How Do I Know I’m Making The Right Decision?
Suzy Welch, editor of the Harvard Business Review , has developed a technique for making good decisions. This technique is based on thinking about immediate, medium and long term consequences. Welch suggests that before making the decision, you need to filter it through the 10/10/10 rule. You should ask yourself, am I going to feel bad about this in 10 minutes? In the next 10 months? Or will I still remember and regret this, even 10 years from now?
We make all decisions every day, whether it is for pleasure or without obligation. If you look back at things that bothered you a while ago, you will realize that even “bad” decisions can have good consequences. And a “good” decision can also give unexpected results.
Thus, it is practical not to be so obsessed with so much on which decision is the right one. Instead, you should analyze all the possibilities and / or consequences of what might happen. If you are obsessed with making the right decisions, you assume that you will somehow be rewarded for one thing and punished for the other. And if you know that the real world does not work that way, why force yourself to face this dichotomy?
Do not be obsessed with the two extremes: Correct and erroneous decisions
To make decisions, keep in mind that you will at least get the lesson that the decision-making process will give you. In addition, you will get all the lessons of the actual choice you have made. On the other hand, whether the option you choose is the best or the worst depends a lot on the degree of commitment you develop with it.
When faced with the task of making a decision, your intuition and your feelings about the situation will greatly affect you. If not in the decision itself, it will at least affect how you will feel after you have done so. When faced with various options, it is natural that you have doubts about what is right or wrong. The only thing you can do in this sense is to wait for time to pass, see what happens, and correct your decision if necessary.
Many decisions provide a hidden or disguised alternative: to do nothing. It is hidden because some people think that choosing this option is the same as not deciding. Nothing could be further from the truth. Deciding not to do anything is also a valid decision. It is an option that is not bad in itself. It is often cautious and will even allow new opportunities to emerge, options that you may prefer.
But on many other occasions we do nothing because it causes the least possible dissonance. Or because it is the choice that required the least effort or that allows you to avoid responsibility for the consequences. In these three cases, it is usually not the best choice to do nothing. Maybe it will provide relief in the short term, but it is likely that in the long term it will only cause anxiety.
Take full advantage of every experience
A good way to push as much as possible out of every experience is to learn not to judge or punish yourself for believing that you have made a mistake. Mistakes require correction or solutions, but not punishment. There is no important or complicated decision that does not involve a victim or an apostasy.
Taking advantage of the opportunities gives you the confidence to generate them as you go through difficult moments, and no one appears on your own. On the other hand , there is something more important than knowing how to take advantage of an opportunity, and that is knowing how to generate one. How to have the will and intelligence to move when the train refuses to pass the station.
The worst thing you can do when deciding is not to make a mistake. Trying to justify your mistake instead of exploiting it is a warning to similar situations. In order to make decisions that you will not regret later, it is important to be prepared. Knowing how to wait is even more important. But taking advantage of the right moment is the key to life.
When history repeats itself, it may not be because of the decision you made, but because you have not learned from previous experiences. The good thing about decisions is that the train of life still passes by. You can let one of them pass, one that would have taken you to a wonderful place. But you never know when the next train will come and restore your hope.
