How The Quality Of Your Decisions Affects The Quality Of Your Life

Making better decisions is one of the most effective ways to enhance your life

Our world is scattered with dualities, all things subsisting in parallel with their opposite, every action linked to its inaction. And amidst these dualities, the most omnipresent are decision and uncertainty, an effective inventory of growth that can only arise from our acceptance of the mysterious unknown. Because when we accept the inherent uncertainty of life, we grow and learn to make our decisions with more awareness of how they impact our own lives as well as the greater world.

This is perhaps most apparent when we consider the impact that celebrities can have on our decisions. How many conversations have started regarding what some celebrity did or said? Conversations such as, “Did you hear where Jennifer Anniston went this weekend?” or, “Did you see what Taylor Swift wore to the Grammys?” It seems that celebrities have the utmost influence on people around the world. Why is that? Celebrities are just individuals who are paid to pretend to be someone else.

Systematic Reviews has published this research on the effect that celebrities have on our decisions:

“The research contributes to our understanding of celebrity influences and how to design positive evidence-based celebrity health promotion activities. Celebrity advocacy can also lead to the adoption of certain health prevention behaviors, as seen more recently with Angelina Jolie’s public announcement of her double mastectomy. Months later, studies recorded an increase in the number of high-risk patient screenings for the impugned BRCA1 gene. These studies suggest that celebrities can serve as agents of positive social change, erasing stigma associated with disease and prompting information-seeking and preventative behaviors.”

I am not immune to the influence of celebrities. Several years ago, my doctor estimated based on genetic testing that I had an 80 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. This was a wake-up call.

Oddly enough, I seriously considered surgery since someone I knew from Hollywood had taken the risk seriously enough to have a major surgery. But then I remembered that this was my reality, and I decided to instead be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to eat healthy, avoid carcinogens and chemicals, and to increase exercise and decrease stress. I’m still considering the decision and applying logic to my choices, much like Jolie did, I assume.

The Impact Of Our Decisions

Making better decisions is one of the most effective ways to enhance your life. The first caveat, however, is that making a good decision requires actually making a decision. Too many people avoid making decisions, or they spend far too much time and energy trying to determine a “correct” course of action.

Start by determining and then living your purpose. Your purpose makes the best option more obvious; for example, if your purpose is to be an athlete, it’s much simpler to decide how to spend your time and what to eat.

Next, where should you live? If you want to be a crop farmer, the city won’t be practical. If you want to paint a masterpiece, in what environment do you create art most efficiently?

Similarly, it’s important to know your values. Take the time to examine your values and then list them in order of importance. When you’re faced with a difficult decision, think about your values and how they apply to each course of action.

Remember to be logical. Most people make decisions based on emotion, while logic is only used to justify those emotional decisions. The best option is often clear if you apply objective logic to the circumstances.

Set yourself up for success by planning your day the night before. It’s easier to make healthy decisions in advance. For example, while it’s to say, “I’m going to exercise for 30 minutes,” you may be less emotionally motivated in the moment. But if you already made the decision in advance, it’s much easier to stick with it.

It’s worth noting that you don’t need to make perfect choices; you just need to make conscious choices and commit to them. A great decision can usually be made very rapidly, so set a time limit for yourself, be it a few minutes or a few days, and then make your decision and move on. And if you’re truly torn between a couple of choices, just choose whichever seems “best” and commit to it.

Then consider why you hesitated. What are your concerns? What’s holding you back? What are you afraid of? Thinking about your inner obstacles to making decisions will help you confront future dilemmas.

Remember that indecisiveness halts your growth and progress. You can substantially improve the quality of your life by making more informed and faster decisions.

Live your purpose and values. Avoid the need to be flawless in your choices. Make a good decision and start living your life.

As Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better, you do better.”