Do you allow everyone or everything that contradicts your opinion or decision change your decision or opinion instantly ? In other words, do you get influenced easily to the point that you are almost following others blindly ? Or are you able to form your own opinion and take the initiative to make your own decision independently ? In this post you will find the 4 action items that will determine if you are an independent decision maker
Question it
One of the most important characteristics humans have is the ability to think and ask questions. This is seen in babies when they first start talking. They are always curious and want to know why everything is the way it is. Somehow we lost this characteristic on the way to adulthood.
So, if you don’t ask why everything is the way it is, you need to start right now! Ask why you sleep on a bed instead of on the floor ? why you brush your teeth with toothpaste ? Do you know the answer ? If this is not a habit of yours, it will probably be a little tedious to think about questions and what to question.
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What does asking questions have to do with making decision independently ? When you develop this habit to always look for an opportunity to ask a question, you will lessen the chance of easily accepting other people’s opinions.
Asking the questions and finding the answers will help you uncover your own purpose in life. You will then start to understand what questions to ask to make sure an opinion doesn’t conflict with your goal or particular decision.
Discuss it
One of the major issues that we face is that we fail to try and see things from a different perspective.
This became apparent to me as I saw the difference in mindset between a person who traveled out of their home-town and a person who never left the area where they were born. A huge gap in understanding can be observed between how considerate these two can be towards others who are not similar to them.
Discussing can make the same difference because when engaging in a discussion you get exposed to other opinions. You will be able to see details you may have missed when formulating your opinion.
Also, you will understand your own opinion and why you may have come to conclude with that opinion. This all happens when you start discussing and sharing your opinion with others.
When it comes to the decision making process, discussions will increase your understanding of your stand point and boost your confidence.
So, now when you hear another opinion that might not align with why make your decision you can easily avoid it with total confidence.
Jot it down
This is where the magic comes from! How many times have you been siting down, driving to work or doing something that allows you to be a little lost in your thoughts ? Ok and then how many times have you come across a conclusion to something that you were struggling with for a while ?
Or maybe you think of something brilliant about a certain matter. These thoughts that you get are like gold so it is vital that you jot them down. Why? Well if you let it go you will end up forgetting it and poof that brilliant thought it gone forever.
Get yourself a note app on your phone and because you never leave your phone behind you will always be able to jot that thought down. Who knows ?! You might just be the next genius that invents how to teleport lol.
If you applied the first action item already you are probably asking what does this have to do with making a decision independently ? When you gather these thoughts and ideas, you learn more about yourself and knowing yourself leads to confidence in what your direction in life is.
Read it
This is the foundation! Without this you will be lost in sauce. Reading is vital when it comes to decision making and reading is not necessarily only in books. Looking up something on the internet that you don’t know is reading, scrolling through posts on social media is also a form of reading.
Also, when it comes to books, to have a mindset in which you must finish a book you have started before moving to thew next is a limiting mindset. There is nothing wrong with leaving a book half read.
I mean if you start a book and you already know what it is going to be talking about after a few pages then stop and switch to another book. When the knowledge in the book is new to you then it will be entertaining. The key here is progress NOT perfection!
Reading books, articles, blogs, and social media post all contribute to solidifying your knowledge base and strengthens your critical mind because when you read you experience!
Before you go
To make your own decision independently, you need to prepare yourself with the knowledge base and background to guide you.
The four action items question it, discuss it, jot it down, and read it will get you ahead of the game in avoiding options of others and anything that might influence you to take a turn that will destroy your goals and purpose.
Also, another skill to consider while you master decision making is time management. Checkout my post on time management and how the 7 tips I share will change your perspective on time management.