Decisions. Some are easy, some are hard. But they have to be made.
Or do they?
Well According to some people I have met in my life, making a decision is not something they feel they have to do, ever. Every time I encounter these people it is always the same thing holding them back, fear. Sometimes it is fear of being the one responsible for making an incorrect decision. Sometimes it is fear of living with the decision.
The problem with indecision is that you are still making a decision whether you meant to or not. By choosing not to decide, you are choosing to let fate carry you and you are putting that critical decision into either the hands of someone else, or nature.
Imagine for a minute that you are in the middle of the Mississippi River, floating along in a southward direction. You have several choices:
- You can get out of the river, whether by swimming to the side or summoning help etc.
- You can choose to stay in the river and have the river carry you out into the ocean and certain death.
- You can decide to swim against the current ultimately wearing yourself out (turns out the Mississippi can flow for longer than you can swim.).
- You can chose to not make a decision
In this scenario, if you choose to not make a decision, you have inadvertently chosen certain death.
I see it in conference rooms, board rooms, sports, and personal lives. Fear of making a decision. Yet it seems that there are so many people that are happy to just float along and see what life brings them.
So next time you are faced with a decision, grab a hold of that decision, weigh your options, and make a damn decision.