9 keys to making smart decisions

Are you one of those who spend a while every day to decide what clothes to wear? When you meet a friend for a drink, do you always leave the responsibility to the other to choose the place? Is going to an all-you-can-eat buffet like hell because you're overwhelmed by so much food to choose from? Well, keep reading because what I'm going to tell you interests you.

With this article I intend to help you learn to make smart decisions and break the bad habit of indecision to be at peace and satisfied with your life.

• Related article: "The 8 types of decisions"

Improve when making decisions

Notice that one of the things we do most in our day to day is making decisions. From the time you get up until you go to bed. And your life is a direct consequence of all of them.

When we think about making decisions we usually think of big and momentous decisions like studying philosophy or mathematics, or marrying my boyfriend or not, etc. But throughout the day we take many more. Eating toast or cereal for breakfast, going to work by bus or walking, etc... And on many occasions,

what makes the difference are these small decisions.

Common mistakes when making decisions

Part of the ineffectiveness when making decisions has to do with the habit of not knowing how to recognize a series of errors. The main ones are the following.

1. Focus on what you reject

Do not look at what you stop earning, which in economics is known as the opportunity cost, but in what you can win if you choose that option. This way you will not fall into the dreaded analysis paralysis, which is neither more nor less than not making any decision due to excessive analysis.

2. Delay decision making

We become procrastinators. We leave for later what we should decide now. If you wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, you have ready, you are clear and there is no risk or uncertainty, you will never make a decision. To avoid this error, set a deadline for the resolution and meet it.

• Related article: "Procrastination or the "I'll do it tomorrow" syndrome: what it is and how to prevent it”

3. Be afraid of being wrong

Failure is part of the success process. Successful people make a lot of mistakes. What happens is that they make mistakes early, young, cheap and only once in each thing. That's the idea. You are going to be wrong yes or yes. And those mistakes will be great teachers for you. Therefore, lose the fear of error.

Before continuing, I would like you to write down on a piece of paper at this time about which you have to make a decision. I want this article to be as useful as possible and to serve you at least for the most immediate question you have.

You already have it? Let's go for it!

Tips for making good decisions

To improve your decision-making skills, follow these guidelines.

1. Establish what is priority and secondary in your life

The first goes before. And many times we do not put the first thing before making a decision. And we make decisions based on the secondary goals of our life.

I recommend that you do a list of the most important things in your life. 5 things. And rate them from 1 to 5, according to their importance. And when you have to make a decision ask yourself how it affects these 5 things. By order. If it favors them you will be making the right decision, if it does not favor them you will be making the wrong decision.

2. Implement firewall

Firewalls will be limits that you will not pass when making decisions. Or what is the same, you make the decision, before making the decision. With this, you avoid making the decision hot or letting yourself be carried away by emotions. A) Yes, you protect yourself.

Example: Going to a job interview knowing that less than X money, more than X hours or less than X responsibility, I will not do it, I will not accept it.

3. If you made a bad decision, let it go

Get out as soon as possible. Life is too short to insist on things that don't bring you anything. Sometimes we make the wrong decision and hope it will change. We are stubborn. And I will tell you something, with each passing day, how you have invested more, in time, money, resources, emotionally, each day it costs you more to make mistakes.

This is applicable both to a book that you have started to read and you do not like, a course that is not what you expected or a relationship that does not fulfill you.

4. Accept the worst possible scenario

Assess what is the worst possible scenario, real, to make the decision. I clarify that it must be real, because neither do you have to dramatize thinking you're going to end up under a bridge. And as I said, it is important, because if you are prepared for the worst possible scenario, you accept it and you can face it, then you do not have to be afraid of making that decision.

5. Simplify and stick with 2-3 alternatives

Instead of thinking of 50 possible options, try to narrow them down to 2-3 as much as possible. The fewer options we have, the less our minds will scatter and therefore we will make better decisions.

6. Use the "hot coffee" technique

If you get a very hot coffee on the table, what do you do? You wait, you let it cool for a few minutes and then you drink it. Well, with decisions that seem urgent we can do the same.

Example: A coworker comes to you and tells you that you have to decide the date of the vacation now or she asks your wife if you want to go shopping with her. Do not make the decision hot, wait a bit, cool down and take it.

Of course, be careful and do not get so cold that you become a procrastinator.

7. Make the decision when you go into action

Action is the bridge that links thoughts to results. So in any decision, the process ends not when we think about itBut when we go into action.

8. Trust your intuition and creative ideas

People think that people who make decisions in a rational and thoughtful way are not usually carried away by instinct. Intuition is that thought, that feeling that it is in an unconscious plane and that it gives you different vibrations depending on what you think.

On the other hand, according to studies in people who for work have to be continually making decisions, more than 49% are carried away by intuition. They themselves say that intuition is trained. As you make more and more decisions, your intuition sharpens. And they also dare to have creative ideas. Thus, taking wise ideas is not at odds with letting yourself be carried away by intuition.

9. Be quiet

It is difficult to make good decisions in our hectic day to day; from one side to the other, in the car, surrounded by people and noise. It is very easy to stop making decisions because of having to do things. A moment of silence is the best thing that can come to you for taking decisions.

A while in total silence. Go to the park, the beach or find a place where you can be quiet by yourself and where no one bothers you. No wi-fi, no phone, no watch.

It is time to take on the role of before, with the decision that you did not know how to make and apply some of these techniques. You don't have to apply them all at once. Stay with the ones that you like the most or think that best suit your case.

I can only thank you for having come this far and I hope that all this information that I have given you will be useful. If you dare, I'll wait for you in the comments and on the networks.

• You may be interested: "Why is it so hard for us to make some decisions?"