In our personal and professional lives, decision-making can make a massive difference in our quality of life. But, if you struggle to make strategic decisions that keep future consequences in mind, the good news is there are simple daily exercises to help develop this skill. Today, we’re going to share five of the top activities you can do daily, which will quickly make a massive difference to your strategic decision-making.
Thinking Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
⏱ 12 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Prioritize Your Daily Tasks
Each day we have dozens of tasks to get through. One of the best ways to work on your decision-making skills each day is by learning to prioritize. The night before or first thing in the morning, look over your daily tasks and decide which ones you need to do first and which ones can wait for later in the day or even tomorrow. Next, ask yourself which job will offer you the most benefits and progress by getting it completed as soon as possible. Leave tasks that provide fewer benefits until tomorrow, and you’ll quickly start to flex those decision-making skills daily.
By getting into a daily routine that involves decision-making, you’ll find that it becomes a natural part of your routine. When it comes to making more significant decisions, it will be much easier to go through prioritizing which action needs to be taken first. As with anything in life, the more we practice something, the easier it will become, and decision-making is no exception.
Question Everything
Strategic decision-making requires you to question any and Everything that you are told throughout the day. Both at work and home, make sure you question whatever you are asked to do. This doesn’t mean you should dismiss what your boss asks you to do. Still, by collecting the relevant information and weighing the facts before taking action, you’ll learn if an idea is rational and your time is being used efficiently and valuably. It’s essential to take time to make decisions, and by questioning even the smallest of discussions or actions you are part of each day, you’ll continue to practice and be ready for more significant decisions.
Reflect On Your Day
If you don’t already have a night-time routine that involves reflection, we highly encourage you to add it to your practice. There are so many benefits of reflecting on your day, and by thinking about your accomplishments and areas of improvement, you’ll be able to set yourself up to make better decisions in the future. We so often drift through life without thinking about the consequences of our actions, but this is one of the best ways to learn and improve for the future.
Reflect on your current situation and the decisions you could make in the future to help you get nearer to your professional or personal goals. By learning more about why we make certain decisions and reflecting on the good and bad choices we’ve made in the past, you’ll be able to hone your strategic decision-making skills and quickly become able to make better choices in the future.
Create a Pros and Cons List
Before every decision that you make, you need to think about both sides of the argument. Therefore, each time you have to make a decision, you’ll want to make a list of the pros and cons for each potential choice you have. This helps to give you a well-rounded look at what could happen as a result of your decision and will turn you into an excellent strategic decision-maker. While we don’t always have time in real life to sit down and write this list before making a decision, by getting into the practice of doing this, you’ll then be able to quickly think of pros and cons in your head next time you have an essential decision to make.
Tomorrow, when you have to make a simple decision, take a few minutes to write down the possible benefits of the actions available. You can then review the pros and cons of your decision and come to a conclusion about what way you should go. This can be applied to almost any decision in life, and the longer you have to make the final decision, the more time you’ll have to spend writing and reviewing your list.
Stop Reacting Immediately
Another exercise we encourage you to put into practice is to stop reacting immediately. This can be incredibly challenging for someone who is used to making impulsive decisions, but with more training, you’ll build good habits and learn to think before you act. The next time you feel yourself about to make a rushed decision, take a deep breath before reacting. This will give you the time you need to clear your mind and think strategically about your next move. We often find ourselves rushing to make decisions in the heat of the moment. Still, with this strategy, you can assess any situation and make sensible decisions that will be the best solution for your needs in the long run.
These five daily exercises will help you develop your strategic decision-making skills for your professional and personal life. You’ll find that, in the future, when you have to make decisions, you won’t be tempted to rush the process or overthink the situation. Instead, you’ll know how to weigh the pros and cons and come to a conclusion that will give the best results in the long run. We encourage you to keep flexing your decision-making skills even when making the most basic routine choices, which will help you in the future when it comes to some of life’s more challenging decisions.
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