CONTENTS
The power in making a decision
No retreat
Feedback and adjustment
The dilemma regarding sufficient information
Making a decision is the end point and the beginning
How to proceed
Examples
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"Expected value" - assessing
No retreat - "cut off"
Implementing the decision
Feedback and adjustment
Practice
We decide that we have a problem.
We decide it is worth fixing.
We decide what it takes to fix it. (Using the proper effective process!)
We decide to do what it takes to fix it - with no turning back.
We plan what to do
We act to fix it, implementing the fix into our lives.
We change our behavior and do our best to stick to it.
Perfecting this process and your follow through will make one of the biggest differences in your life. Developing the discipline to follow through will transform your life - and put you at peace and confidence.
THE POWER IN MAKING A DECISION
One way to make no progress is to make no decisions and no commitments related to those decisions. Power comes from making decisions and commitments. Power comes from taking a stand, a position that is solid, declaring what is so and/or where you are.
Power is in decisionmaking and in taking action. As part of each decision, we must therefore include at least one action that we will take.
An admonition in personal growth is stop "always being a seeker and never a finder."
As they say in business: "you gotta close the deal and not just muck around."
One of the interesting side effects for those people who keep looking for all the solutions in life is that one actually feels a sense of progress (and pride) simply by making a decision. (It is a concrete step in the right direction so it does represent progress.)
NO RETREAT
And then we do the two parts of the root of the word "decision": cision = "cut", de = "off", which equals "cut off".
This takes various forms, one of the most notable is the general's decision to cut off all retreat by burning all the ships.
FEEDBACK AND ADJUSTMENT
Proceeding forth on a decided path does not mean that one cannot change the path.
The wise person realizes that one will not always make the right decision, so it will be necessary to make adjustments, with no fear-producing thinking that "it should be otherwise" - they just accept it as part of life.
Indeed, the wise person is always asking the questions "what's working and what's not working" and "what do I need to do to have things work better."
The confident person goes forth knowing things will change and knowing that he'll take feedback and adjust his plan - which is a bit what life is like naturally.
Mistakes will occur, but "so what?!!". The mistakes are virtually never determinant of all of one's life. As most successful people will tell you, their secret of success was making lots of mistakes - and learning from them. (Being clear on what one's actual "safe base" is actually critical to keeping one's life in a "good enough" state overall. Read that link.)
THE DILEMMA REGARDING SUFFICIENT INFORMATION
Decision making is an imperfect process which we try to do as rightly as we can.
But we can never do it perfectly nor anticipate all the random events that could get in the way. It is far more efficient to just proceed and revise as one goes.
In the business I was in, I had to go forward in some areas without having all the expertise and tools in place yet, but I decided that that was the only way I could progress. So I had to accept that I would make mistakes, as a "cost", but that the rewards of progress were greater. That viewpoint benefitted me immensely, as I became a leader in several areas where there was no one to copy. (Copying some successful person or model is the most efficient thing to do.)
Of course, the more the potential negative impact is of a decision, the more important it is to gather sufficient information. An example is that of launching a manned spaceship to the moon.
However, very, very, very few of your decisions have that potential negative impact. All other decisions have the leeway in them to make mistakes. So, I recommend you proceed forward and enjoy making your mistakes, all as rapidly as possible!!!!
How much is sufficient? Enough to be able to move forward but not perfect, so as not to be stuck in "paralysis of analysis". With enough confidence to clean up the mess and deal with it, yet still be able to create happiness (this is the idea behind living a life of Fearlessness). Read The Law Of Sufficient Dots On Your Screen.
MAKING A DECISION IS THE END POINT AND THE BEGINNING
Making a decision is the end point of gathering information and evaluating alternatives. There must be an end as rapidly as possible.
And, of coures, the decision allows for the next stage of progress!
HOW TO PROCEED
Of course, use the forms in the problem-solving/decision-making section.
Create a list of decisions you've made (optional), so that you can get more of a sense of control over your life.
Keep copies of your written decision in your Reminders Notebook until you no longer need it there and then put it into your LifePlan Notebook, under the relevant goal area.
EXAMPLES
