Just Make a Decision

When I was growing up as a kid going out to eat was few and far between. But when we did go out to eat it was a real treat, once we finally got there. You see, the same routine would play out almost like clockwork. My dad would ask my mom, where would you like to go? My mom would then reply, I don’t care, where ever you pick. This would go on and on for a few minutes. Then some suggestions will be thrown out. How about we go to restaurant A or restaurant B? Again a similar tango, they both sound good you pick. After what seemed like days, a decision was finally made. We made it to the restaurant just in time to be greeted by the long line of other people, who too, finally decided to go eat at the same time. My guess, if we would have made a decision from the get go, we would have avoided the long line and we would be enjoying or finishing up our meal. Instead we get the consolation prize of waiting forty five minutes to an hour and half for the next available table. Talk about a way to spend quality family time.

This same scenario is played out daily, not just with restaurant recommendations, but for other personal decisions like what movie or show to watch, what do you want to do this weekend? What outfit should I wear?

The same game is played in the business world as well. Should be go with candidate A or candidate B? Should be buy this product or the other one? What should our pricing be for Product A? And on and on.

There are several times where we can get stuck deciding on what do to. A lot of times this is because we do not want to make a wrong decision. Well sometimes we will make a greater error by not making a decision or by taking too long to decide.

An old adage: its a lot easier to steer a moving car than one that is standing still. The same is true with making a decision. It is sometimes best to pick a direction and go. If along the path you discover it is the wrong way, then steer into the right direction as quickly as possible.

If we go back in time to when I was young and changed the scenario just slightly, to something like this:

Dad: Do you want to go out to eat tonight? Mom: yes, where would you like to go?

Dad: I was thinking of restaurant A or Restaurant B, out of the two what do you like best? Mom: I don’t know, I like them both the same.

Dad: ok, restaurant A it is. Let’s go!

In the above scenario my dad would offer two suggestions or more, but he was ready to make a decision and act on it without hesitation. It is the acting that is important.

Life is going to offer up multiple solutions to the question, in fact most of the solutions are going to be good. The question will be how fast will you be able to react and take one? Don’t wait too long and be afraid of making the wrong choice. Make a decision and move on. The good news is, if the decision is wrong, you can still pivot, you can learn from it, and you can still move on.

Don’t be afraid, make the decision, and move on!