The significance of decisions
“Life is a sum of all your choices (decisions)”Albert Camus
Have you ever thought of who is in charge of your own daily routine? It is you, your mind, your brain, your beliefs or your boss? Why we do things the way we do? Who is pushing forward and why do we get the results that we get? Most of our life`s turnouts are based in a very simple step: DECISION.
All decisions that we take, starts with a belief either it be emotional or intellectual. Our system of beliefs originates from our conditioning, like, what we hear, feel, and see, since our early childhood, or even before that. The environment we grew up, events, situations, relationships, knowledge and other experiences has shaped our belief system and we are the product.
As human beings we are born with the gift of choice. Yet, this freedom resonates the most on our lives as we make our own decisions on what we want to do, what we want to achieve, who we want to be or where we want to get, based on what we think is the best for us, however, it seems that here everything is based on our “command control” that comes again from our beliefs.
The word decision comes from Latin and it literally means to cut off, so, by taking a decision, we effectively cut out all other possibilities, making them inaccessible and remove from the equation. They are no longer open to us. This sudden loss of options, the fear that we might make the wrong decision and choose incorrectly, holds us prisoner. Indecision reigns, and in its wake we are left shackled. Unable to move forward, unable to go back. We succumb to analysis paralysis. This is where discontentment appears. Because, like a shark, we humans drown when we’re not moving forward. We drown in discontentment and frustration and melancholy. You need to be moving forward. And as Lao Tzu reminds us, you cannot move forward without first making a decision. In fact, making no decision is still a decision, is allowing somebody else making the decisions for us.
Recent science suggests that in fact we take decisions every second or faster, it is only that we are not aware of it, “every day we make 20 000 decisions, most of them with the speed of lightning” Ernst Poppel, Brain Researcher.
Every noteworthy achievement the world has ever seen was born with a single thought; and every great man who ever lived has been a man of decision. Raymond Charles Barker’s The Power of Decision reveals this principle of success and illustrates the process of choice that all of us must take-and that all of us are capable, this very second, of taking to change our lives and make our dreams come true.
The person who fails to develop their ability to make decisions is destined to fail because indecision sets up internal conflicts that can, without warning, escalate into all out mental and emotional wars. Psychiatrists have a name to describe these internal wars — it is ambivalence. The cause of ambivalence is indecision; however, it is a secondary cause and is not the primary cause. It is clear from decades of studying the behavior of people who have become very proficient at making decisions that they all have one thing in common — they have a very strong self-image, a high degree of self-esteem. They may be as different as night is to day in numerous other respects, but they certainly possess confidence. Low self-esteem or a lack of confidence is the real culprit here.
A decision or a series of decisions would change everything. A very basic law of the universe says: create or disintegrate. Indecision causes disintegration.
How often have you heard a person say, “I don’t know what to do.” How often have you heard yourself say, “What should I do?” Think about some of the indecisive feelings you and virtually everyone on this planet experience from time to time. Love them — leave them. Quit — stay. Do it — don’t do it. Buy it — don’t buy it. Say it — don’t say it. Tell them — don’t tell them.
Decision-makers are not afraid of making an error. If and when they make an error in their decision, or fail at something, they have the ability to shrug it off. They learn from the experience but they will never submit to the failure. Every decision-maker was either fortunate enough to have been raised in an environment where decision-making was a part of their upbringing, or they developed the ability themselves at a later date. They are aware of something that everyone who hopes to live a full life must understand: Decision-making is something you cannot avoid.
Indecisive people are failure prone, and Dr. Barker examines this basic truth while exploring the decision-making process in the individual, and the role of the subconscious mind in either abetting or thwarting each of our conscious decisions. He provides specific steps to shift the balance of decision-making power in your favor, and he brings to light the constant, ever-present power of will to change a situation- and yourself-for the better.
Our life trajectories are driven by our decisions: the schools we attend, the careers we pursue, the work projects we take on, the investments we make, the people we hire, and the friends and acquaintances with whom we keep company. Small and large, trivial and transformative, decisions shape our lives and organizations for better or worse.
In today’s world we live in a place and time where we have limitless options and alternatives for almost anything. We call this the Stimulus overflow, having way too many options available. This is why we need to be really sharp and fast when we take decisions. If we get the results we want, lets deepen the focus on the center of decision. If the outcomes are incompatible with the excepted results, then review or change the decision, by changing the belief first.
One of the biggest misconceptions people often harbor is that belief is a static, intellectual concept. Nothing can be farther from truth! Beliefs are a choice; hence the decisions are the choice too. We have the power to choose our beliefs. Our beliefs become our reality (T.S. Sathyanarayana Rao, et al), because, as Linda Henman writes if we fail to examine our beliefs and bring them to the conscious level, we run the risk that we will continue to base decisions on false or inaccurate inputs.
We are wired to satisfice to settle for good enough — and there is a big gap between satisficing and making the best choices we can make.
Finally, we have to acknowledge that quality of decisions impacts the quality of results we get, and quality of results provide direction and meaning in life.
©Mindfluentworld