Guest Post by: Cassandra Whizter
The on-demand skill of the century: fast decision making.
“The life people live right now is based solely on decisions they made 3-5 years ago”, declared Elon Musk.
A simple decision like whether you continue dreaming in your sleep or waking up to pursue your dreams in real life does affect you in the future.
However, you do not have forever to make one decision. Thus, how can you change your life while making decisions faster? Here are fast decision-making strategies to be the extraordinary you.
Acknowledge The Stakes
A person who coined the term Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Patrick McGinnis, said there is a more dangerous fear people face in their life: Fear of Better Option (FOBO).
Before you drown to overwhelming options, he categorized 3 stakes that guide you to classify which decision you need to think “harder”. This will help you save time and energy.
1. No stakes
– The examples of this category are minor details. It can be what you should eat for lunch or what Netflix series you should watch next. Since the consequences are insubstantial, you will probably forget the decision in a day. If the series you watch does not satisfy you, you just need to move on.
2. Low stakes
– Low stakes can bring you some risk, but they are not earthshaking. Furthermore, there are plenty of acceptable choices you can take, even though it still requires your thinking to consider which option is the best.
For instance, what hotel you should book for your business, whether you should try an in-house team content writer or you should use a content writing agency service.
3. High stakes
– Sometimes you have to make a harder decision such as buying a house or choosing a job. Those situations are categorized into high stakes. This is the highest level of decision making when you have to get it right, or you will grieve for a long time if it turns into a disappointment.
Hence, when you meet an intersection, directly classify it into one of those three categories.
If it has little consequence and is not worth much time like deciding where to go for dinner, do not overthink and go with a flip coin or roll dice instead. To tackle low stakes and high stakes, apply these fast decision making strategies below.
List Your Basic Criteria
When you want to book a hotel or even buy a house, you already have several criteria in mind, right? The hotel must be near to the event’s venue, or the house must have two bedrooms and a garage.
If you are confused with the criteria, start with the purpose behind your decision. For example, when you want to buy a new laptop, you must think about what you are going to do with that. It is because different laptops offer distinct features like gaming, video editing, or mere office duties.
Limit The Options
A variety of choices is good, but too many choices can be demotivating. Professor Iyengar from Columbia University said that this phenomenon is called choice overload. It harms you because unlimited choices often leads people to be less satisfied once they finally decide.
This is linear to what a psychologist says that people cannot handle more than 5 options. Therefore, after you come up with some alternatives based on the basic criteria, pick the top 5 options, and cross out the rest.
Gather Relevant Facts and Ask For Recommendations
To build more confidence in your fast decision making final option, collect relevant information about the options before you. For instance, consider the commute, salary, and environment when you choose a job. This step will assist you while comparing one option to another because you need the pros and cons of each option.
If you struggle to find suitable facts, ask recommendations from people you trust. They may give you another perspective on your process of fast decision making. Once again, do not request too many suggestions and do not ever let them drive your decision. It is your life, not theirs.
Compare The Filtered Options
Patrick McGinnis recommends you to list the options, then pick one as the front-runner based on your intuition first and compare it one by one with other options.
For example, you think about going back to school, applying for a full-time job, continuing your freelance projects, or starting a business after graduating from a university
First, you select applying for a job and contrast it with remaining choices. Every time you pair each one of them, consider the relevant facts you have collected and decide the better option among those two.
Continue doing this until you find the winner. Remember to not rethink the crossed-out option and pretend it is gone once you throw it away.
Set a Deadline
When you walk closer to the final decision, you may get stuck in the best two options. Thus, set a deadline to avoid putting off the decision process and getting distracted.
Not only does this give you a specific timeline, but a deadline also pushes you to the pressure of a time limit especially when “there is no deadline” like writing a book or starting a business.
Take Action and Embrace The Uncertainty
Gary Vee said executing is better than debate. He emphasized that there is no perfect choice, but there will always be life.
Overthinking the options and finding excuses will keep you away from the true action and life you desire. Finish the fast decision making progress immediately and taste the outcome. If it does not work out, move on, and make other decisions.
People frequently care too much about what other people think about their decision. Assume that you are learning and if the decision turns out to be your loss, think of it as one of your life lessons, then make a change.
No one can control the outcome of the fast decision-making process. However, by employing those strategies in your life, you can control the process.
Chad Michael Murray once said, “Our biggest regrets are not for the things we have done but for the things we haven’t done.” Overthinking will lead you nowhere, so always turn on your execution mode instead.
About The Author
Whizter is a content writing service agency. We are writing whiz, professional writers, and a resourceful team devoted to crafting content with meaningful tone and powerful words. Our goals align with the needs of every enterprises, companies, agencies, and retailer for contents.
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