3 Reasons We Should Make Decisions More Often

By

Making decisions have never really been my forte… (to comically understate this fact.) However, I’ve gotten better over the years. A lot better. This doesn’t mean every life decision has been a gamble, but it also means I haven’t been avoiding them like the Bubonic plague (or that cell phone guy at the mall), either. Because while things like uncertainty go hand-in-hand with tough decisions, I’ve learned this doesn’t necessarily make them bad.  

1. Better than stagnation.


We all procrastinate from time to time. Whether it’s your Com 101 paper, or maybe it was this year’s Christmas shopping, we all do it. Sure, some more than others, but this is beside the point. When it comes to the bigger stuff, like applying to grad school or finding a new job, not making any decision at all can be dangerous.

While bigger decisions often involve more risk, I tend to believe a risk is usually worth it over any sort of stagnation. Because while you may take two steps back with one step forward sometimes, at least you’re not in the same spot. You may have to learn the same lesson twice, or even 3-4 times, but a reinforcement is not always a bad thing.



2. You have more control.

Making your own decisions allows you to have the ultimate form of control over your life. And that’s freeing and refreshing, even if all of your decisions don’t work out. Following a path without much thought or interest is more like existing than living, in my book. It’s fine from time to time, but overall, letting others and the world at large dictate your life in general is akin to standing still. It seems a little wasteful to those who could benefit from your genuine enthusiasm over something– and also wasteful to yourself. Most of us have that pesky right to the Pursuit of Happiness; we have a right to be fulfilled by something in life, and a right to seek it out. I simply suggest we take full advantage of this and make more decisions for ourselves.

3. Less wasted time.

By simply making more decisions, or making them more quickly, we can save a lot of would-be time spent agonizing and stressing over them. Sometimes, or most times really, all the research in the world can never accurately predict a said outcome. And this is fine. Unpredictability is kind of a big part of life. So instead of wasting time anticipating outcomes that may never materialize, make your decision and deal with the realities as they come. Find all those doors that open when one closes and stuff.

However you come to your decisions, whether it’s by logic or instinct, the act of making one at all is almost more important than the decision itself. Wasting time in limbo will only narrow your choices or allow others to make them for you. Yes, the Great Unknown is vast, but it doesn’t have to be paralyzing.

Be sure to check us out on Vine! Follow us here.