What should you do if you are a leader and you are faced with a difficult choice? Remember, as in a fairy tale: execution cannot be pardoned, dismissal cannot be left, and it is unclear where to put a comma. In this article we will talk about several ways to make the right decision. This will help not only businessmen, but also ordinary people who find themselves in a difficult situation.
If you are trapped
Usually, making a difficult decision is necessary in a difficult life situation. Stress affects a person in different ways: some withdraw into themselves, some worry and don’t sleep at night, some become hysterical and take it out on loved ones. One thing remains unchanged: a person seems to fall into the trap of his own psyche; he is often unable to make a choice on his own and acts under the influence of emotions or his close environment. Time shows that impulsive and ill-considered decisions are ineffective and can ruin your business, your career, your relationships, in the end. Remember: all serious decisions are made with a cool head. Therefore, before you put into practice the methods described below, do this: turn off your heart and turn on your head. We'll show you how.
There are several ways to pacify emotions:
- short term - breathe correctly. Take 10 deep, slow breaths - this will help you calm down;
- medium-term - imagine that your friend finds himself in such a situation and asks you for advice. What will you tell him? Surely throw away all emotions and try to look at the situation detachedly, objectively. So try it;
- long-term - take a time out. Just let the situation go for a while, do other things, and come back to it after a week or month. This way you will kill two birds with one stone: firstly, you will cut off impulsive decisions and will not cut from the shoulder. And secondly, the right decision will ripen in your head like a ripe fruit - you just need to give it time.
Now that emotions no longer influence your choices, let's talk about eight reliable methods for making decisions.
1. Pros and cons method
Use the good old method: take a sheet of paper and a pen, draw the sheet in half. In the left column write all the advantages of the chosen solution, in the right column - respectively, the disadvantages. Don't limit yourself to just a few items: there should be 15-20 items on the list. Then calculate what will be more. Profit!
The essence of the methoda: even if you endlessly scroll through the pros and cons in your head, you are unlikely to see the full picture. Psychologists advise making written lists: this helps to organize the accumulated information, visually see the relationship between pros and cons, and draw a conclusion based on pure mathematics. Why not?
2. Create habits
This method is suitable if it is difficult for you to make a choice in everyday matters. For example, to increase the salary of a new employee, or if it’s not worth it yet, put it on the website or another company. What to eat for dinner, in the end, French fries or fish with vegetables. A difficult decision, of course, but still not a matter of life and death. In this case, it is useful to consciously create habits for yourself and follow them in the future. For example, introduce an iron rule: increase employee salaries only after six months of working in your company. Buying office supplies exclusively from Skrepka is cheaper. Eat light for dinner and healthy dishes- you yourself will thank you soon. Well, with the call back you get it, yes.
The essence of the method: following habits, you will make simple decisions automatically, saving yourself from unnecessary thoughts, without wasting precious time on nonsense. But then, when you need to make a truly responsible and important choice, you will be fully armed.
3. “If-then” method
This method is suitable for resolving current problems in business, team, and personal life. For example, your employee speaks impolitely to customers and does not respond to comments. Question: Should I fire him immediately or try to re-educate him? Try using the “if-then” technique. Tell yourself: if he again mistreats a client, you will deprive him of his bonus. If the incident happens again, fire me.
The essence of the method:as in the first case, this is the creation of conditional boundaries within which you will act. The burden will immediately be lifted from the soul, and life will become much easier. And most importantly, you don’t have to waste time thinking and thinking about the fate of a careless employee.
It was invented by the famous American journalist Susie Welch. The rule is: before you make a difficult decision, stop and answer three questions:
- what will you think about it 10 minutes later;
- How will you feel about your choice in 10 months;
- What will you say in 10 years?
Let's give an example. Let's take a young man who works as a manager, doesn't like his job, but puts up with it because he needs money. He dreams of quitting his job, taking out a loan and opening his own business - a small pub, but at the same time he is desperately afraid of going broke and losing everything he has. In general, a classic case when a bird in the hand is preferred to a pie in the sky.
