Decision Making Strategies

Elon Musk. Bill Gates. Warren Buffet. What do these men and others like them have in common? Besides being very wealthy and brilliant businessmen, they all use strategies that help them make decisions and minimize risk. I don’t suggest that you try to design the next rocket or electric car, but I do have several suggestions for strategies that can help you make decisions in your daily life.

Make the most significant decisions early in the day when you have the energy, mental stamina and focus.

These are the decisions you subconsciously avoid. If you do not take the time to look at the decisions in the morning when your willpower is the strongest, you may not make them at all. As Mark Twain famously said, Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

Avoid allowing small nagging choices to surreptitiously drain your mental stamina.

For instance, breakfast, lunch or dinner choices and other trivial decisions that we make every day take away most of our time. Delegate these decisions or make them less important and time-consuming. Once these decisions are taken care of, you will discover that your reservoir of making great decisions will last longer throughout the day.

Widen your information base when faced with a critical decision.

Things get easier when you ask the right questions. Use all resources at your disposal to get more information — friends, the Internet, experts in your field, etc.

Research your presumptions.

You live in a world of information-overload. Go online or talk to people around you to see what worked for them in similar situations.

Acquire some distance to gain perspective.

It is the oldest trick out there – detach yourself from the emotions of the moment.  A great time to put it on the back burner is night and a wonderful time to think about the decisions or questions is first thing in the morning before anyone else is up!  Clarity will come!

Test, Test, Test.  

If you are making involved life or business changing decisions, be sure to test them.  For example, if you are thinking of going with a new technology, spend several days working with it on a site that already uses it (if you pay them for that kind of time, it may save you many thousands of dollars).  Or if you are considering living in the country, rent a place and stay for two months.  It will save you lots of mistakes.  Using this over and over in both your business and personal life is a way to save time and money. Always prepare to be wrong. You have made mistakes (and you will continue to make mistakes). That is the only way to gain perspective.

Once you begin to use one or more of these strategies for better decision making and need help, please call me <<804-288-0099>> or email me <<carroll.schuller@organicblueprints.com>>. I’ll be glad to work with you for a more effective plan to accomplish your dreams or next step.  It may not be the next SpaceX, but we can try to get you heading in your next best direction.

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