Steps in Decision Making

This week, we will be talk­ing about the actual steps in mak­ing deci­sions. While these are not fool­proof, you are assured of mak­ing an informed deci­sion when you fol­low these steps. Remem­ber, intu­ition comes in all steps of this decision-making process. It is impor­tant to allow your gut feel to guide you.

1) Pose the Dis­cern­ment Ques­tion or the Ques­tion for Deci­sion Mak­ing.
Make it as objec­tive as pos­si­ble. Ask your­self some­thing answer­able by yes or no.

“Should I become a doctor/lawyer?“
“Should I marry this per­son or not?“
“Should I work in this company?”

2) Gather Data

• Look at your­self: your tal­ents, your abil­i­ties, your weak­nesses. Be very honest.
• Exam­ine your moti­va­tions: why am I attracted to this choice in the first place? What can I get out of it?
• Pin­point the issues and activ­i­ties that excite you, make you feel alive, and ener­gizes you.
• What is it that makes you really happy?
• Seek coun­sel. Other peo­ple might see your sit­u­a­tion more objec­tively. Ask peo­ple who have gone through what you’re going through.

3) Weigh the Pros and Cons

• List down pros and cons of one option. Immerse your­self in that option.
• List down pros and cons of the other option. Immerse your­self in that option.
• Pray about these options.
• Use the power of imag­i­na­tion: imag­ine your­self in the sit­u­a­tion where you are liv­ing out the option already. Notice the feel­ings and ideas that come to you when you think about it in your imagination.

From Dizzy​Dog​.Com

4) Grip­ping Conviction

• After a cer­tain point, a grip­ping con­vic­tion is felt towards one option. It’s an intu­itive feel that one option is bet­ter than the other/s, or that one option is RIGHT at this point than the oth­ers. Some­times, this step is a no-brainer. At other times, it takes a while to get to this grip­ping con­vic­tion. The impor­tant thing is to have the courage to act on this grip­ping conviction.

5. Make a Ten­ta­tive Deci­sion Sub­ject for Confirmation

• Act and live as if you are already liv­ing out what you have decided.

Some Reminders:

• Never make any deci­sion when you are overly distressed.
• Also do not make any deci­sions when you are overly happy.
• Dis­cern­ment is done in quiet, in calm­ness, and in the con­text of prayer.
• Be wary of exter­nal signs. Some­times, we can delude our­selves into think­ing that exter­nal signs point to one deci­sion and we can focus on “signs” instead of going through the steps listed above or lis­ten­ing to our feel­ings and intu­ition. The “signs” are within you: your feel­ings, your gut instinct, the data you have gath­ered, the things you want to do but can­not explain. Lis­ten to these more than exter­nal signs.
• If, a few days after mak­ing the deci­sion, you find your­self feel­ing trou­bled, sad or unhappy (even after hav­ing done all that you can: after going through all the steps in the dis­cern­ment process), then by all means, stick by your deci­sion still. That does NOT mean that you have made the wrong deci­sion. But if after a long time (say, 6 months or 1 year), you are still NOT at peace, then you must think about dis­cern­ing about it again.