Every day we make decisions – from what to have for lunch, to how to get a deal closed. Whether simple, complex or both, we make decisions on a daily basis; and they go a long way in affecting our lives.
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Whether as a business CEO, a coach, a professor, a student, a manager, or anything else, we always want to make the best decisions. The idea, however, is not just making decisions, but making the right decision with confidence.
Indecision is a major killer in life, career and business. Every day we are faced with circumstances that force us to make decisions. As earlier stated, whatever choice we make could either help us or destroy us. However, the human mind works in a complex manner. Most often, our minds can be ill-informed, biased, or unsure. Therefore, making a sound decision with every sense of confidence is a powerful skill in the 21
st century. In this article, we shall highlight six surest hacks on how to make the right decision with confidence.
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Never Assume You Are The Smartest Person
It is costly to assume that you are the smartest person when it comes to decision-making. Assuming you are the smartest person will make you not ask the right questions so that you can get helpful answers. Therefore, when you are trying to make a decision, forgo your ego, seek knowledge from people, books, and other sources. Learn with an open mind and all sense of humility.
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Fully Understand The Situation And Be Objective About It
Before you begin to make a decision, ensure you have fully understood the situation with an eye for objectivity. Be very objective when studying and analyzing the situation. Look out for remote and immediate causes of the situation; understand the implication of the decision you intend to make. So it is important to weigh the pros and the cons of the decision you want to make. Do a comparative study of decisions and other brilliant ideas, before executing your decision.
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Avoid Being Emotional
When making a decision, do away with bias, and other attachments of emotional prejudice. Being biased when making a decision is counterproductive. For instance, you have been informed with pieces of evidence that your son who works in your company as an employee is toying with the company’s funds, because of the emotional attachment of family, you brushed it aside. Ordinarily, you ought to carry out your investigation, if found guilty, it is important you sanction him appropriately. Furthermore, never make decisions based on preconceived notions. Gain a new perspective, forgo your preconceived notions, and gain clarity on the true situation of things.
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Generate Variety Of Brilliant Options
To make confident decisions in your personal and professional life, generate a wide range of creative alternatives to explore. The wider your options, the better your final decision is likely to be. Although, generating a wide range of options might lead to indecision if caution is not applied, but having a variety of options forces you to think deeply and outside the box, which can lead to making a very creative decision.
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Time-frame The Effect Of Your Decision
When making a decision, think about the immediate, short-term, mid-term and long-term effects of your decision. Will the effect still remain the same throughout the terms? Will you be implicated in the next five years as a result of your decision? Are the consequences of your decision the same across terms? When you think through this, it will help you become more fluent with your decision making.
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Evaluate Your Decisions
Evaluating your decisions is the last stage of the decision-making process. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s. Take a long, hard, look at what you are about to do. Identify if such decisions have been taken elsewhere, and what was the after-effect. Having done this, you can get the opinions of experienced friends, colleagues, mentors, and parents and trusted allies.
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