It’s difficult for our hero to take the first step - quit his hated job. Let's say he does this. In ten minutes he will hardly have time to regret it. the decision taken. In 10 months, he will already have time to rent the premises, equip the pub and receive clients. And if it doesn’t work out - he’ll find a job as a manager anyway - so what’s there to regret? Well, in 10 years, this choice is unlikely to have any significance at all: either the business will continue, or our hero will work in another place - one of two things. It turns out that if you follow the 10/10/10 rule, making a decision no longer becomes such a difficult task, because a person clearly understands what awaits him in the future.
The essence of the method: when making a difficult decision, we are usually overwhelmed by emotions: fear, anxiety, or vice versa, joy and excitement. A person feels it right here and now; feelings obscure the prospects for the future. Remember, as in Yesenin: “You can’t see a face face to face, a big one is seen at a distance.” As long as the future seems cloudy and vague, the choice of solution will be postponed again and again. By making concrete plans, presenting his emotions in detail, a person rationalizes the problem and stops being afraid of the unknown - because it becomes simple and understandable.
Read also: Three real stories.
5. Solve within 15 minutes
Paradoxical as it may seem, the most important, strategic decisions should be made in 15 minutes. A familiar situation: a company has encountered serious problem, which requires immediate action, but the point is that no one knows the right solution. For example, competitors have done something nasty, and it is not clear what to do: respond in kind or get out of the situation with dignity. Or the crisis has hit your company, and you are confused: to move to a less prestigious place or to lay off a dozen employees. How to do it here right choice, and does he even exist? And you begin to procrastinate, unable to make a decision, in the hope that everything will resolve itself.
If you don’t know which solution is correct, just imagine that there is no correct answer to this life problem. Give yourself 15 minutes and make any, absolutely any, decision. Yes, at first glance this may seem crazy. What about planning, and what about testing and verifying solutions? Ok, ok, if you can quickly and with a minimum of investment check the correctness of the solution, check it. If this requires months of time and millions of rubles, it is better to abandon this idea and immediately record the time.
The essence of the method: Needless to say, if you waste time, nothing gets solved: crises don’t go away, rental prices don’t go down, and competitors become even sharper. One unmade decision leads to others, the business sags and becomes ineffective. As they say, it is better to do than to regret, than not to do and regret.
6. Don't limit yourself to narrow boundaries
The same thing we wrote about at the beginning. Execute or pardon, buy a car or not, expand or wait for better times. One of two things, hit or miss, oh, it was not! But who said that a problem has only two solutions? Get out of the narrow framework, try to look at the situation more broadly. It is not necessary to organize a large-scale expansion of production - it is enough to launch a couple of new positions. Instead of an expensive car, you can purchase a more modest option, and apply disciplinary measures to the employee who committed the crime for the first time.
The essence of the method: when there are only two solution options, there is a greater chance of choosing the right decision, and many deliberately simplify their lives by dividing the situation into yes and no, black and white. But life is much more diverse: don’t be afraid to look it in the eye and accept all possible options. The solution may be a compromise, a rejection of both extremes in favor of a third, completely unexpected solution, or a successful combination of two options. This often happens when the owner of a small business cannot decide what to do: sit on the phone, deliver orders, or engage only in management activities. Start combining - and then you will see what works best. This will be the optimal solution to the problem.
