Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Weighing the Pros and Cons

I've come to realize I'm not a good decision maker. Consider the dreaded question, "What do you want to eat?" My response is typically, "I don't know, what do you want?" Answering a question with a question is often very effective in getting you off the hook. However, not very effective in actually deciding what to eat.

Indecisiveness isn't a huge problem for me. Trying on eight outfits before picking one isn't going to ruin my life. It may look like a hurricane tore through my closet, but I'll live. In a professional setting, I'm a strong decision maker. Personally, not so much. I want to make the people I love happy. When making a decision, you always run the risk of making the wrong choice. I don't want to make the wrong choice when it affects other people. Is that so bad?


So, right now I have decision on my plate. It's not as easy as a dinner decision. It takes some real thinking. I find my head gets swirly when making big decisions, so my solution is the Pros and Cons List. Perhaps it's because I'm a writer, but putting the pen to the paper usually brings me to a clear decision. There's risk involved in some decision making, once I write it all out I feel I've calculated that risk as either safe or risky.

I'd like some feedback on how you make decisions. Perhaps making a decision to be a better decision maker is the first step.

4 comments:

misti said...

I'm a fan of the pro-con list as well...and using someone as a sounding board. I pray that the right decision would become the clear one.

And sometimes I flip coins.

Marcus said...

I prefer the flip a coin method!

Stephanie Jordan said...

A coin flip — you guys are crazy!

Mandy S said...

if you figure out the whole decision making thing...let me know! i can relate...easy to make them at work (usually), not so much in my personal life!