From The Straits Times    |

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We make many decisions on a daily basis: what to wear to work, what to eat for lunch, which work tasks to tackle first – but some decisions arguably impact our lives more, so we should try to make our choices more carefully. Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself when you’re facing that big decision at work and in life. 

1. What was your initial reaction?

You can gather a host of information by analyzing your gut instinct. Take for example, your boss asks you to take on a new/additional job scope. Did you cringe, recoil in fright or feel a spontaneous burst of happiness when you first got wind of the situation? Be truthful when you break down the reasons for your reaction, so you can objectively decide what action you should take, moving forward.

2. Do you have enough information?

Many times, bad decisions are made and carried out because there is a lack of information to base your choice on in the first place. That’s why when you go for a job interview, you can be asked to sit for writing tests, personality tests, and meet with your potential employers face to face.

This allows them to have enough data to draw their own conclusions about you, and not base it solely on your impressive resume.

In the same vein, you should not arrive at a hasty decision without looking at all the facts available to you.

 

Also read: 5 easy tips to become more successful in your job and life

 

3. How important is it to you?

Just like how we are always asked to differentiate between a want and a need, a decision you make to, say, switch careers, should be based on your priorities. Are you chasing a higher salary or your passion? Do you need them to be mutually inclusive?

Applying this logic to a more mundane situation, if two of your friends from different groups ask you out on the same day, who you choose to go out with shows who you prioritise more.  

4. What are you willing to sacrifice?

I once read a blog entry about how this writer’s dream was to become a rock star. However, he realized that he was only interested in the status of being a rock star, but not the day-to-day rehearsals and practices and other things it takes for him to get to that level.

Ask yourself what you are willing to bear instead – less date nights with Hubby, less time to watch popular K-dramas like Descendents of the Sun, less time with your kids – and you may just make a decision that you are less likely to regret in the years to come.

5. Is your ego in play?

A financial consultant I spoke to recently told me that one of the most important things in investing is to learn when to cut your losses. Sure, you may have done a lot of homework and spent a lot of time devising your investment strategy, but after you put your money in, you may be making a loss. And most of the time, investors are unwilling to sell a certain stock to cut their losses because doing so would mean admitting that they made the wrong decision in the first place – leading to a bruised ego. So think about whether your vanity is in play, and how much so, when you evaluate the choice you are making.