What compels or drives your decisions?

Do you rationalize the decisions later by your conscious thought?

In the ‘World Happiness Report’ it states; “We increasingly understand that we need a very different model of humanity, one in which we are a complicated interplay of emotions and rational thought, unconscious and conscious decision-making, “fast” and “slow” thinking. Many of our decisions are led by emotions and instincts, and only later rationalized by conscious thought. Our decisions are easily “primed” by associations, imagery, social context, and advertising. We are inconsistent or “irrational” in sequential choices, failing to meet basic standards of rational consistency. And we are largely unaware of our own mental apparatus, so we easily fall into traps and mistakes.”

If our decisions are primed or set up by the things that we associate with; such as an experience with a person or some marketing piece; how can we become better decision makers? In a Forbes magazine article (link below) from 2012 it suggest 6 tips for doing so. They are;
• Decide what is the motivation for making the decision
• Understand that your decision will be analyzed by more people that you think
• Decide whether the potential benefits validate the costs
• Analyze the potential decision from a risk/reward perspective
• Ask if this is the ‘right’ thing to do
• Take action

I smiled when I read the extra tip the writer gave – always have a back-up plan. This is spot on as we are far from being perfect and there will be times when we make the wrong decision. But it should not stop us from admitting we made a mistake. That is why knowing that you have a back-up plan will reduce your stress level.

So are your decisions driven by emotions and instinct?

Maybe it is time to use the 6 tips suggested above, isn’t it?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/03/28/6-tips-for-making-better-decisions/