How to be Confident in Decision-Making
“ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” — Prov 32:8
Do you believe you make 35,000 decisions every day?
That is, according to many unconfirmed references on the Internet.
“Why do we find it so difficult to make decisions?”
From the mundane to the monumental, conscious or subconscious, our decisions are critical for the success of a company, group or individual.
Last year, my eldest daughter achieved excellent matriculation results, and six universities accepted her, two of which offered partial scholarships. However, her preferred Australian university responded late and was conditional acceptance without a scholarship.
She researched the university’s ranking and its fit for her specialisation, social safety, security, and immigration. How much it will cost Mum and Dad was not on the list.
There was no unanimous decision. Mum chose a university offering scholarships, and my daughter was set on being 10,321 km away from Johannesburg.
Dad, what do you decide?
I kissed my credit card and said, if you believe Australian university is the best at your chosen field and gives you the best chance of breaking into the industry, Melbourne it is.
Suffice it to say that I slept with imaginary earplugs that night.
After all the frustrations of delayed acceptance documents and postponed admissions, I spent the best week of my life with my daughter in Melbourne when I took her for her university orientation and helped her start her new life.
During a WhatsApp chat a few days ago, my daughter sent me this message:
“Thank you, Daddy, for providing and giving me this opportunity to do what I love and fulfil my purpose. I’m going to make you proud.”
Best decision I ever made? Absolutely!
I used Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler’s TEDx Talk, How to Make Good Decisions, May 2016, to outline what that experience taught me about decision-making that might help you.
1. Preparing. “Do I know enough?” Although we were confused by the many options, Sophia had the right amount of research information to help us decide.
2. Timing. “Is this the right time?” If we had decided early before having all the options or too late, Sophia would have missed her preferred university.
3. PDF (Post Decision Feeling). “Could there have been a better option?” After reading Sophia’s message, my emotions told me I made the right decision.
The decision-making process extends well after we choose our course of action. Our decision may not be wrong or right until we can evaluate the outcome. Hence, we do not make the right decisions; we act to make our decisions right.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” — Steve Job.
Whether you’re deciding on a career move, starting a business, or going on a holiday, make sure you have the right amount of information, choose at the right time, and trust that the dots will connect.
Here is to a week full of great decisions.
