Steps to Personal Decision-Making Framework
I had an assignment in my master's program that had me analyze how I make decisions. This was a very simplistic version of one of those times...enjoy.
Dilemma introduced: (Wife says, “Do I look good in this?” while ‘window’ shopping)
What is the perceived end result based on my response?
a. What is the actual truth?i. If it looks good, will I have to buy the item? 1. How much does it cost? a. If it costs too much, should I still be honest? i. I can be honest that it looks good and it’s too expensive. ii. I can respond as if I don’t like it and she still likes it, I may still have to buy it. b. How much do I have to spend? i. If I have enough to pay for it, I can be honest. ii. If I don’t have enough for it, I can be honest about how I feel about it and that we can’t afford it. ii. If it looks bad, will I offend with my answer? 1. If it is too expensive, it won’t be offensive if I’m honest. 2. If it is affordable, I may have to offer an alternative, pointing out that it looks better than what is being considered.
I feel like most of my process is actually intuitive. I typically put a lot of work into analyzing the dilemma. The parts that are automatic, where little to no thought is put into the process, is the concept of telling the truth. My dilemma comes more on how should I break the truth to the other person rather than should I tell the truth. The rest is analytical to what my true thoughts are in the situation so that I can be accurate in my truth. This is the case because even if what I say is truth, it can be interpreted incorrectly if I don’t take time to rearrange my words in the right way. This represents the intuitive of my decision making-connecting with my inner thoughts and debating with myself on how to proceed. Once the decision is made on how to deliver the truth, the rest is mostly automatic.
Image from Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/Xn7GvimQrk8 :
