09 Sep How to Be a Better Decision-Maker
No matter your industry, position, or past experience, the ability to make a good decision is a skill you should strive to possess. A good decision-maker is an individual who can think clearly, logically, and quickly. These individuals can leave their emotions out of the decision-making process and will feel confident in their final decisions — they rarely hesitate or re-think their choice.
Any individual can become a good decision-maker. Here are a few tips to help you improve this important skill.
Use Available Resources
Good decision-makers use available data and research. They rarely make decisions without looking at all of the facts. They use all available data to look at the various options and they know how to access this information as well.
For example, consider individuals working in the marketing field. Their job entails coming up with effective marketing strategies that reach their target audience. They must use research and data to learn all they can about their target audience to better create an effective strategy. You must also research and gather data to help you make the most effective decision.
Recognize Your Own Personality Traits
Your personality will affect your decision-making process. For example, if you are an anxious individual who constantly worries, you may take a long time to make a decision as you will worry about all possible outcomes. If you are an emotional individual, it is easy to let your emotions come into play and affect your decisions.
By recognizing your own personality traits, you can better identify how you currently make decisions and what you must do to make better ones.
Narrow Down Your Options
As you make a decision, spend some time to look at all possible options. As you evaluate each option, throw out those choices that simply won’t work, are unrealistic, or are not wise. By eliminating many possible options, this will reduce feelings of stress, frustration, and confusion. You will feel less overwhelmed as you make your decision and you may find that you have a more clear and focused mind.
Learn From Your Mistakes
You will not always make the best decisions and you will make mistakes every day. However, what you do with these mistakes is even more important. Mistakes help you grow. They help you progress and improve yourself.
Learn from these mistakes. Take a step back and evaluate your decision-making process. Where could you have made improvements? What went wrong as you made your decisions? Use these experiences as learning opportunities to help you make a better decision in the future.
Becoming a better decision-maker is a skill that can help in both your professional and personal lives. Your colleagues, employers, and family members will notice your ability and it is a skill that can help you become an incredible leader. Plus, you will feel more confident and less anxious when those big life-changing decisions come your way.