How often do we think: “If only we knew where to fall...”. How sometimes we regret unused opportunities or wrong actions. Everyone would like to know and understand how to make the right decision that would lead along the right path to the intended goal. However, we sometimes forget about the most important things. About what is ours
personality is in constant development. Solving new problems, facing unusual and unusual circumstances, we change. This means that goals, values, and priorities also do not stand still. They change with us. That is why the question of how to make the right decision is better posed for the “here and now”, and not looking ahead, and even more so
The author had the opportunity to talk with many people who sometimes found themselves at difficult crossroads in life. And this is what is typical for those who gave the impression of a self-confident, accomplished person - they did not regret the past! Not even if I had to change my way of life, country, or field of activity many times. They didn’t revel in self-pity if they had to lose all their property and start all over again. Therefore, in order to understand how to make the right decision, you need to clearly understand: a lot depends on us, but not everything. What seems right at a certain moment may turn out to be a mistake. That's why more
Most of all, inflexible people who suffer from failures find it difficult to adapt and act according to circumstances. But our path is not always smooth and spacious. Therefore, the first piece of advice is to relieve yourself of the burden of excessive responsibility. A person is designed in such a way that in any situation he can find both joy and disappointment. Even if you have achieved your "goal", it may always seem that "the palace is too small and the molasses is too sweet."
So, which one you won't regret? First of all, try to trust fate and intuition. Very often we hesitate and doubt if there is some difference, for example, between reason and feelings, between desires and duty. But this situation is also an incentive for development. And intuition, which we often underestimate or drown out, is what helps us make the right decision. You should not think that this is something supernatural, a “voice from above.” It’s more likely that your subconscious processes the situation in its own way. Our elementary, physiological reactions often tell us where we will feel good and where we won’t feel so good. For example, if you are looking for new job, listen to your intuition. If a conversation with your future boss puts you in a positive mood, this is a good start. But if the building itself, the atmosphere reigning there, appearance and the way the staff communicate is stressful and depressing, if you don't feel comfortable in a given place - perhaps this is a warning.
How to make the right decision in your personal life? The advice is the same. Don't try to reason, plan, think in lofty categories. Just feel the situation, immerse yourself in your feelings. The first minutes often decide how communication with this or that person will turn out. And if we are comfortable, we feel safe, this means this relationship has a future. And vice versa, if it is difficult for us to find common themes, if we are constrained, but, for example, the thought has stuck in our minds that this is an excellent game, try to trust our intuition. We live with the person, and not with his status, money or position in society.
Another technique will tell you how to learn to make the right decisions. This method can be called “look into the future.” The point is to try to imagine the possible development of events in as much detail as possible,
which will follow your choice. Are you offered a job, but you don't know whether to take it? Imagine yourself in this place in as much detail and color as possible in a year, two, five. What does your typical working day look like, how do you dress, how do you relax? Do you enjoy entering the office or do you try to come up with excuses to avoid appearing there as little as possible? By imagining this, you subconsciously prepare yourself to make a decision.
And perhaps the most well-known and effective method is to “sleep” with the problem. By asking yourself a question in the evening before going to bed, in the morning you will receive a ready answer. The subconscious or intuition will do all the work for you. Sometimes a conversation with a disinterested stranger helps. By speaking out loud all your arguments and doubts, you thereby come to a decision. Good luck to you!
Every day we have to make dozens of decisions - to do this or that, agree or refuse.
And almost every time this is accompanied by doubts, worries and postponement of decision-making.
So how? make the right decision and learn to make the right choice?
Here are 10 ways.
1 - Just make the decision that you like.
According to statistics, 7 decisions out of 10 managers of large companies turn out to be wrong. 40% of companies that were included in the list of the 500 best companies in the world 20 years ago no longer exist.
Even the most successful and experienced people make mistakes very often.
So relax, make a decision and start taking action.
You need to understand that while you are thinking, you are standing still and wasting time.
You are not a sapper for whom any mistake is fatal.
Even if you make a mistake, you have a second, third, or as many attempts as you like. Plus, every time you do something, you gain knowledge, experience and better begin to understand how to make the right choice.
2 - Determine the price of your solution.
What happens if you do this or that and the choice turns out to be wrong? Write down the possible consequences and make a decision based on this. But you should know that a decision with minimal consequences often produces weak results.
For strategic objectives it would be a good idea to write possible consequences your decision. With Canva, you can create an online decision tree that will help you visualize possible alternatives and make it easier to make the right decision. - https://www.canva.com/ru_ru/grafik/derevo-resheniy/
3 - Determine the best result - Which decision will move you the most forward? Those who strive for more win in life. And those who are afraid to take risks are content with ordinary life. Think, maybe sometimes it's worth taking a risk. Yes, you can lose more. But you can get more. And even if you fail, you can always return to another decision. So go for it. Success favors the brave.
