How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

mgrkeyre — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:34:01 GMT

In 2002 I wanted to invest in an apartment in the city. My new wife had a bad feeling about it which I assumed was just a fear of the unknown. So armed with all the facts and reasons why we could not go wrong I managed to sway her my way. That apartment has been a noose around my neck for 6 years. We finally sold it for $40k less than we bought it for. The rental houses we purchased which she had a good feeling about all provided an income for several years before we sold them at a very good profit.

Do I listen to my wife when she has a gut feeling? I do now. Question: Why do you think women are more intuitive than men?

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

Blackberry Blossom Farmer — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:50:43 GMT

Our family found that giving our children a Logic course in high school has helped tremendously in teaching good decision making skills. I honestly think that it should be a required course for every child, early in their pre-adult lives to help them handle time management choices as well as any decision making. I was always a shoot from the hip decision maker until this course was taught in our home. Now I still trust my instincts, but analyze them a little more. The course mimics many of the suggestions above as well as Brian Tracey's helpful laws of success. We also use prayer for insight & wisdom and EFT for obvious emotional blockages. This has been especially helpful during times of crisis when decisions needed to be made but our brain was muddled due to trying to deal with the crisis in survival mode.

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

alphafem2002 — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:20:22 GMT

I learned a fabulous way to make decisions that involve thinking and asking why and lookng at consequences and mulling the problem over in all directions. Then, you frame a very clear question you want answered that exactly states what you want to figure out. Then burn this into your brain over a few minutes and let it GO. Let the subconsious with its full deck of cards turn it over and almost invariably within three days the answer pops up at you in a moment of brain-idling and you suddenly Know.

I find it funny that it's always three days. But the trick is not to distract the subconsious from its work by re-thinking and stewing. Get the editor out of there. Permssion to take a break from it, with ease, as you know it's already in better hands, the hands of your own subconsious that knows more about it the 'you' do.

I had a friend who asked this question about where she should live, given her clients, her horses that needed to be boarded, traffic etc and got a superb answer. But her daugther threw a fit because it was a horrible choice for her and away from her friends. The mother had forgotten to include the child in the question. it wasn't 'where is the best place for ME to live' but should have been 'best place for US to live'. Three days later she got another equally amazing and more suitable answer.

The question has got to be right and you've got to leave it alone. Then trust it; it will come with a sense of rightness. If the problem is tricky and it seems to be unpalatable but probably truly the best you can do, then believe it.

Best of both worlds, thinking gathering mind and the "Brewmaster", the subconsious.

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

Arizona — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:34:10 GMT

I didn't see prayer mentioned. All are good ways to arrive at an answer, but prayer should be in there too!!!!!

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

mmc88121 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:28:19 GMT

Sounds like the adage to go with your first impression is usually the correct one.

Mary

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

Katie B — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:12:31 GMT

Understandable in a life or death situation, but I wish I had put a lot more thought into going to college instead of just jumping into it right after high school. I wish I had thought a lot more about some of the decisions I have made in my life before I made them. I am not saying this is a flawed study, but the result certainly doesn't apply to me.

Now that I have thought not so long, but very hard about going back to school a second time, I am ready and feel much more confident in my decision than I did the last time.

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

qualitygeek — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:28:19 GMT

The 5WHYS is a common quality tool we use for root cause analysis & often used with a fishbone (Ishakawa) diagram.

Are you getting the wrong answers? Try asking the right questions...

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

Miss Bliss — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:19:12 GMT

How timely this article is! I have had to make some significant decisions regarding my aging parents over the past two weeks, and how I approached them worked for me.

While wading knee deep in sibling power struggles with opinions that came from anger and fear, it seemed as though the only way to deal with the difficult conversations that must occur when one's parent's are aging I found, is that you simply must maintain a non-fear, non-anger based perspective.

The minute you go to a place of fear and anger, you will definitely make the wrong decision.

Gut-feelings are definitely something not to be ignored. If I had know that earlier in life, I could have avoided a whole lot of grief!

Having said that it is also not only prudent, but wise to plan as best as you can. There is nothing like being smacked in the face with a crisis and having no contingency plan. The contingency plan can be as simple as a calm thought and awareness of a bigger picture outcome, or it can be as elaborate as a well thought out document that outlines details.

The interesting thing is that now that I am more aware of the anger and fear based approach that often creeps into decisions, the more I choose not to go there. It's a good thing to have conversations with yourself....!
And if you prefer, find a trusted friend to hash things out with.
It's cheaper than therapy!!

re: How to Make the Right Decision in Any Situation

CSR — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:42:42 GMT

Hmm, I have a difficult time with big decisions and have had to make
several in recent years and will have another major one to make in the
upcoming year. But one thing I find is that there's no way to
anticipate which is the "right" decision...in fact, I think most
decisions that people make regarding say, jobs, and big moves, and so
on, are the "right" ones because humans are quite good at adjusting to
their conditions and making their decisions work. As a Cognitive
Experimental Psychologist, I know from my research and that of my
colleagues that people do show some paradoxical decision-making
behaviors, but generally they make choices that maximize their benefits
and minimize the costs. In addition, people are also very good at
justifying/explaining their decisions later, even if not optimal.