How can I learn to be more decisive?

Post date: 2020-02-27 05:04:40

I am always flip-flopping on decisions - because I can see the pros and cons of most things, it makes it very hard for me to commit to a path. How can I learn to be more at ease with the fact that every decision has an opportunity cost? What are some ways you have found of being more decisive?

I'm looking for pointers towards good, quick, effective decision-making.

I've written about several of my dilemmas on AskMe in the past. There is no need to recap them. Suffice it to say that I often find myself - like many people - struggling to decide between two opposing alternatives, each which come with their own pros and cons. This is in all aspects of life - work, jobs, relationships, money. Shopping is a ridiculous exercise for me.

It takes me absolutely ages to commit to a decision, and I can mull things over for months and months on end. It becomes like a form of procrastination - because until I call it one way or the other, I don't have to actually do the thing.

I am someone who sees things in shades of grey rather than black or white, and I like to think through all possible outcomes of a decision before committing. I pay close attention to weighing up the pros and cons but I also try to pay attention to what I want to do. It's when I'm not sure what I really want that things become hard.

The irony is, I'm mostly satisfied with the decisions I have made, even though I often think about the road not taken etc. But even though they have rarely led me too badly astray, I just don't have faith in my decision-making abilities.

I have very rarely been in a situation where the way ahead has been really clear - and when that has happened it has been in very serious situations which made me realise that the day to day decisions I agonise about are relatively trivial. But they do impact my life, and realising that they aren't hugely important hasn't helped me with my indecision.

How can I become more confident in my decision-making abilities - and how can I just come to good decisions faster?

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