4 Tips To Help You Make Any Difficult Decision.

Making a decision is never easy.

When you have to make an important decision, you are also sure to lose some sleep and be stressed.

Buying a house, getting married, getting a divorce, moving for professional reasons, quitting or even deciding which movie to watch: all of these decisions can easily wear you out.

Fortunately, there are some simple and effective techniques to help you analyze all the possibilities.

tips for making tough decisions

If you're really struggling to make an important decision, here are 4 tips to help you with your decision-making:

1. Imagine giving advice to a friend

Imagine giving advice to a friend

Important decisions can take their toll on your emotional health.

As a result, your mind is confused and it becomes very difficult to make a good decision.

A great technique to help you is to pretend you are giving a friend advice.

The idea is simple: all the emotions you are experiencing are blocking your decisions and your ability to assess the situation objectively.

Obviously, it's hard to let go of your emotions completely, but it helps to know that they influence your choices.

This technique only works in certain circumstances.

For example, if you imagine giving a friend advice on choosing a moving company, that won't help you much.

On the other hand, if you can imagine giving a friend advice on where to move to, that should help you a lot.

It was precisely this method that helped me a lot in choosing a city to move to.

I invented an imaginary friend in the same situation as mine.

Then I wondered how I would approach this subject with him.

I then thought about the types of questions I would ask him, the different risks I could talk to him about and finally the different information to look for in each city.

It's true that it does involve some intellectual gymnastics - but it's definitely worth a try.

You can also try calling a friend to ask for their opinion.

But the advantage of this method is that it is quick and you don't need to make a long phone call.

2. Limit the amount of information to analyze

Is too much information killing information?

You might think that the more information you have, the easier it is to make the right decision.

In fact, too much information kills information.

Indeed, very quickly our brain is overwhelmed and it becomes even more difficult to analyze them.

When you have too much information to process, you start to attach too much importance to it when in reality it is not that important.

Why ? Because the human brain reacts badly to uncertainty.

Uncertainty implies inconstancy, chance and above all: danger.

When we lack information, our brains give us a warning signal: "Be careful. It may be important! ".

Therefore, when we think that we are missing information, we tend to overestimate its importance.

When you devote time and energy to searching for information, your brain assumes that it is essential.

This information can take different forms. For example, you may have done so much research on a topic that you are no longer in the “informed decision” but in the information overload.

Likewise, maybe you've asked a few of your friends who've all given you different opinions!

Either way, when you accumulate too much information, you complicate the decision-making process instead of simplifying it.

Coming back to my move, I had also reached this information overload. I had too much data and opinions to analyze to make the right decision.

What helped me was to eliminate some of them.

Instead of telling several of my friends about my move, I picked 3 I could trust.

I also achieved something important: Whether it is a big decision or a trivial one, a decision is never final!

Indeed, we tend to attach too much importance to the weight of our decisions.

Yes, moving to the other end of France is important. But this is not an irreversible decision!

If I don't like the place I choose, I can always move again.

It's the same principle for small decisions.

Besides, I never take more than 2 minutes to make a small decision.

Detach yourself from the gravity you give to a decision and move on.

Most decisions don't engage you as much as you might think.

By accepting this reality, you will be able to limit the information necessary for decision-making to a minimum.

3. Fight your prejudices

How can you challenge your own assumptions and make a decision more easily?

I told you before about the benefit of thinking outside yourself and pretending to give advice to an imaginary friend.

But you can go even further: challenge your own deepest ideas.

It may sound a little extreme, but it is very effective.

Why ?

Because we all tend to make the same type of decisions throughout our lives.

To really move forward, you have to know how to get out of your comfort zone and do the exact opposite of what you would normally have done.

This is often the best way to solve the problem and make the right decision.

The basic idea is to fight your prejudices, step out of your comfort zone and use your creativity to try out new ideas.

What I am suggesting is simple.

When you are hesitating between several options, add a new option: one that is the exact opposite of what you would normally do.

Now imagine what your life would be like with this new option, as if you have already made this decision.

For my move, for example, I added areas that didn't particularly appeal to me.

When I weighed the pros and cons, I realized that these options brought benefits that I hadn't even thought about.

So it forced me to step outside of my preconceived ideas about important factors like choosing a city.

Because in fact, I didn't really know what I was looking for and the details that would really make the difference.

You might think that adding a new folk option would make decision-making even more confusing but in some cases, like a move or a career change, it's very important to get out of your comfort zone to make a good decision.

Here are some tips to help you think outside the box and fight your misconceptions:

1. Make a list of your biases on the topic in question.

2. Look for the reverse of this misconception. What would be the opposite of this prejudice?

3. Now imagine how you would go about putting the opposite of this prejudice into practice.

The result is that you come to a new point of view, one that you wouldn't normally think of.

And while this is an option you won't choose, this process will have helped you identify what really matters in your decision making.

4. List the information on an Excel table

Example of an Excel table for making decisions

Many people enjoy making lists and tables to better organize their lives.

If you are one of them, then you know that an Excel table is one of the best ways to make a decision.

Using an Excel table can give you a very good overview.

In the Excel table, you can add criteria such as: pros and cons, quality, ranking, etc.

This method has helped me make important decisions, such as where to move.

But she also helped me with less important decisions, like choosing a good moving company.

Create your own list by adding or removing the criteria that suit you.

For my move, I had made 2 columns: one with the "pros" and the other with the "cons" and then each city with its dedicated row.

The idea is to create a table that really suits your needs.

The goal here is to simplify your decision making and provide you with a clear and comprehensive view in the blink of an eye.

Conclusion

How can these techniques help you?

Everyone has a different perception of what makes a decision important or not.

On the other hand, these 4 techniques are very effective in helping you feel confident in the decision you have made.

For me, they helped me have a holistic and clear view of all the choices - without feeling overwhelmed by all the information I had accumulated.

Whatever you do, decisions take time and energy.

With these techniques, your decision-making should be easier and should also limit your regrets.

I'm curious about your opinions on these techniques. Share them with us in the comments. We can't wait to hear from you!

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Also to discover:

13 Things Mentally Strong People Never Do.

The 3 Things You Need To Stop Do To Make Your Life Easier.


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