How do you make decisions?

I’m not talking about whether you should eat a Mounds or a Snickers Bar. I’m talking about something of substance. What car to buy, what home to live in, where to go to college, or what to do about your career are all decisions of substance.

A lot of us make decisions emotionally. How we feel at any given moment is the indicator of what decision we make. Like tattoos for example, (BTW: I’m not against tattoos, in case you are wondering). How many people got a tattoo because they had an emotional impulse to put the name of a person they were dating, or the logo of a sports team, or a picture or design they liked. And then somewhere in the future, they said, “Woops!” “I probably shouldn’t have done that!”

Emotional decision making is risky at best. When I wanted to go to college I applied to two colleges. My first choice was a college that my best friend, who was a year ahead of me, went. My feelings were overwhelming in control. My friend and I had been friends since we were something like four years old, that’s a good reason to go to a college, right? Well, that college didn’t accept me, and I was devastated. The second college did, however, and it was the best place I could have gone. It was a great college and I loved being there, grew as a person, and found a love for learning while I was there. In retrospect going to the other college would have been a mistake because I wanted to go there for emotional reasons.

There are safeguards you can go through to help you make a better, wiser, safer, and more objective decision. One of those safeguards is to seek advice. Seems obvious I know.
Find someone who knows you well, has your best interest at heart, and will tell you what you need to hear. Ask them to consider your potential decision and to give you advice based upon certain parameters.

The parameters you are looking for are this:
1. Are my emotions in the way of my decision?
2. Are there any potential consequences I’m not seeing?
3. What would you do if it were your decision?
4. Will you be behind me 100% in this decision?

With candid advice you will make sounder, wiser decisions.