How to make an educated choice.

The situation The desired goal The participants involved The occasion

Is more time consuming. Requires more effort & energy. Can be trying at times.

But, once you have explored all the options and understand the consequence of each choice, only then are you ready to make a decision…

You are the decision maker, but there are influences that can and will

effect the choice you make. They can be:

1. Credible sources.

2. Authority figures.

3. Peers.

4. Groupthink.

5. Interpersonal need for affection, inclusion & control.

6. Personal Values.

Understanding these influences will help you make better decisions.

Sterk and Marteney, “These are the people we trust the most such as family ,friends and colleagues. However they may have limited knowledge on the subject at hand, but yet we trust their opinion.”

Sterk and Marteney ,”These are people who inspire others or demand obedience.”

Sterk and Marteney, “When you want to be associated or accepted by a group of peers, your voluntary decision making can be motivated by peers.”

Irving Janis states, “Groupthink results in a deterioration in a group’s mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgments as a result of group pressures to remain cohesive.”

William Schultz created the Interpersonal Needs Theory which indicates that people need to express and receive interpersonal communication through the following behavior:

1.Affection- The need to give and receive love.

2. Inclusion- The need to identify self within a group setting.

3.Control- The need to implement one’s leadership and influence capabilities.

Everyone has come across an influential person or entity in which shapes the foundation of your core value system. Whether it was your parents, grandparents, a church or school, values were instilled.

Your core values system essentially becomes a significant source and motivation for how you choose to make decisions.

For example:

Core Value: Money Decision would be influenced to gain the most money.

 

Core Value: God Decision would be influenced on your belief in God.

Core Value: Family Decision would be influenced based on family unit.

Dynamics of Human Communication concludes, “They (values) provide people with a guidance system which is supposed to enable them to choose the ‘right’ alternative when several courses of action are possible.”

Now that we are aware of our potential influences, how do we go about making a decision.

A decision involves a series of steps…

George L. Morrisey-Developing the plan is actually laying out the sequence of events that have to occur for you to achieve your goal.

1. State the problem- You must have a clear understanding of the problem and the decision which needs to be made.

2. Develop Alternatives- Make a list of all the alternatives. This could range from the most obvious alternatives to creative ideas. Don’t limit your thought because sometimes some of the best alternatives come from out-of-the-box thinking. Research is the key at this stage. Facts are collected to help make the best choice.

3. Evaluate the Alternative- This is the stage to analyze all the options and weigh the advantages and disadvantages. By rating the options you can filter out the negative outcomes and arrive at the best alternative.

4. Make the Decision- After analysis of all options you should be left with a high order of alternatives. Select the alternative which is most appropriate to reaching your end goal.

5. Implement the Decision- A decision has no impact unless it is implemented. In order to reach an end goal or to make sure a problem is solved, you must implement the decision in the form of action.

6. Monitor the Decision- Examine the decision to ensure that the goal was achieved or the problem was solved successfully. If the objective was not met begin again at step one.

Voluntary decision making is a learned skill. It is essential to understand the implied

environment, influences and employ the decision making steps.

The combination of these elements will give you the power to make educated choices which will fundamentally impact the outcome of your objective.

Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant.  ~Anthony Robbins