In life, we are continuously making decisions. The average adult is estimated to make about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions daily. ¹

Whether those decisions result in a positive or negative outcome is solely up to the person making the decision. 

To help you lead a more fulfilling life, we will review how daily decision-making impacts you for better or worse. 

Instead of living a life of impulsive decisions and behavior, by the end of this article, you will be able to make decisions with purpose. 

Time to Make a Decision

As soon as you wake up in the morning, it is time to make a decision. 

You have two decisions:

Get up and start your day, 

Or lay in bed for a bit longer.

The first decision, getting up and starting your day, results in instant productivity, while the other decision results in you “being comfortable” and unproductive. 

While this is just one of the many decisions people face, it is the first decision made. 

Since it is one of the first decisions made, it can have a cascading effect on the quality of decisions made throughout the rest of the day. 

Comfortable vs. Right Decisions

When it comes time to decide, you must choose between comfortable vs. right decisions. 

As shown in the example above, you can only make one decision, whether it be for better or worse. 

For people who are to take the easy route and continuously make decisions that require minimal effort, you will find low levels of self-fulfillment and enjoyment throughout their lives. 

Only the people who make the tough, more productive decisions will find high self-confidence, fulfillment, and enjoyment in life. 

Ultimately, multiple factors come into play when you decide between making the comfortable vs. the right decision.

The people who know how to control these factors will benefit from making the right decision repeatedly.

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Key Takeaways

When it comes time to decide, you must choose between comfortable vs. right decisions. 

For people who are to take the easy route and continuously make decisions that require minimal effort, you will find low levels of self-fulfillment and enjoyment throughout their lives. 

Only the people who make the tough, more productive decisions will find high self-confidence, fulfillment, and enjoyment in life. 

Factors That Can Affect Decision-Making

When making a decision, several factors come into play that can influence what a person decides.

The factors can be internal factors, such as a personal preference, or external factors, such as one’s environment.

Below, we will review three factors that can affect decision-making so that you can identify how they may affect your decision-making.

Personal Preferences

The first factor at hand is one’s personal preferences. When people are deciding, they will first consider their personal preferences. 

For example, 

If you ask somebody what restaurant they’d like to eat at and they hate the first option you gave them, they will pick the second option based on their preference.

Although this may seem like common sense, it is wise to identify your preferences and why you have them. 

While your preferences may not seem like a big deal when deciding on a restaurant, they are when you must choose between watching Netflix or doing something productive, such as working out.

If your preferences don’t align with the ones needed for whatever it may be that you are trying to achieve, you will not make any progress.

By taking inventory of your preferences, you may realize some are holding you back from progressing.

Past Experiences

Another factor that influences how people make decisions is their past experiences. 

Throughout life, we experience new things daily and come to conclusions on what we think about those experiences. 

We think:

Let’s do that again, 

Or

Let’s not do that again.

These past experiences can either stop you from making the same mistake(s) or block you from progressing and experiencing life. 

For example, 

You are dating somebody, and they cheat on you.

While this is very unfortunate, you would be doing yourself more harm than good if you were to think of all potential romantic partners as somebody who will cheat based on this experience.

Ideally, you want to use your past experiences to guide yourself throughout life without making the same mistakes but not block yourself from any good that comes your way.

Environment

Lastly, we write about this so much on the blog, but your environment is a crucial factor that affects decision-making. 

When trying to make positive change(s) in your life, your environment must reflect the change(s).

How in the hell are you going to quit eating junk food or drinking alcohol when you have chips and liquor in your cabinet?

Or you decide that you want to start working out consistently. 

How will you start working out consistently when none of your friends believe in working out and would rather party every weekend?

To make better decisions daily, you must watch your:

Physical,

Social, 

and Digital environment.

If you want to eat healthier, do not allow yourself to have any junk food in your living space. 

If you want to start working out, have your gym clothes laid out. This way, you are ready whenever the time comes. 

