DECISIONS, DECISIONS0 (H) We have to make choices every day of our lives - whether it's what tohave for lunch or choosing between the red or the black jacket. Do you make up your mind quickly or are you one of life's ditherers? The difference between having a tuna or chicken sandwich isn't going to change the world, but sometimes you have to make an important decision that will have a long-term impact on your life. 1. Deciding whether to go to college or leave your job and go travelling is not easy when you've got no experience to base your decision on. After all how do you know what backpacking around Borneo will be like if you've never done it? What's more you’ve probably got everyone telling you what they think you should do. Their advice may sound sensible, but if your heart says no, it’s not the right choice for you. Learning to make your own mind up is about becoming an adult. When we're young, our parents do a lot of our decision-making for us, but as we grow up we take responsibility for ourselves. However grabbing the power to make decisions for ourselves means taking responsibility for the consequences even when things go wrong. 2. People become indecisive because they don't want to do the wrong thing. You change your mind constantly, write endless lists of pros and cons, seek advice from everyone and end up horribly confused. The truth is that you're terrified of making a mistake - and the bigger the decision, the bigger the potential mistake. For example, if you buy a horrible pair of boots you know that all you've done is waste a week's spending money. But if you buy a flat with someone and living together turns out to be a nightmare, you could end up involved in a financial and emotional mess. 3. But the fact is that there's an element of chance in every decision, so often our gut feelings are the only thing we've got to guide us. Whatever you decide at the time is right: it’s only in the light of what happens next that it can seem wrong. If yon decide to spend your money on a battered old car and three months later it falls to bits, you would think you made a terrible decision. But if it goes along for years, you'll congratulate yourself. So stop trying to predict the future and trust your instincts.
4. Decisive people command respect because they know what they think. You may think it’s amusing to have a reputation for being indecisive, but eventually you’ll drive others mad. Indecisive people lack personal power because they appear unreliable, out of control or even selfish. If you're always causing people trouble because you change your mind at the last minute you’ll seem unreliable. Decisive people are successful because they make a decision and move on -.aid if it doesn't go the way they planned, they make the best of it
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