How to be Decisive

Few people understand the value of decisiveness. The ability to make quick decisions not only lends you an air of confidence, intelligence and authority, it can also make the difference between a positive and negative outcome in many situations. Some people believe that they are just “naturally indecisiveness” which is decidedly not true. Indecision, like every other behavior humans display, is simply a learned behavior. When you take the time to understand where it comes from, and a few quick tips that you can apply to head it off, then overcoming your indecision and becoming a confident, strong-willed decision-maker is an easy thing to do.

Understanding Indecision
The root of indecision can be summed up in a single word: fear. An indecision person is simply someone who is afraid to make a wrong choice. Why do we hesitate at a crossroads? Because we’re afraid we’ll go the wrong way. Why do we agonize over menu-selections at restaurants? Because we’re afraid we won’t pick the best thing, or won’t like what we pick. Think about it, and you’ll find it applies to almost every situation we can come up with. It is a psychologically proven fact, and research also shows that the more options a person is presented with the more difficult it becomes to make a decision.

There are two ways to get to the bottom of this fear and overcome indecision: faith and confidence. On the one hand, you can look at in terms of eternal abundance and positivity:

“No matter what I choose I’ll be fulfilled, and protected, and everything is always all right."

Simply having faith is a powerful, profoundly life-altering practice that will likely apply to more than just your decision-making. If that doesn’t happen to be your cup of tea, that’s fine, just look at it like this:

“I’m not going to be right all the time, but I know that when I do make a wrong decision I’ll be able to overcome it and accomplish my goals. I’ll also get the benefit of a valuable learning experience, and the insight to make better decisions in the future.”

Establish a Model for Decision-Making
Once you understand why you’re indecisive, you’ll being to recognize it in yourself when you’re called upon for decision-making. You’ll “feel” the doubt and worry operating just below the surface that almost seems to paralyze you, and once you’re aware of it you can overcome it. It helps to lay out some guidelines to help you make decisions quickly beforehand, so when the time comes you’ll have something to reference and get the ball rolling. This can be simple, such as:

1. Evaluate the sitation.
2. Evaluate the options.
3. Consider the consequences.
4. Do this in < 5 minutes.

Practice Making Quick Decisions
Obviously if you’re confronted with a very important decision it might not be the best time to practice “speed deciding.” This is something I like to do with little things, such as at the supermarket. If I have several options for a product, I’ll give them all a quick once over and force myself to settle on one almost immediately so I avoid lingering and agonizing. I also listen to my intuition a lot and go for whatever “feels” the most right.

Decision making is a highly learnable skill, and a very beneficial one to take the time and master. You can build up your decisiveness in the ways described above (the last point about quick decisions can be especially helpful if you’ve got a history of indecision) and begin improving your abilities as soon as you choose.