How Can I Decide?

Ah, the art of decision making. It can be a genuine challenge today for several reasons. Sometimes, we have too much information. Often, we are afraid we might make a mistake (Oh, heavens…). In both cases, we can simply become overwhelmed and keep people from making much-needed decisions.

Here is my suggestion to you: Don’t delay! Realize that you have 9-10 other decisions to make today, and there will be more tomorrow. Having stated that fact, here is a process I like to use:

• Determine the objective, i.e. where do I want to go?
• Identify the challenges as much as possible.
• How can I overcome these hurdles, knowing what we know today?
• Consider what the best & worst outcomes could potentially be & can you live with them?
• Choose your best option and “pull the trigger.”

Realize, of course, that none of us gets every decision correct, but as I said previously, you probably have 9-10 other decisions to make today. Deferring action to another day can often have other implications. Please allow me to share an example with you.

Six months ago, I had a dairy client who was completing an expansion of his operation. He had just added another free stall barn and needed to buy more cows to complete his growth process. Young cows were then $2,000 each, and he said “That’s ridiculous. I could have bought those last year for $1,500. I think I will wait.” Fast forward six months, and they are now at least $3,000, if you can even find any to buy… In hindsight, he could have bought them for $2,000 per head and then sold their calves for $600 each, netting his cost at $1,400 apiece, essentially less than ½ of today’s cost. He would also now be selling their milk at $22-23/cwt, rather than being short on his overall milk sales.

This is just one simple example, but it is a good one to illustrate why we cannot delay decisions. Everything keeps moving at such a rapid pace. How do you decide? Look at your goal, consider potential challenges, select what you believe is the best option (based on some market research, not just your neighbor’s opinion), and then pull the trigger!

Ultimately, have a plan, study your options and make it happen. No one ever built a statue for anyone who didn’t take action! What is the Next Step for you? Please let me know if I can help you. You can reach me at john@success-strategies.com, and consider the following advice:

” Let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.”

Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!