Are you a good decision maker?
What attributes make a person a good decision maker?
Want to be a better decision maker?
Decision making can be described as the mental process of choosing a course of action from multiple options. Decision making produces a final choice.
When you’re presented with a chocolate box, you scan all the choices. You mentally evaluate, analyze, and use your best experiences, and gut instinct, to guess what is inside each chocolate. Your goal is to choose the single chocolate that will provide the most joy in a delicious morsel.
All decisions you make follow this same simple pattern. There are x number of options (A, B, C, or D, etc.). You get to choose one. This holds true if you’re buying a car, a computer, or making a career decision. It’s true if you’re picking a spouse, buying a new pair of shoes, or deciding whether to watch American Idol or read a book.
Here is how applying the three principles of Gumption can help make you into a better decision maker … and achieve better results in the decisions you make. I’ve included my daily affirmations that help me be a better decision maker.
Use the 3 Principles of Gumption to Help You Make Better Decisions:
1. Mindset
Decision making starts with your thinking process. The thinking is the most important part of decision making. When you become aware of your thinking process … decision making will transform from reactive to proactive.
Affirmations on thinking about decision making.
- I am a good decision maker.
- I use thinking and reasoning to help me make better decisions.
- My ability to make decisions keeps getting stronger all the time.
2. Moxie
Without action, things do not get done. Without action, a decision is simply a wish.
Saying I want that chocolate but failing to reach into the box, pick it up, put it in your mouth, chew, savor, and swallow gets nothing done … no chocolate! The box remains full. The same holds true for writing a blog, calling prospects on the phone, sending follow-up emails, etc. Action is what gets things done. Doing things with moxie, energy, and urgency gets things done more quickly.
Affirmations on getting things done after making a decision.
- I always take action after making a decision.
- My actions get done with a great sense of urgency.
- After making a decision, I put lots of energy into my actions.
3. Graciousness
Decisions are rarely made in a vacuum. Decisions typically involve other people. Other people typically are essential for your decisions to be implemented and deemed successful. Decisions affecting other people need to be beneficial to those affected. Getting others to endorse and support decisions is easier when done with graciousness.
Affirmations on interacting with others to get the decisions you?ve made implemented.
- I choose to be gracious in all my interactions.
- I understand being gracious will help others get what they need and help me get what I desire.
- Being gracious is easy for me ? I receive joy when helping others.
Every decision you make is a choice.
Viktor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
I believe our freedom lies in our choices. The space that Frankl refers to is exactly where your decision making occurs.
Being aware of the space is our mindset.
Being aware of and responsible for our responses is our moxie.
Being aware of and responsible for our interactions is our graciousness.
Are you a good decision maker?
Next Blog Title: Gumption, Action & Affirmations
Next Blog Date: October 13, 2011