5 Proven Tips to Build a Better Decision Making Framework to Experience More Confidence & Success
Are you indecisive?
Would you would describe yourself as a:
- Procrastinator
- Perfectionist
- Over-thinker
If you said yes to any of the above, you’ll probably be interested to know that the latest research shows that one of the most important things in determining success- more than goal setting, more than getting feedback from others, and even more than planning- is decision making.
It turns out, your ability to make faster, better decisions plays a key role in how quickly you can achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality!
The 5 tips and exercises in this post can help you improve your decision quality and tap into the power of decision making to help you manifest your dreams!
1. Create Better Outcomes with a Clear Vision
When it comes to being a good decision maker, many people get stuck weighing pros and cons and mentally running through all of the possible outcomes without having a clear way to determine what the right choice for them would actually be.
As a result, they end up overthinking, polling friends and family for their (sometimes unhelpful) opinions, and getting stuck, often avoiding making the decision altogether until it’s too late.
This type of decision paralysis is often rooted in a fear of being wrong or of choosing something that may cause regret later.
The good news is, one of the most empowering tools you have at your disposal for making good decisions is your vision.
Creating a vision for what you’d love in your life is the first step to empowered decision making.
Not only is casting a vision a vital step in manifesting what you desire, but the image you create of the life you would love is a powerful tool. You might not realize it, but you can use your vision as a way to measure the practical implications of all of your decisions, no matter how big or small.
When you have a clear vision of the outcome you desire to create, every decision you make comes down to one question: Does this choice move me closer to the life I’d love, or further away?
This approach can benefit you in more ways than you might realize:
- You’ll have an outside, objective tool you can use on a daily basis to help you determine the value of the choices you have
- You’ll be empowered to make more aligned decisions more quickly, gaining confidence as you go
- Your decisions will be more likely to intentionally support your dreams
- The possible choices available to you will be limited in a clear, direct way. Research shows that simple options usually result in more effective decision making (source)
- The choices you make will be reflective of your core values because they will be directly related to the kind of person you want to be and the kind of life you want to live
Plus, you get the added bonus of having a practical reason to keep your vision of the future at the front of mind. That, combined with more aligned, effective decisions, can be key to helping you move more confidently and quickly in the direction of your dreams!
2. Strive for a Quick Decision
No matter your decision-making style, or where you tend to get stuck when faced with the task of making decisions in your day-to-day life, researchers agree that quick decision making is typically more effective.
You might think that the longer you take to assess all of the options, get input from others, seek out advice, and gather as much information as possible, the better your decisions will be.
In actuality, the opposite is usually true!
Spending too much time gathering information to create and assess all of the possible choices and outcomes for any decision typically makes it more difficult to choose. This is called the paradox of choice, a phenomenon coined by psychologist Barry Schwartz in 2004.
To put it simply, the more options a person has, the more difficult it is for them to determine what the right decision is.
So, while gathering relevant information in your decision-making process is positive, the more time you spend coming up with possible options, the less likely you are to be able to make a confident choice.
If you struggle with this type of decision-making difficulty, practice giving yourself a time limit.
One of the best ways to learn how to make faster, more confident, and more effective decisions is to practice making them within a predetermined time limit.
For each decision you face, allow yourself a set amount of time to weigh the pros and cons, do any necessary research, and speak with whomever you feel drawn to, then, when your time limit is up, hold yourself to making the final decision right then and there.
The more you practice making decisions within a set amount of time, the easier this skill will become. You build confidence in your own decision making by learning to rely on your own decision-making power more, not less!
And remember, this exercise only works if you’re willing to set the time limit and stick to it!
3. Don’t Discount Your Intuition
You might think that something like intuition is “woo”, “too out there”, or something unreliable when it comes to how to make key decisions in your life.
But the truth is, while researchers don’t have as much understanding as they’d like about the function of intuition, they almost universally recognize intuition as a valid and important part of the decision-making process.
In his paper on the role of intuition in decision-making, researcher Seymour Epstein defines intuition as “a sense of knowing without knowing how one knows”. You may also refer to it as a “hunch”, or “gut feeling”.
Your intuition involves the subconscious mind’s use of non-analytical processes to assess information and draw conclusions without the benefit of objective, outside information.
