Taking Tough Decisions

Weeks back, I visited my good friend. Staying a while, I watched him from where I sat. According to him, he had not eaten for five days and it was a tug of war with his stomach, having been warned sternly not to eat anything. It was a compulsory fast, declared by his pastor for certain reasons.

As a guest, after cooking, I was served my warmly delicious plate of garnished rice, powerfully punctuated with pieces of assorted meat. I looked my friend in the eye and saw he had two options - to jump on the plate of rice and finish it, damning the consequences or leaving it out and continue his fast which was to end in two days.

The problems of decision and choice is a constant one. At every point, one is faced with the need to choose. Even the little child struggles to choose between Vanilla or straw berry flavoured-ice cream. The worst is when making those decisions, especially the simple one, becomes very stressful.

The crux of the matter is solutions to these tough decisions. We can't so desire two things and refuse to make swift decisions as to immediate benefit. Thus these steps would help you fix the "decision sense".

1. Weigh the conditions for the decision to know the MOST befitting side. Of course you know either side has good promises. However, the best is needed. Ask yourself questions like "Would this work out well over the other?" Then, you can be sure, you are fixing the Most benefitting one over the less benefitting.

2. Calculate the sacrifice level and see if you can account for any lapses in the course of decision. The economist would say- opportunity cost and the alternative forgone, showing the strong bond therein. I believe that decisions involve costly sacrifies and making this sacrifice involves an "imaginary scale of reference". Determine the lacuna and see if you can cover it up in the future. The best choices have disadvantages too. See how you could make up for the pitfalls.

3. Your decision is not anothers'. Do not make the mistake of weighing your merits if you choose A to the merits your friend gets if he chooses B. Many take decisions because their friends make those decisions. This should be avoided too.

Finally, let me say that Decision making requires intuition and intellectual fertility to weigh and balance options. I'll promise you one thing- If you adhere to these three principles, you would actually make the best of decisions. It works.