4 - Ask your subconscious - most people try to make a decision based on logic. But its capabilities are limited by the amount of information that is in the mind.
Use your subconscious. In the evening, think about your problem and possible solutions. And before going to bed, ask yourself - Which solution should you choose?
And in the morning you will wake up with a clear understanding of what is worth doing.
All our experiences are stored in our subconscious. And we only get access to it in our dreams. Plus, the subconscious can connect to the unified information field of the universe. Remember, Mendeleev discovered his table in a dream.
So ask your subconscious a question and go to bed. You will learn more about this technique in this video.
5 - Do something- To make the right decision you need to have certain information. But where can I get it? Books, videos, articles are just theories. The information you need will only be given by practical experience, which can only be obtained by doing something.
If you are in doubt or choosing from several options, just do something in the direction of each option. And you will immediately understand which solution is best for you.
6 - Ask more successful person - Such a person can help you in literally 5 minutes. He knows and can do more than you. Search successful people in your surroundings. Sign up for training. Ask your question on a thematic forum or group. The only thing is that you don’t need to ask everyone. Listen only to those who have actually solved problems similar to yours and have real life experience in overcoming them. But if there is no such person, then
7 - Imagine yourself as a super hero- Put yourself in the shoes of a person who is a symbol of confidence and success for you. And think about what solution he would choose.
Often, internal fears and doubts prevent you from making a decision. When you imagine yourself as a super hero, all this disappears and making a decision becomes much easier.
8 - Expand the number of options - Often people choose from 2-3 options. But there are many more possible solutions. Gather information, ask friends, think about other solutions. Such work will allow you to better understand the situation, expand your consciousness and allow you to choose the most informed decision.
9 - Let your brain sort everything out - Modern man decides a lot on the run, on emotions, in a time-poor mode.
But if you take a day of rest, calm down, stop thinking too much, then a lot becomes clearer and a decision is chosen by itself.
There is a good expression: morning is wiser than evening. So just disconnect from the problem, do something pleasant and make a decision with a fresh mind.
10 - Write down all the pros and cons and compare
Choose 2-3 options and write each on a separate sheet. And make a list of pros and cons. This clarifies a lot and it immediately becomes clear to you which solution is more beneficial for you.
That's all.
But remember, a decision is not a decision until you act on it.
To make it easier for you, here are 50 step-by-step instructions
Making decisions is not easy. When you're at a crossroads alternative options prevent you from making a choice. If you follow reason, the right decision can be made in a matter of minutes. After reading the article to the end, you will learn about an unusual technique that helps thousands of businessmen and people of different professions and provides clear methods that will help you understand how to make the right decisions in life.
Every moment of our life depends on the decisions that we are forced to make in a given situation. Making the right decisions is important, especially in those moments when you need to give new impetus, direction and meaning to your life. It doesn't matter what it is - work or personal life, career development or everyday issues. These decisions change our lives, careers or relationships. Rotate everything 360 degrees. Even when we don't choose, we actually make decisions. More-less.
On the one side, modern society widely spread the opinion that man himself is the creator of his own future, on the other hand, the process of choice is associated with tossing, headaches and thoughts about responsibility for possible consequences. Sometimes it is very difficult to make the right choice. You can easily be overwhelmed by millions of doubts that slow down the decision-making process. A internal conflicts, which come from outside, prevent the mind from seeing the right path. For this reason, people are constrained by fear - because of possible failures and wrong choices.
Those who want to immediately take control of their life and control it should take note of several methods that will help them make decisions in life.
The first step is to get in touch with your self. Here it is important to “disconnect” from various influences and influences from the outside world - to stop listening to the advice and recommendations of other people.
