Decision Making, and How to Choose Better Informed
Introduction
Decision making is often the hardest thing to accomplish. Did you know that according to multiple sources, one makes about 35,000 decisions every day? Some of them may come with minimal consequence yet many come with large wagers. I often wish I knew how to make the best decision as fast as possible but there were times in my life where I too was clueless. That changes today. You will not be clueless when making your next life changing decision. Here is what you must take into account. You must know the pros and cons of both actions. You must also know other external factors that can influence your decision. Finally, and most importantly, identify all fallacies in the decision presented to you. Make sure you actually have a choice or that you are not being presented with an "either or" situation when you, in reality, have more than 2 choices.
Identifing Fallacies in Choices
Did you know that Luxottica (an eyewear company) controls about 80% of the eyewear market? So next time you are trying to choose between Ray-Ban or Burberry inside a Lenscrafters or Sears Optical, just remember that they probably both came from the same company. You will often feel the illusion of choice and draw too much attention to the decisions that mean much less. Why spend your time deciding what to wear if it will not impact your life in a meaningful way? If you are conflicted with a decision, ask how it impacts your life, how different are the choices or if you have any other choice? These questions will prevent you from spending a lot of time on decisions that do not matter in the long run. So who cares whether your glasses are Ray-Ban or Prada as long as they help you see? Now if you are trying to create an image for yourself then brand may matter more, in which case, you may want to read my article about creating an image for yourself.
External Factors?
Often we make decisions ignoring the effect it will have on others around us. Even worse is when we make decisions solely based off of our peers or influencers. When making a decision, one must look for external influencers that may affect your thought process because of their position in your life. At this point, one may tell you to remove them from the decision-making process. I would use this as a perfect time for a power play because you have someone asking you to do their bidding, thus making you a very valuable asset to that person. If having this person on your side in the future is more important than the decision at hand, a sacrifice may be due in order to achieve your long-term goals. If however, these influencers are of no or very little consequence, ignore them. Use your best judgment and take your time to plan out all the possible outcomes. Just make the best of each option, and consider all the options, including outcomes that may be external.
Pros and Cons
Finally, just make a good old list of pros and cons in order to weigh each option. The hardest part of decision making is the quantification part. How does one assign a number to a decision? Here is how. Take 5-10 important factors and place a value for each one. Then just assign a value to each factor for each decision. For example, if I want to decide which cryptocurrency to invest in, I may choose the current value, growth rate, popularity, related market health, and my attraction to the company as important factors. Afterward, I may assign a value out of 100pts to each factor based off of the amount I feel it is worth. Finally, I will take my options and give each of them a score, and extrapolate the highest value. The biggest number wins.
Example :
| Decision Table | Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 |
| Current Value(20) | 14 | 19 | 16 |
| Growth Rate(25) | 20 | 25 | 15 |
| Popularity(20) | 16 | 18 | 19 |
| Related Market Health(20) | 15 | 17 | 14 |
| Attraction to the Company(15) | 15 | 10 | 5 |
| Total | 80 | 89 | 69 |
Conclusion
So in conclusion, when making a decision, find the pros and cons by assigning a numerical value to each choice. Also, consider external factors and how they affect your final decision. Finally, make sure you have a choice, and that your choices are not a fallacy such as either or. With this information, you should have exactly what it takes to make better choices. Good Luck