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Life is full of a load of decisions to make which decides how we navigate our day to day activities and choose among alternative choices. for each individual we all have different ways and pattern in which we make use of to narrow down our choices or factors that influences our decision making ability. it is no doudt that our personality plays a vital role in decision making and the ability of an individual to make informed decisions also depends how knowledgeable we are.
As an individual, nothing about me as ever been straight forward, for most people making decisions is as easy as snapping a finger but for someone like me plagued with a mind condition called over thinking which has made me paranoid over the years. I have to constantly second guess every decision I make over and over again and most times despite thinking about it for a long period of time I might still not be able to come to a conclusion about which decisions to make. the funny aspect of it is that some of the decisions I find difficult to comprehend are mostly simple but it all comes down to how my mind intend to interpret it. Probably because of the traumatic experienced have had as a result of not thinking something through before going ahead with it.
Overthinking has reduced my ability to be reckless, I find myself making only informed and beneficial choices most times. I'm extremely calculative of my steps especially when I really want to be. Over the years as I grew older I have gotten better at it because when I was a child, I was an introverted overthinker, which is one of the reasons why I started writing because I feel shy and reluctant to share my thoughts with others and most children of my age, they see me as a weirdo, wondering why a child could reason like I do.
But these days to an extent I can consider myself to be an extroverted Overthinker though with limited social activities, no body hates parties like I do, especially the ones with loud music. it prevents me from thinking which in return makes me feel sick. I have made a lot of progress in my life due to my ability to think about things before making a decisions, I have become more determined in achieving my goals and objectives, avoid reckless choices e.t.c my habit have its own spec, have you ever look at a person and believe you know what they could be thinking or the next action they might take. yeah I know what you must be thinking, this guy is a weirdo. I was right, that was exactly what you were thinkingπ. the truth is as humans if you pay more attention details in the process of making a decision, you are likely to see more loopholes which might have not been discovered if you pay less attention to it.
though most people might consider the habit of overthinking my decisions to be an excessive habit of the mind or being paranoid which might be true but it goes beyond that, it is a skill because it influences my ability to perform tasks after carefully analysing every possible details, it is like standing still and watching the end of things that is yet to occur. I'm not saying I'm capable of seeing the future but I could predict most result of my actions before it eventually happens.
It is not a rigorous process but these are few areas my mind considers and analyses before coming to a conclusion which depends on the kind of situation I find myself.
- 1) CONSIDERING CONSEQUENCES/RISKS BEFORE BENEFITS: All my life I believe in one single principle which is called actions and consequences. There is no action a human will take either good or bad that would not warrant a consequence which might also be negative or positive. One of the reasons why I have been able to escape being a victim of a lot of scam endeavours is because while most people are busy analysing how profitable and beneficial the business or investment will be which will influence their decisions greatly and affect their overall conclusion. For me, I focus more on the risk aspect of it because nothing comes without a risk, if doesn't and sounds too good to be true it is definitely not true. Which is why I don't get trapped in Ponzi schemes that offers high returns.
- 2) AUTHENTICITY & CREDIBILITY OF THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION: In news gathering we call this fact checking, it is illogical to make a decision about an information that is false. this is a common attribute of the social media where a lot of fake information originates. In 2014 during the ebola outbreak in Nigeria an information circulated through the social media about how bathing with salt serve as a protective measures towards the virus. I remember my parents waking me and my siblings early in the morning and asked us to bath with salt because are elder sister informed her to do so. eventually when I discovered that the information was false I was so pissed, when I made further research on this I realise some people ended up with fatal health challenges due to the rate at which they consumed and bathed with salt. For me, before making a decision I always consider the source of the information and how true it is before making a decision.
- 3) THE INDIVIDUALS & VARIABLES INVOLVED: If there is one thing I have learnt about humans is how cunny and manipulating we could be, whenever I'm making a decision that involves people I try as much as possible to consider each individual personality to ensure I don't end up as a pawn in other person's game. I carefully analyse each variable to see if there is anything I might be missing.
- 4) ABSENCE OF EMOTIONS IN MAKING MAJOR DECISIONS: One of the greatest mistakes we make most times is that we always try to make decisions when our emotions is heightened, probably when we are very happy or sad. Emotions mostly clouds our judgement in so doing it makes us lack clarity. I would not say I'm without emotions but in most cases before I make a decision I try as much as possible to be in a stable state of mind to avoid making irrational and unreasonable decisions.
These are areas I mostly consider before making a decision which might take forever because it is better to be safe than sorry, Which is why I don't make hasty or drastic decisions. I give myself a lot of time to process before coming to a conclusion, though this has cost me to lose some opportunities due to failure to decide which step to take as soon as possible. But the thing about making decisions is that Despite the fact that I consider a lot of things before making decisions there are Times I still end up choosing wrong, due to this things might not go as I have planned it.
But instead of being paralysed by self pity. I prefer to keep going. I would not waver, over the years not having things my way had become a part of the plan. I believe as humans we can't always have everything figured out, coping with mysteries and uncertainties is all part of human development, it adds to our experience, it makes living more adventurous. what is the point of life if everything is all figured out? wouldn't that take the fun out of living? I believe if it is meant to be it will be.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Making a decision" in hive learners community.
