We have been consistently taught that we have to make the right decision. We have been hammered this in schools, at work, in our social circles, and even at home. I remember my teachers reprimanding me saying ” You are going to regret it for making a bad decision. Now, think again”. This made me feel like a bloody fool at a young age. In my corporate career, I have heard peers or even leadership telling me, ” I do not want you making the wrong decision. Make sure you make the right decision”.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT DECISION THEN?
There is no such thing as decisions being right or wrong. Think about it. A decision made is based on a current situation. We make a decision based on the circumstance we are in. That decision evolves according to the resources we have, the people whom we meet, the kind of support we attain etc. When the outcome is different from what is expected, that is our opportunity to change its course from learning the outcomes. Just like when we make a decision to go on a diet. A lot of us have decided on a variety of options from working out to Atkins diet to becoming a vegetarian or even giving up sweets. Somehow, that decision to diet changes during our journey for whatever reason. When the decision to try out a certain diet did not work out, we learnt from it and changed its course. We have researched and found other options that works according to our unique bodies. That is the same concept to be applied to every decision we take – we experience it and we change its path to find the optimal outcome.
I used to constantly beat myself up for making bad decisions until one day, I changed my mindset on how I approached them – let it be good or bad. This is what I learnt from all of my decisions.
- Mindful Acceptance
- The minute I decided not to label the outcome of my decisions, I started seeing abundance of opportunities from the outcomes which allowed me to learn and grow progressively.
- Listen to Yourself
- When our decisions are tainted by others opinions, we lose our confidence and assurance of our path. I stopped listening to others telling me whether my decisions are good or bad. The best choice I ever made was to listen to myself.
- Freedom to Change
- Since all of my decisions allowed me to walk a journey and witness the changes along with the end result, it also presented me with the freedom to make a change – Change the path of my journey when I was ready to based on the lessons learnt. It sounds simple but it changed my perspective on decisions.