I believe that you and I are connected to something bigger than ourselves. And when we’re able to listen to the still, small voice within, we’re able to make more empowered, supported, and aligned choices for ourselves.
As you learn to make better decisions, create intentional time to connect with and listen to that deep inner voice or inner sense of knowing.
Best practices for accessing and exercising your sense of intuition include:
- Meditation
- Journaling
- Art-making or other creative activities
- Mind-body awareness exercises
- Prioritizing technology-free alone time
As you learn to make better decisions, be aware of the trap of ignoring your intuition because it doesn’t feel practical or objective enough. Recognize that you have been gifted with an internal decision-making authority that you can rely on to help you make the best decisions possible!
Want to learn how to tap into your intuition for more empowered decision-making and even better outcomes?
Download your copy of Developing Your Intuition now (and get a bonus video training course to help you discover your hidden superpowers!)
4. Increase the Quality of the Decision with the Quality of the Questions
The most successful, powerful people in the world recognize that the quality of the questions they ask determines the quality of the outcomes they experience.
In the same way, you can fuel your decision-making with high quality questions for more high quality results!
As you consider a decision, no matter how large or small, commit to asking yourself questions that are empowering, action-oriented, and expansive, rather than constrictive.
For example:
- Instead of asking, “Why don’t I know what to do?” try asking, “What would it feel like if part of me did know what to do in this situation?”
- Instead of asking, “What if I make the wrong choice?” try asking, “What could happen if I made the right choice?”
- Instead of asking, “How will I ever fix this situation?” try asking, “What can I do with what I have to improve this situation as much as possible right now?”
Other empowering, action-oriented, expansive questions you can ask yourself to make better decisions and generate more of the outcomes you would love are:
- What can I do now with what I have?
- Which option will move me in the direction of my dreams?
- What would the future version of me who has already succeeded choose right now?
- If part of me knew the best choice to make in this situation, what would it say to me right now?
- What’s the best-case scenario? What are the best possible outcomes to making this decision?
- If my best friend, child, or another person I deeply cared about had to make this exact decision, what advice or insight would I offer them?
- What is my intuition telling me about this decision?
- When I think about the options I have in this situation, which option makes me feel the most alive, expansive, and at-peace?
- If I only had to choose the best, next-step in this situation, without getting overwhelmed by the big picture, what could that be?
5. There is No Wrong Decision
Consider this- the only way to move forward is to make a decision, even a wrong one.
If your decision-making process is plagued with the fear of failure, in other words, you often avoid or procrastinate on making decisions because you’re afraid of making the wrong choice, know that the best thing to do is often just to decide.
A person who has made 100 wrong decisions is in a better position than someone who hasn’t made any decisions at all! While the person who hasn’t made any choices hasn’t made any “wrong” or “bad” decisions, they have also deprived themselves of the information, learning, and forward movement we experience even when we make a choice that doesn’t turn out the way we’d hoped.
Instead of thinking of your decisions through a lens of “right” or “wrong” and paralyzing yourself with fear, consider that every decision you make is an experiment with the opportunity for learning that can empower you to make another, different decision in the future.
Every decision you make, no matter the outcome, results in information you can use!
Some choices won’t bring us the outcome we’re hoping for- and that’s okay! You are in the process of learning.
You have endless potential and infinite opportunities to learn, grow, and expand- you can always make another, more aligned decision when you have more information.
Your Best Decisions are Waiting for You to Start!
No matter what decisions you may have made in your past, know this- your next best decision is just around the corner, waiting for you to embrace your potential and tap into your inner-power.
The life you long to create hinges on the decisions you make right now!
If you’re ready to start making more empowered decisions that will support you as you manifest your dreams, the best place to start is with your vision.
A clear picture of the life you long to manifest is the most empowering tool you have in calling that vision into reality- and it’s also a powerful tool for aligning your decision-making and upleveling your results!
To help you create a powerful vision that you can use to uplevel your decision making process, I’d love to gift you my powerful, free e-book, Creating an Ignited Vision.
This book will enable you to design a crystal clear ignited vision of your dream and help you determine what’s next for you. From the biggest decisions to the smallest of choices, you’ll be empowered to move forward with clarity and confidence, knowing your choices are aligned with the outcome you ultimately desire.
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