The heart will tell you the right path. People prone to rationalization will, of course, struggle when making important decisions. Because most often they prefer to listen to the brain, analyze the advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, this leads to a loss of the emotional impulse that can animate any choice. Choosing based on a rational approach is useful when it is necessary to minimize risks.
Therefore, it is important to listen to inner voice, this makes it possible to make the right decisions. Typically, financially secure and wealthy people have always faced difficult situations and choices. But they had courage and courage, making important decisions, going against everyone, but with a smile on their faces and listening to their hearts.
2. Listen to your intuition
Besides the heart, there is a part of one's personality called intuition.
It gives us an endless supply of ideas and information that can be used in further thinking. For example, have you noticed that when you meet a stranger, suddenly an insight and a spontaneous decision seem to come to you. It is important not to miss this moment. After all, this is possible, this is a sign indicating that you are on the right path.
Even when you don't choose, you still make a choice.
“Delaying a decision is a decision in itself.”
Frank Barron
Many people tend to believe that refusing to make a decision is a choice. But in fact, when making decisions and making choices, you understand that you are alive, only you are the masters of your destiny. Therefore, it is important to take responsibility, overcome uncertainty and fears and make some decisions.
Even if you are afraid of making the wrong choice, it is preferable to make it anyway. This is only your own accumulated experience that will help you make the right decisions in the future.
3. Correct goal setting
In order to focus on your goal and make decisions correctly, you need to create and develop a plan in advance to achieve it. An excellent option and exercise for achieving your goals is the SMART technology. This way your thoughts will be organized faster and you will be able to make the right decision. Try to be more specific and describe everything as clearly as possible. Thus, a clear goal setting and a structured plan will help you quickly make a life-changing decision.
4. Make a list of priorities
Before asking others for help, it can be helpful to try to develop your list and choices into a hierarchy. For example, the primary needs are to earn more and less important ones are proximity to the place of work. All this is important when you decide to quit or change your job to another.
To make the right decision, it is important to determine what things are preventing you from being happy and, secondly, implement the right strategies to remove the barriers. And if the ultimate goal is to eliminate these external factors that prevent us from living peacefully, in this case, it is necessary to change the way we think and act.
5. Analyze the pros and cons
As the wise say: follow your heart. However, one should never forget about the aspects of rational choice. It is necessary to correctly assess the possible consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to write down all the pros - “what you will get if you make this or that choice” and all the cons. Many people find this exercise very useful in finding the right solution. This way, you will quickly realize which obstacles and difficulties outweigh any benefits of the choice and will be able to make decisions correctly.
7. Avoid hasty decision-making
Following your heart and intuition does not mean making hasty decisions based on immediate emotions. As a rule, such decisions are not dictated by reason, but by desperation, disappointment, anger or anxiety. It is important to make decisions in quiet moments, when the mind is able to reason calmly and clearly.
It is also important in such moments to distinguish between what really deserves your thoughts and what is simply clouding your thoughts.
It is good to listen to other people's opinions, but in any case the final decision must be made with complete autonomy, a clear mind and consciousness. Whatever choices you make, it is always worth remembering that they do not determine the entire course of life.
9. Compass technique
The compass technique will help with this. This technique is usually taught in business and management courses. This technique will help you weigh all your decisions and look at them differently, outside the box.
In fact, the “compass” method is much simpler than it might seem. In order to make a decision, you must:
- Write five simple questions on paper.
- Choose one of six possible alternative actions.
To get started, you need to ask five questions to make the right decision.
Every time you have to make an important decision, take out a piece of paper, a notepad, a digital journal, or a personal journal. On a blank page, write the following questions.
- Where are you from? Your place of residence, registration and place of residence does not matter here! Write on a white sheet of paper: What are you doing today? Who are you on this moment? Where are you now. If you are at a crossroads in life, write down some decisions and possible events that could change your life.
- What really matters to you? Write four things in a notebook that will never make you give up. What were the key moments, turning points in your life? What has helped you in life and why your life will never be the same again.
- What makes you act and move forward? What motivates you to accept concrete solutions?
