Indecision is debilitating. It feeds upon itself; it's habit-forming. Not only that, but it is contagious; it transmits itself onto others … Business is dependent upon action. It cannot go forward by hesitation; all are in agreement. However, for many and in too many situations, the inability to pull the trigger has become the norm.
Our daily lives are the cumulative effect of hundreds of small decisions.
These decisions encompass everything from what you chose to wear each day to where or what you are eating for lunch. Generally speaking, decisions like this come fairly easily, and we rarely agonize over the small choices we make throughout our daily lives. However, even in these small instances, any amount of indecision is an emotional and time suck. Worse, it's cumulative.
Some decisions carry enough weight that the prospect of simply making a choice can feel like a huge undertaking. It’s understandable; for an entrepreneur, making business decisions can be a stressful, emotional process. There are financial considerations to take into account, as well as your desire to do what is best for your business and yourself as an entrepreneur.
The difficulty here is avoiding analysis paralysis—where we get so wrapped up in the importance of the decision and our desire to make the right call that we fail to act and become immobilized.
Often the greater risk involved is with the postponement rather than making the wrong decision. ‘One of these days,’ is none of these days,” said Harry A. Hopf.
It was 30 years ago when I first read Mr. Hopf’s words on business management. What struck me then was that this was written in the early 1900s, and it resonated eloquently at the time in the 1990s. (Then again, Michael Bolton had a number one song that year, so anything of substance would have stood out.) Fast forward to the present time, and businesses are more dependent on acute action and unwavering accountability, but now it’s no longer solely in the hands of executives. If you agree with me that “everything communicates,” then you’ll agree that nothing communicates worse than the inability of action. I am positive that many people remain in a post-pandemic malaise and have no idea where they’re going these days. Not in life, love, or business. Worse, they feel trapped or simply no longer care. Lewis Carrolls' Cheshire Cat, famous from Alice in Wonderland, remarked, “If you don’t care very much where you are going, any road will get you there.” Are we an “any road” society? Not making decisions will lead, even inadvertently, down an “any road” path. I am not referring to the type of decision for which a plethora of mustards are on the shelf you need to choose from, dilemma. I am assuming one has collected the data and information required to narrow the impending choice to one or two and possibly three at worse. Faith Popcorn wrote about the danger of too many choices, “We used to believe we can become anything we wanted to be. Now we tell ourselves we can be everything we want to be.” The problem is that most people are afraid to choose because they don’t want to leave anything out or, worse, will make the wrong decision. At STIR-Communications, we work hard at empowering all to make choices on their own, sometimes manufacturing decision-making opportunities even when not necessary, simply to reinforce the importance of decisive action at every level.
12 step program for decision-making :
Identify your goal. This may sound like a no-brainer for personal goals, but for business goals, the more stakeholders, the more likely your goals are going to be misaligned.
Gather relevant information. ...
Evaluate your options. ...
Make your choice.
Evaluate your decision.
Avoid “decision fatigue” by making hard choices early. Organize your thought process
Don’t ignore your emotions surrounding the decision
Imagine that you’re helping someone else make the decision
Consider the complete opposite course of action
Sell yourself” each option
Don’t take in too much information
Don’t get wrapped up in avoiding the “wrong” decision
My experience is most decisions (ending wrong) are not nearly as monumental as not making a choice, to begin with. Later today, you will be forced to make a decision. I hope you take a moment to think about the options and then do what needs to be done, no waffling. Pull the trigger and ride the bullet.
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