Decisions are a part of life. We decide on short-term things, such as what to wear, what to eat, where to go for a walk. These are short term decisions which generally do not impact our life that much (unless you’re lactose intolerant and you choose to eat dairy that is!).
However, then there are decisions which will have long-term impacts on us – what career we want, which jobs to apply for, should we start working out more, what localities do we want to live in should we buy property… these are all big questions we may end up asking ourselves at one point or another, which have long-term consequences.
The thing is, if I make a short-term mistake, such as by wearing a t-shirt on a rainy day, the chances are I might get sick, and I’ll need to take some days off to recover. On the other hand, if I choose to live in a locality which after I realised was not as gorgeous as I thought it would be. This will leave me feeling upset, and irritable for a long time. And considering the large investment when it comes to buying property, it makes this mistake an even heavier one.
So what can we do, to aid our decision making skills? Particularly in such long-term situations? In the next blog I will be delving into a particular tool derived by Dr. Edward de Bono, which serves this purpose.
Mel McElhatton holds a degree in Social Work from the University of Malta. With Willingness, Mel does life coaching and is one of the facilitators in the IRL – In Real Life team. They are also the producer of the radio show Niddiskutu s-Sess. They can be contacted on mel@willingness.com.mt.