The average adult in the United States today makes about 35,000 decisions each day. Most of these decisions are simple ones like: What will I have for dinner, should I change lanes, should I buy the blue or red pen, etc. The more choices presented to us in a day, the more decisions we need to make. Even simple activities like visiting a department store, present us with so many choices. What was supposed to be a 15 minute trip turns into a one hour trip. Having too many options, increases the amount of time it takes to make decisions.

Since we are inundated with so many choices, how do we effectively make decisions in today’s world? Making better decisions all starts with having goals. A simple example is when you go to the grocery store with a list of what you want, you spend both less time and money because you are not trying to decide at the time of purchase. Making grocery list is a form of setting goals. As humans, we are not always rational and neither are we capable of processing large amount of data. While some decisions in life are so small and does not require much conscious processing power, you should make it a habit in following a rational process in making bigger decisions. Emotions play an important role in making decisions and not having a rational process could lead to a lot of regretful decisions.

To make decisions

Understand the problem:

Without understanding the problem, you will spend a lot of time and energy solving the wrong problems which sometimes could be worse than not addressing the problem at all. For example, if sales are going down in your business, you need to understand whether the forces affecting sales are internal or external. Understanding the problem is 50% of the solution.

Specify goals and objectives

Once you understand the problem, clearly define how you will know when you have reached a solution. For example if the problem was decreased sales due to high turnover, then an objective will be to increase sales by 10% by reducing turnover rate by 50%.

Identify alternatives

Next, seek solutions and be sure to give yourself alternatives. Locking yourself to one solution could cause short sightedness.

Create a point system

On a white board (or similar platform), lay out the problems, the possible solutions and create a point system for how important certain characteristics are in solving a problem. This allows you to strip out unnecessary details presented by the sales rep of a solution provider.

Select an alternative

Next, select the solution that scores highest in your point system.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the decision

Once the solution is implemented, it is important to come back and evaluate how well the solution is meeting the goals and objectives. This is useful as it helps create better decisions in the future.

The ability to make good decisions contributes to our success in life. The decisions we make daily affect our future. Knowing what you want in life (having goals) makes the process a lot easier. Remember, if you do not know where you want to go, anywhere will take you there.