When you forego ensuring your environment aligns with the decisions you want to make, you can’t expect any success to come your way.

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Key Takeaways

If your preferences don’t align with the ones needed for whatever it may be that you are trying to achieve, you will not make any progress.

Ideally, you want to use your past experiences to guide yourself throughout life without making the same mistakes but not block yourself from any good that comes your way.

When you forego ensuring your environment aligns with the decisions you want to make, you can’t expect any success to come your way.

5 Tips for Making Good Decisions

The time to make a decision has come. 

With multiple factors surrounding your decision-making, how do we ensure what we decide will benefit us?

Below, we will review five tips for making good decisions that will allow you to continue growing as a person.

While every decision does not have to be good, this must be the case more often than not if you want to experience any success.

1. Think About It

One of the first things to do when deciding is simple: think about it.

Thinking is where most people set themselves up for failure as they don’t even think about their decisions. Instead, they make haste decisions and act impulsively. 

Not only will this lead you to make decisions you may later regret, but it will also destroy your sense of self-confidence as you can not think your decisions through.

People-pleasers frequently exhibit impulsive behavior since they want to fit in and “go with the flow.”

Instead, think about the decision(s) you make and identify if they are in your best interest.

2. Identify the Alternative

When you are faced with a decision and have thought about it, identify the alternative. 

If I don’t decide on option A, what is option B?

For example, 

If I don’t cook dinner tonight, what will I eat?

If I don’t go work out, what will I do?

When you can identify the alternative, you become more rational in making the right decision that benefits you.

If you can not identify the alternative, you will decide on whatever option presents itself without any thought.

Depending on whatever option A is, this will either be a good or bad thing.

3. Reflect on the Past

As you are considering a decision, reflect on the past. 

Ask yourself, 

Have I had to decide on this in the past? If so, what decision did I make, and what came from that decision?

More often than not, you had to make a similar, if not the same, decision in the past and experienced the outcome of that decision.

By reflecting on that past decision and either the positive or negative outcome that came with it, you allow yourself to feel the emotions that came with the decision last time you made it.

If the emotions you experienced were positive last time you decided, you will not hesitate to make the same decision. 

If the emotions you experienced last time were negative, you may think twice before making the same decision.

4. Give Yourself Time

To build off tip #1, think when deciding and give yourself time.

When making the right decision, it is not the easiest to have an answer right away. 

While some decisions are easier made than others, always having an answer right away can lead to impulsive behavior and result in you doing things you may not want to. 

Instead of always having an answer within an instant, give yourself time to think about your decision. 

You can ask yourself,

How will this decision benefit me?

What is the worst possible outcome if I am to make this decision?

Allow yourself time to think about your decisions and identify whether the decision is the right or comfortable decision.

5. Decide with Purpose

Lastly, ensure you are to decide with purpose. 

No matter what decision you make, there has to be a purpose and reasoning behind the decision. 

If you are to skip working out and do something else instead, what is the reason behind that? 

What have you done to allow yourself to skip the workout?

When you are to decide with purpose, you ensure the decision is in your best interest and are allowed to make that decision.

If there is no purpose or reasoning behind the decision, why is that decision being made?

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Key Takeaways

Thinking is where most people set themselves up for failure as they don’t even think about their decisions. Instead, they make haste decisions and act impulsively. 

As you are considering a decision, reflect on the past. By reflecting on that past decision and either the positive or negative outcome that came with it, you allow yourself to feel the emotions that came with the decision last time you made it.

No matter what decision you make, there has to be a purpose and reasoning behind the decision. If there is no purpose or reasoning behind the decision, why is that decision being made?

Conclusion

If you have made it to the end of this article, you have made the right decision. 

You now know how daily decision-making impacts you for better or worse, factors that can affect decision-making, and five tips for making good decisions.

But now, it is time to make a decision. 

Will you make the comfortable decisions in life? Or will you make the right decisions?

–Your future self will thank you.