Let’s talk about your ability to make decisions. Are you indecisive? Are you non-committal? Do you have a hard time choosing colors for your website? Wording for your blog posts? Where to meet a colleague for lunch? And so on…

Why are people indecisive?

It often stems from a need to have things perfect. BUT – it doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be DONE. (Done exceptionally well is always better than done perfect… because perfect never comes.)

Sometimes people are indecisive because they lack confidence. They don’t feel strong about the choices they make. (Read up on 10 ways to gain confidence.)

Other times, people have a hard time making choices when there are too many choices. (This is discussed in the book “Paradox of Choice“.)

And – it could just be a generational thing. The US Chamber of Commerce report on Millennials shares that “When gathering information and making buying decisions, Millennials rely on recommendations from peers and friends more than from experts.” (Millennials are know to make decisions by consensus.)

Be a Decider.

When you hem and haw over the simplest decisions you…

… risk never getting ‘it’ done. (whatever ‘it’ may be at the time)

… waste time.

… create frustration when working with others. (people want you to decide)

… lose credibility and strength. (in a nutshell: it makes you seem flaky or wishy-washy… and weak)

Practice Decision-making. 

If you struggle with making decisions, then get to work. Everything takes practice. Start with decisions in your daily life…

When asked where you want to have lunch, give your opinion. Make it a strong one.

When given 1000 fabric swatches to choose from for a client, narrow it down to 5. Limiting the volume of choices makes decision-making easier.

Give yourself a time limit. For things that seem “larger than life” (eg: colors for branding identity) give yourself a hard deadline to make a choice. Make that decision and don’t look back.

PRACTICE CONFIDENCE. I cannot stress the importance of confidence when it comes to decision-making. Be strong in your ideas, opinions, choices.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you struggled with decision-making? What has helped?