5 Points for Making In-the-Moment Decisions

Decision making is ubiquitous and important. Those who write about it often focus on the big, strategic decisions, saying that if your long-term goal is clear in your mind, the rest follows. My experience is that making those big decisions carefully is quite important. If you have a clear goal in mind, the choice of that goal energizes you to attain it.

But making small decisions in the moment is equally important. And the better you are at making them in the moment, the more resilient you become and the more able to achieve your long-term goals.

5 points for making better decisions in-the-moment

1. Don’t get stuck in your comfort zone.

Successful people don’t let themselves sit in the "comfort zone." Use discomfort to recognize the opportunity that can be hidden within it. Feeling good is not enough. Stop doing your automatic response, think, and make the better choice.

2. Listen to your heart as well as your mind.

Decisions involve the heart as well as the mind. We like to think our decisions are all perfectly rational, yet decision-making is an emotional act. Done well, the decision takes into account our experiences and knowledge, integrated with our values and emotions (and vice versa).

Often intuitive, decision-makers call it listening to their gut. Fear can interrupt this kind of listening. Recognize that listening to your heart requires setting aside fear so that all the factors of your decision can be present.

3. Manage your energy as you make decisions.

Making a thoughtful decision usually pushes us into some discomfort as we consider the risk. The stress of discomfort calls for more energy in decision-making. Our mental energy is actually limited, so, managing it is important. The good news is that taking the effort to make a good decision can provide a sense of satisfaction that then can energize the actions called for.

4. Make more small decisions to minimize risk as you build the habit and skills for incremental decision-making.

Making several small decisions does two things. First, it takes less energy to make that smaller decision (less risk). Second, it provides the opportunity to see the impact. Course correction is easier.

In the management of chaotic situations, decisions are made this way in order to allow for quicker correction to unpredictable changes. Smaller decisions and quicker feedback lead to agility in handling risk.

5. Check the feedback from your decisions to learn to make better ones.

Decisions are never guaranteed to be right and will often be off the mark. Making thoughtful decisions and observing the impact allows the decision-maker to learn what works and what doesn’t. It is a skill that can be developed and honed.

The moment of decision

Source: Geronimo-giqueaux on Unsplash

Decisions in the moment and resilience

We all make decisions, but when we find ourselves in unexpected situations, we must choose the response that will lead us forward. That choice, the decision in the moment, is where resilience resides.

Resilience is more than just a positive outlook on life. It is more than persisting toward a goal. It’s more than grit.

Resilience often captures these qualities, but in the end, resilience is a decision made under the stress of the unexpected that calls us to action. Decision is at the heart of resilience.[1]

My work on resilience focuses on the decision point and how you can prepare yourself to make the best decision in the moment. There are five practices for developing resilience.[2]

The practice for decision-making is called "Selection." Daily, you choose the most important thing to do. It’s an in-the-moment decision. It involves some discomfort, as you have to make it before you do another thing.

Time limits often add stress, but over time, you learn to overcome that stress and make the decision. As hard as it might be when you begin this practice, it’s one decision and won’t exhaust your energies. It’s something that you can measure if you have completed it and, thus, get feedback.

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Determining what’s most important

The critical piece is to determine what is most important. Most important is defined by you. Is your family the most important thing in your life regardless of what else is happening? Then you need to consider your family as you make this decision. If revenue is essential to keeping your business running and people getting paid, then this is part of your assessment.

If your health is at the center of thinking, it has to enter into this decision. Have you been neglecting your long-term goals? Then you can take this moment to consider what can be done next to move you on. The list can go on and on.

Often when people begin this practice, they are overwhelmed with the long list of important factors in their life. After a relatively short time (assuming they do this every day), it becomes easier and easier to do—the factors become better understood—what they are, and when they sit at the top of the list.

You learn that a mistake one day doesn’t end the world. You learn that sometimes that most important thing is checking in with your sister who just had an operation and is done in 10 minutes—you are back to work and feeling really good about giving your sister your attention and letting her know how important she is to you.

It’s all practice

Selection is practice for when you must make a decision in a quick moment of discomfort. Over time, that daily decision in the moment feels normal, so normal that when the unexpected drops in your lap, your resilient decision response is well-honed and ready for action.

Impact of the daily selection

When I began doing this practice myself (I do insist on doing what I advise others to do), I discovered that I was able to accomplish so much more. Was it because I got rid of the guilt of things left undone or the fact that important things really accomplish more in the doing than all the little tasks that can end up on to-do lists? In my case, both things happened. My long to-do lists have gone from three pages to three things on a small card that sits in the middle of my desk.

I’d like to ask you to consider trying this practice called Selection and letting me know what happens to your to-do list. Thanks for reading and considering this request.