I am a recovering indecisive over-thinker! So, practicing decisiveness has not always come natural to me.
As someone who used to struggle making decisions, but has grown to enjoy them, here are 10 ideas and principles that have helped me practice what I’ve started calling “Proactive Decisiveness”.
1. First, Know Thyself.
Without a clear sense of who you are, who you are trying to become, and your purpose, it becomes very difficult to make great decisions. As Roy Disney said, “When your values are clear, decisions are easy.”
2. To become a decision-maker, be a decision-maker.
I had to change my view of myself, and start viewing myself as a decision-maker. To start taking ownership. Decision-makers make decisions. Some of us have “Decision Maker” as part of our title, and some of us don’t, but we are all decision-makers in our own lives.
3. It takes practice. Lower the bar and run experiments.
Don’t be afraid of failure. You won’t become a strong decision-maker without practice. Practice on the little things, the day-to-day decisions.
4. 11th Hightower Rule.
There are 13 ways of doing most things, 11 of them will work. Just pick one and go for it. (This came from the Faith-Driven Entrepreneur podcast, tip of the hat to them!)
5. The 80-20 Rule.
You’ll know 80% of the information pretty quickly. The last 20% might not be critical and might take you an inordinate amount of time to discover. Get comfortable making most decisions on 80% of the information. There will always be more information you could gather, but knowing when to say “enough is enough” is a learned skill.
6. Glass balls vs. rubber balls.
Life is like juggling. Some of the balls are glass and if you drop them they’ll shatter (like your marriage). But most of the balls are actually rubber balls. They’ll bounce back if you drop them. These are things like job, house, vehicles, and many of the other things in life. Prioritize the glass balls and don’t sweat the rubber balls so much.
7. Get brave.
Paralysis from analysis is often a symptom of fear, and fear is the opposite of faith and love. Trusting God doesn’t mean waiting for lightning to strike. It often means stepping out into uncertainty. “What would you do today, if you were brave?”
8. Act on the clarity you have.
Sometimes, for over-thinkers like me, the simplest thing is to act on the clarity I have. You don’t have to climb the whole mountain yet, just take the next clear step. This has been most helpful when facing an overwhelming decision that is complex or far-reaching in its ramifications. Ask yourself, “What’s the last thing that was clear to me?” That’s probably a good sign to act on.
9. A decision not to make a decision, is a decision.
My coach taught me years ago that not making a decision is OK. In fact, making a decision not to make a decision, is a decision!
10. Go with Gusto.
Muhammad Ali said, “I don’t worry about the right decision. I take a decision and make it right.” The energy and creativity with which a decision is tackled, could turn an OK decision into a great decision.
