How to make faster, more effective decisions

How to make faster, more effective decisions

How do you feel about making decisions in your business? Uncomfortable? Nervous? Excited? Afraid?

I hear lots of business owners struggling with this and worrying about making the ‘wrong’ choice.

– Do I hire a new member of staff?
– Do I move to a new office?
– Do I increase my prices?
– Do I offer this new service?

Being able to make decisions quickly is definitely one of the skills you need to hone in order to grow your business.

Yet not making a decision quickly, or even at all, can be a form of protection, keeping you ‘safe’ in the status quo.

So how can you start to make faster, more effective decisions?

Firstly, like everything, you need to practice. Become aware of what decisions you need to take each day and make them, quickly.

You know how some people have created a kind of uniform, where they wear similiar things each day (think Steve Jobs with his black polo top and jeans)?

Or some people who eat the same things on the same day of the week?

What they’ve done is eliminate some of the more trivial decisions we all make each day, to free up space to focus on the bigger, more important decisions.

Just imagine not spending time each day fretting about what to wear or thinking about what to eat?

If you can’t eliminate some of these trivial decisions, then at least start practising to make them more quickly.

Really, what difference is it going to make if you eat pizza or fishcakes for tea?

Secondly, for the ‘bigger’ decisions use these questions below to help guide you to make your decisions:

What else do you need to know to make this decision?

What is your gut telling you?

What are the pro’s and con’s of each option?

What are you afraid could happen?

What’s the best and worst case scenario?

And then, on balance of the answers to these questions, Just Do It!

And if you’re still struggling, one of the phrases I like to throw at my clients is ‘It’s not a tattoo’ – in other words, it’s not something you are going to graft on your skin to be stuck with forever.

This phrase is based on a Seth Godin quote I’m going to share with you, as a final thought to get you making those decisions more quickly:

“Tattoo thinking
A tattoo is basically forever.
You should think pretty hard before you get one, because it’s largely an irreversible decision.
Just about every choice you make with your project and your career, though, doesn’t last forever. And the benefit of taking a risk is significantly higher than it is with a tattoo. A landing page, a pricing move, a bit of copy–they don’t last much more than a day, never mind a lifetime. Higher benefits, lower risk, what are you waiting for?
So go ahead and act as if your decisions are temporary. Because they are. Be bold, make mistakes, learn a lesson and fix what doesn’t work. No sweat, no need to hyperventilate.”

You know what you need to do!

Still feeling stuck? Book in a strategy call with me in my diary here, and I’ll get you making those decisions you’re stuck on.

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Alison Bradford

Alison Bradford is a business coach who works with smart, ambitious business owners to get clarity about how they can grow their business and increase profit. Sign up here to learn 6 easy ways you can boost profit in your business today.
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