Be in the Moment and Carefully Make your Decision: Once You Have Made the Decision, don’t think too Much About It

Making a Decision: Some People Take Too Much Time, Others Make Too Fast

Every day we make several decisions in our life. Majority of those decisions don’t impact our life much. However, some decisions not only hugely impact us but also affect the lives of people around us, and beyond. People also differ in how they make decisions. Some people think too much and take a lot of time before making the decision. They keep thinking about the probable outcomes of the decision before making one. They get into too much analysis. It is rightly said that too much analysis leads to paralysis. Consequently, it becomes very difficult for them to make the decision well on time. Since they don’t make the decisions at the right time, they miss a lot of opportunities. Later they regret about not making the decision on time. But once the time is gone, it can not be brought back. And it doesn’t help to keep regretting about not making the decision earlier.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people who don’t think as much as required and don’t properly analyze things and situations before making the decision. They make decisions hurriedly. Even many important and strategic decisions, decisions that can impact the lives of hundreds or even millions of people, are made without careful thought. Irony is that once they made the decision, they even don’t want to look back and reflect about that. They don’t want to see whether they have made any wrong decision. They are not open to analyze their decisions and the impact of those decisions on their and/or others’ life.

Neither of these two approaches is effective. Neither to overthink and overanalyze before making the decision nor to make the decision hurriedly without much thinking and deliberation. You should give yourself enough time (but not too much) before making the decision. You also need to understand that only making a decision is under your control, not the outcome of that. So, while making the decision you need to be very thorough and deeply analyze all aspects related with the decision, and then make the decision. But once you have made the decision, move forward. Don’t regret if outcomes are not as per your expectations.

Don’t Regret, But Also Don’t Neglect

A significant number of people keep thinking and regretting about making several decisions in their life, especially when outcomes are not as per their expectations. Initially, they don’t give enough time and don’t properly analyze things/issues before making the decision. They make decisions hurriedly without much thinking and deliberation. But once the decision is made, then they start thinking about that. They waste a lot of their time and energy by thinking and regretting about making that decision. They keep thinking if they can go in the past and undo that decision. Most of their time goes into regretting and complaining about the decisions that they have made. They don’t try to understand that once a decision is made, it is made. You cannot change or undo (most of the time) the decision that you have made. You need to learn to live with that. Once you have made a decision, move forward. Don’t keep dwelling upon it and keep regretting that I should have done this or that.

On the other hand, many people make decisions hastily without much thinking and deliberation. The make the decision and move forward. They don’t try to understand and analyze the impact of those decisions. Even in organizations, many people (especially those holding leadership positions) make decisions hastily without involving others into the decision-making process. They don’t take enough time and do proper analysis before making the decision. Consequently, most often outcomes of those decisions are contrary to the expectations. But people who have made the decision even don’t accept that they may have made a mistake while making the decision. They don’t want to understand the impact of their decisions on others’ life.

Don’t think too much and regret about the decisions that you have made, but also don’t neglect the impact of your decisions on others’ life.

Learn from the Decisions that You Have Made

If you have made a decision that has led to unexpected and undesirable outcomes, there is no use of keep thinking and regretting about that. Rather you should learn something from that experience about making better decisions in future. You should look back, reflect and try to understand what may have gone wrong while making the decision. Ask yourself such questions: Did I let my emotions dominate my thinking while make the decision? Did I do proper analysis? Did I look at all important aspects before making the decision?

If you analyze and understand the decision-making process that you have adopted in the past and learn from it, you can make better decisions in future. Effective leaders regularly analyze their decisions and their impact on their team and/or organization and others. If they see that their decisions are not leading to intended outcomes then they take corrective actions. You should also act in a similar way.

How to Make Better Decisions?

While making a decision you hardly know what may be the actual outcome of that decision. But if you make your decisions by being fully aware, by giving yourself enough time and by doing proper analysis, chances are high that you will make better decisions. During the decision-making process, you should deeply analyze the issue about which you are going to make the decision. You should develop as much clarity as possible about the issue even if you don’t have enough time, data and information at the time of making decision. We make a lot of decisions in our life without having all the required data and information. Before making the decision, you should think about the implications of that decision for you as well as for others.

Also, while making a decision you should go deeper and try to understand what your heart is saying to you. You should listen to your heart. You should try to understand your gut feelings: What they are trying to convey to you? The make the decision.

Once you have made the decision, outcome is not under your control. So, don’t worry unnecessarily about the outcomes. Outcome is under the control of God. However, if your intent is good and approach is robust, most likely you will get the results as per your expectations. Most often, things may turn out the way you have expected. But if things are not happening the way you have expected, don’t get disheartened. Don’t regret about your decision. May be God has planned something else for you.

Remember, only making decision with full awareness is under your control, not the outcome of that decision. So, be thoughtful while making the decision. And accept whatever results you get. Thinking too much and regretting about the decisions that you have made is not going to help you and change the outcomes. So, just focus on making the right decision and leave rest everything to God.