5 mistakes to avoid while making a choice

The decision you make today will change your life and interfere in the whole environment around you — Just like in a movie, from the moment a decision is made, it changes everything, but don’t worry, you will learn how to avoid all this pressure and become a wisely decision-maker.

You probably remember the movie Mr. Nobody, where Nemo has the opportunity to experience every single possibility led by his choices, hence, only after knowing each one of them, he thought he would be able to take the right decision. But the truth is — Every decision will take you to a unique experience of life — different from the movie, you can’t have it all.

Here I bring you 5 mistakes to avoid when making a decision, after this reading, you will be able to decide things more precisely, wisely and fast.

1. Wait too long to take action

Time matters in life, and sometimes, waiting too long to make a decision will annulate and spoil your options.

The following story will simplify, what I am trying to say:

— A homeless boy asked for food, and a woman gave him an apple and an orange. He didn’t know which one to eat first, so he did nothing, he spent day after day trying to decide, just thinking and rethinking. A week went by, and after finally deciding to eat the apple, both fruits were already spoiled.

Taking action is one of the most important points when you have to decide something, the time you take to make a decision can change everything.

Write down your options, take into consideration positive and negative points, let it rest for a day, then, take action.

2. Making a decision based on another person’s opinion

Life is an adventure, everyone is experiencing something unique right now.

Different from M.R Nobody, you can’t experience everything at the same time, hence, you must take one direction. There is no such thing as right or wrong, your decision will lead your life to wherever chapter you were meant to experience.

“Grown people never ask you what they should do until they’ve already decided for themselves.”

― Pearl Cleage.

Making a choice based on another person’s opinion will take you to whatever this person needed to experience in life, not you.

Too much advice may mislead you from what you really want in life — You can take a piece of advice — Doubly if it can help to clarify a specific point, but don’t forget, the final decision is only yours.

Make sure your decision is made based on your story, wishes, and fulfillment.

3. Making a decision when you are already feeling fatigued

Decisions should be made with a fresh and clear mind rather than a tired, messed, or noisy head.

Throughout the day, your mind tends to lose energy, for this reason, you will be weakening the willpower of making smart decisions.

A study led by Jonathan Levav of Stanford and Shai Danziger of Ben-Gurion University analyzed judge’s decisions in different moments of their shift. The result found that the likelihood of a favorable ruling is greater at the very beginning of the workday or after a food break than later in the sequence of cases.

It means that taking trade-offs or putting too much pressure on decisions can lead anyone to a loss of willpower, this way, after analyzing and validating your options, you should take a break and regenerate yourself.

A fresh and clear mind will definitely help you to make a better and smarter decision.

Read more about Worldpackers, check out: 

• TOP 5 Reasons why you should volunteer abroad
• 4 reasons why traveling can make you better
• Top reasons why volunteering is important for personal development
  

4. Considering only your life

Sometimes it can be easier to be selfish, but in the long run, it is important to share and help others.

You should analyze how much your decision is impacting the environment, be considerate to others, but don’t expect anything from them.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. But If you want to go far, go together.” — African Proverb.

If your decision can benefit you and your environment, then it sounds good.

Keep reading: What is a Staycation and why now is the best time to have one.

5. Letting social pressure interfere with your actions.

Taking into consideration that our brain is programmed to save energy, it is easier to take the ready path, the one society has already built to be accepted as a success from anyone, but would that be the best option?

Well, if you go where everyone is going you might arrive at the same place, good or bad, it will be the same place, maybe you are ok with that, but maybe you want to build your own path, and that’s ok too.

Finally, write down your choices, make a list of everything that could be good or bad about each of them, also make a list of future consequences, see how they would be influenced by time, think about the environment. 

Which impacts the options could have in a short and long term scenario?

To conclude, you can also ask for sighs and listen to your inner voice, those are my favorite. After making your choice, be positive, and most important have both of your feet on it. Never, never focus on what was left behind.