind of decision at work – $4000 in a budget-blowout – so why make this decision now?
What if we could pause and make a better decision?
What if we had a framework to help us say “I’m feeling this way, or I find myself in such-and-such a situation, I probably need to slow down my decision making” – what if?
Let me introduce you to HALTS. It’s not rocket science. It’s easy to remember, but it will save you from making some painful decisions (sometimes).
HALTS:
H – Hungry
A – Angry
L – Lonely
T – Tired
S – Stressed
When we’re any of these things – hungry, angry, lonely, tired, or stressed – we have an incredible ability to make terrible decisions!
Once, when I was hungry after a day hiking in the Himalayan foothills, I made the decision to head off on my own – in the dark – on an unknown trail. No major search and rescue ensued, but it wasn’t my brightest moment.
When we’re any of these things – hungry, angry, lonely, tired, or stressed – we have an incredible ability to make terrible decisions!
Tired, in the middle of the night – while driving – a friend’s wife drove them 400 miles (~5 hours) in the wrong direction.
Our decisions matter. They matter in business. They matter at home.
To make better decisions, sometimes we need to learn to know ourselves a little better and acknowledge, to ourselves, how we’re doing.
Trust me, if you want to make better decisions, practice HALTS.
Originally published at www.leadcoachrelease.com