3 Steps You Can Take to Make Better Decisions

By Chuck Fenwick

How You Can Make Better Choices

You make choices all day long. From the time to wake up until the time you go to sleep, you’re constantly evaluating and making decisions. That’s exhausting! 

I heard somewhere that you make around 35,000 decisions every day. I think we’ve all heard that statistic before and it still shocks me every time. No wonder we are all feeling exhausted all the time! 

Ultimately, the choices you make every day affect the course of your life. And that is incredibly overwhelming. 

So how do you avoid decision fatigue and decision paralysis? Here are three steps you can take to make choices to help you reach your goals.

Pause and Gain Perspective

When you’re facing a big decision, you probably feel the pressure to make a choice quickly. We live our lives in the weeds when we should prioritize taking a 30,000-foot view of the situation. 

Take a moment to stop and slow down. This is a challenge because our lives are so busy and our schedules are packed full. Which is why it’s essential to hit the pause button! 

Step back so you can see the bigger picture of your life. This helps you to gain a fresh perspective on the situation. Taking a moment to clear your mind from the overwhelm of emotions helps give you the headspace to make a fully formed and well-thought-out decision.

Take Time to Reflect

After you’ve taken a moment to pause, now spend some time in reflection. This doesn’t mean you have to take 3 hours to meditate silently and journal it all out (unless that works for you, do what you need to do). 

Use this time to look at your goals and visualize your future self. What goals are you working towards? And which of the outcomes will lead you toward who you want to be in the future? 

It’s important that you’re honest with yourself (like, really honest!). Which choice will lead you to what you are striving to achieve? If you haven’t, take some time to write out some goals for yourself. Having a clear and defined destination will help guide you toward the best decision.

Ask for Trusted Advice

Seeking guidance from people in your life is a great way to make choices that will help you achieve your goals. Create a mental list of influential people in your life – you probably already have a good idea of who you can trust! 

This list of people will likely be short. There isn’t a specific number, but you’ll want to limit the influence to a targeted group of people.  Otherwise, you’ll be overwhelmed with opinions (which will just make everything harder!). 

When you’re struggling to make a choice, turn to one of the trusted people from your list. Ask them what they would do if they were in your situation. Maybe they have experienced something similar or have more knowledge in a particular area. 

And make sure they’ll give you the guidance you need, not just what you want to hear. Many people will give you their unsolicited advice, but that’s not what we’re hoping for. Narrow down the opinions you receive and take advice from those you trust.

Bonus Tip: Be Prepared to Change

Sometimes after we take time to pause, reflect, and ask for advice, we still want to go with our initial reaction. Be sure you are ready to change your course of action and respond in the best way possible. 

And, if you do make the “wrong” choice, be prepared to give yourself some grace. We all make mistakes – whether intentionally or unintentionally. Making the wrong decision is inevitable sometimes. Accept the defeat when it happens. Then pause, reflect, and ask for trusted advice. Wash, rinse, repeat. You can do this! 

Keep me updated!

If you try any of these tips, I want to know! Send me a text and let me know which one worked best to help you make a big decision in your life.