How to make better decisions

How do you make the right decisions in uncertainty?

Author

Jo Yang
April 28, 2024

The big theme for April was decision-making, and in particular how to find the right direction, manage the ups and downs (and make the right decisions at those key moments) and the art of defining priorities.

I’ve shared :

For this last newsletter of the month, I'd like to share with you a "little filter" that I use in all my decisions and that really helps me to get out of paralysis or a stagnant situation.

I know that many of you are facing :

  • Slowing down on projects (not going as fast as you'd like)

  • Certain blockages that have lasted too long (impression of getting bogged down and going round in circles)

  • The difficulty of projecting oneself in this uncertain context

  • A lot of things accumulating and piling up (corkiness)

It's time to get out of this "artistic limbo" where we don't really know what to do and get back to you, especially as we're well into this spring season under the sign of renewal...

🔭 The filter for making the best possible decisions 👍

How can you make the best possible decisions?

It's hard to be lucid about the impact of all our decisions because we have :

  • Our emotions that can make us less lucid

  • Our own lack of perspective (quite normal)

  • Information available or missing (to be sorted and filtered)

  • Our own biases (which can distort information)

  • Our own experience but in a context that evolves and changes (uncertainty) and can therefore make the consequences of choices but predictive.

So how do we go about it?

Muhammad Ali used to say, "I don't believe in good decisions, I make a decision and make it good!"

You don't need inspiration, motivation or to think far ahead (especially right now)!

You need :

  • Respecting and listening to you at the moment (the decision that respects your values and your health)

  • Use common sense and be clear about your resources, the context and your priorities (where to focus)

  • Learn from experience: the mistakes of others and your own mistakes

  • Be clear about your own criteria and "internal compass

  • Develop mental flexibility to decide quickly on the path to adaptation

My decision filter:

I've created a little universal filter that helps me decide quickly in most situations.

It always comes into play, even when I'm using other decision systems.

Here it is:

  1. How enthusiastic (and deeply felt) am I about this choice?

  2. Will I learn and evolve regardless of the outcome?

  3. Is it really worth putting my resources into?

This quickly brings into play my value system, my own personal fulfillment, the opportunities for evolution and learning, and the investment/return ratio, in order to make sense of it all.

It helps to choose which project to start with, whether to say "yes" or "no" to an opportunity, whether to continue or stop in a certain direction, etc.

Over time, I've created my own indicators behind this filter to identify what always makes me progress.