- Who are the people who are important to you? Who is able to influence vital decisions? Who do you trust? Who makes you go to great deeds and act, create, work?
- What's stopping you? What's scary about a decision to take? What obstacles, situations or people get in the way and keep you from achieving your goal?
Are you done answering questions? Have you written everything down? Now let's move on to the next point - a description of the concept map. To do this, we will need to highlight the keywords that characterize all your answers.
The next step is to estimate the number of options for action. To structure your notes, you can use either a regular notepad, the MindNode program or the MindMeister application.
So, we write down six alternative courses of action proposed by the “compass” decision-making model. Answering all of these questions will help you gain clarity and make a well-thought-out decision.
- A solution that fascinates and inspires you. What solution does greatest influence on you? Let's say that in the past the most important thing for you was new people and the experience you gained. This is probably the right path for you today. Meeting new people, expanding new connections, networking, partnerships and finding like-minded people.
- The rational way. What do people you trust offer you? Are they more experienced and wiser?
- The dreamer's path. It's all about a life that fascinates you. This path is not the easiest. It may be in line with your values, aspirations and beliefs, but keep in mind that you must be motivated and have strong beliefs that will help you achieve your goals.
- A solution that may be the least common. If your days are boring, suffocating, and Groundhog Day-like, then you may want to take an unconventional path to decision-making.
- The most common solution. If you are a conservative person, the main thing for you is customs and habits, then this option is the best for you. For example, you are in a relationship with someone (whether personal, business, partnership), you understand that you must make a choice: continue it or go on a new adventure. Therefore, it is important to evaluate our values and the people we love. If they don't intersect in any way, then maybe it's time to go their separate ways. This happens when we need to compromise, to make choices in favor of what is truly important to us, when we act out of fear of not living up to the expectations of someone we respect.
- Return trip. It's kind of like taking a step back and redesigning your goals. You just need to settle accounts with the past, and then a new, previously unexplored road will open up. For example, you are deciding whether to close a project that does not produce the expected results. Are we then faced with a dilemma? On the one hand, how to quit if for one or two years we have been living and breathing what we love. On the other hand, if the project does not bring results, we are forced to invest time and other resources. Therefore, when there is not enough motivation to continue the project, you need to carefully evaluate the return paths, that is, think about closing the ongoing project.
The “compass” technique helps you make one or more options for the right decision.
10. “Descartes Square” method
The “Descartes Square” technique will allow you to look at the issue comprehensively and help you make a decision without focusing on one factor.
In order to make decisions using this method, you need to ask four questions that can be added to the matrix for ease of perception. Questions:
- What happens if the event happens? (positive sides)
- What happens if the event doesn't happen? (positive sides)
- What will not happen if the event occurs? (negative sides)
- What will not happen if the event does not happen? (negative aspects, what we won't get)
By answering these questions, it will be easier to weigh the pros and cons and make the right decisions at important moments.
11. “Glass of water” method
This method was developed by Jose Silva. This researcher wrote many books and studied the possibilities of controlling the mind and destiny, various methods of visualization and predictions.
The Glass of Water method is based on the assertion that water “records” information. Recent research by scientists confirms this. And since humans are made mostly of water, perhaps water can help answer some questions. So, let's look at the method.
Before going to bed, you need to pour clean water into a glass. Then take a glass of water in your hands, close your eyes, concentrate and ask a question that requires a decision. Then drink half a glass of water in small sips, saying, “That’s all it takes to make the right decision.” Then open your eyes, put the glass in which the water remains near the bed and fall asleep. After waking up, you need to finish the water and thank you for finding the right solution. The answer will come either immediately or unexpectedly within a day.
So, we have looked at examples of ways and methods that can be used when making important decisions.
When making an important decision, always keep one important thing in mind: never forget who you are and what you want from life. Choose, taking into account your values and goals, do not let indecision and fear deprive you of something important in life! And always remember: there are no wrong decisions, you can always find a way to fix it! Now you are just one step away from making the right decision that could be a turning point in your life, so don't be afraid to make decisions!