Skip to main content

Factors You Really Need to Consider Before You Make Any Big Decision

If you’re on the cusp of making a big decision—like whether to accept a job you’ve been offered or introduce a new product to the market—here are eight factors you can use to help you evaluate your options, inspired by Tony Stoltzfus’ book 

1. Rationality

First, run this decision through the rational, analytical part of your brain. Make a list of the pros and cons of your options. If you’re making a decision about whether to take a new job, for example, you might list “more money” as a pro and “less time at home” as a con. 

2. Intuition

When you find yourself wavering between multiple options, your intuition is one of your most powerful decision-making tools. To hone in on your gut feeling, stop for a moment and don’t think about anything else. Simply sit in a quiet place for a few minutes and reflect on the decision. What feelings bubble up? Happy ones? Or the heebie-jeebies? 

3. Relationships

Whether you’re married or single, have kids or don’t have kids, live by yourself or with six roommates, your decisions affect the people closest to you. To help you weigh the decision you’re about to make, think about how the decision would affect those around you.
For example, would the new job mean less time at home with your partner? Or would it mean your husband could quit his job because of the pay increase?

4. Alignment

You want any decision you make to be aligned with your passions, values, and priorities—or I guarantee it’s not going to feel like you made the right choice. But before you can figure out if the decision is in alignment with the things that mean the most to you, you first need to get clear about what those passions, values, and priorities are. Then, make a list of all the ways your decision aligns (or doesn’t align) with them.

5. Counsel

You’re clear about how your decision will affect other people in your life. But what do those same people think about how the decision you’re about to make will affect you? Talk to your partner, family, friends, colleagues, and mentors about your options. What do they think?

6. Negative Drivers

A lot of times, people make decisions based on fear. Maybe you’re afraid you’re not ever going to find a job you’re really thrilled about, so you take the one you feel less passionate about because you already have the job offer in hand—it’s a sure thing. Or, maybe you’re afraid no one is going to sign up for your company’s first conference, so you postpone it a year.
What fears are playing into your decision? You don’t have to solve for them all right now, but understanding how your fears are affecting your decisions will help you evaluate your options more objectively.

7. Cost

While money may not be the ultimate driver in many decisions, it’s an important factor to consider. How does your decision affect your finances? What resources will you need to execute on your decision? What would this decision cost in terms of time?
For example, if you’re the founder of a business and you’re deciding whether or not to introduce a new product to the marketplace, how much would it cost to build the product? Would you need to hire a team of one or 10? How much of your own time would you need to devote to successfully getting the product built and out into the world?

8. Risk and Reward

Finally, think about the risks associated with your options. What’s the safest decision? What’s the riskiest one? Are there any steps you could take to minimize the risk of that option? And then, on the other side, what are the potential rewards of each option? Sometimes the extra risk is worth the reward. 
It’s really hard to slow down when you’re used to doing things at a million miles an hour. To make sure you actually give yourself the space to work through your options with these considerations, I suggest giving yourself a deadline to make your decision by. That way, the nagging part of your brain—and anyone waiting on your decision, like a potential employer—will know there’s a decision date in sight, giving yourself the time to explore your options and pick the best, truest one. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why young women prefer to date older men?

When a young woman is romantically involved with an older man, one might assume he's her "sugar daddy," or that one or both are getting something out of the relationship other than love. We make those assumptions because we equate age with power or money, but that's not often the reason for a May-December relationship. "Younger women prefer to date older men for many reasons," says licensed marriage and family therapist  Dr. Paul Hokemeyer.  "The truth of the matter is that older men come with maturity, grace and dignity. They value their younger mates and treat them with more respect." And this, of couse, is appealing to young women who have grown tired of the narcissistic adolescence frequently found in younger men.  In addition, older men typically possess more confidence. They've reached the age where they place a high value on things like love and family, and are generally more focused on things that truly matter.    " This ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Good Ideas Die

Good ideas don’t come by every day. While there are certainly ways to  generate more ideas , most people will only have three-to-four truly groundbreaking ideas in their lifetime, so it’s vital that you capitalize on them and take advantage of any potential opportunities that your ideas may present. These are the reasons why good ideas die Poor timing You think your idea is ready for the world? Have you considered that the world might just not be quite ready for your idea? Timing is pivotal to seeing your idea flourish to its full potential. Sometimes, great businesses experience setbacks, because they came in too early or too late to their desired market. Analyzing your competition  so that you can stay ahead of the curve is certainly important in ensuring that your idea can be as successful as possible. But so is being patient and biding your time until you are certain that the market will respond positively to your idea. Lack of commitment y...
1 comment
Read more

Reasons to Drink more Water

But water lovers got a jolt recently when we heard that a new report had found that the benefits of drinking water may have been oversold. Apparently, the old suggestion to drink eight glasses a day was nothing more than a guideline, not based on scientific evidence Reasons to make sure you're drinking enough water or other fluids every day: Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids .  Your body is composed of about % water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of  saliva , transportation of  nutrients , and maintenance of  body temperature . "Through the posterior pituitary gland, your brain  communicates with your  kidneys  and tells it how much water to excrete as urine or hold onto for reserves," says Guest, who is also an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University. When you're low on fluids, the  brain triggers the body's thirst mechanism. And unless yo...
Post a Comment
Read more