Menu Panic To Life Plans With Decisiveness

Why Decisiveness Matters

Welcome back to another episode of the According to West Podcast, the podcast that's dedicated to unlocking the powerful qualities that allow us to live with purpose and intention. I'm your host Wes, and today we're talking about a quality that can make or break a career, a relationship, or a life plan. Decisiveness. First, what is decisive? Um, Merriman Webster says it's having the power or quality of deciding. Now, we've all been staring at a restaurant menu for 10 minutes, paralyzed by the fear of choosing the wrong dish because, you know, you ain't eat all day, you're hungry, you're you're doing that intermittent fasting, and you want that first meal to be the best meal you had all day. Or that agonizing feeling over uh, you know, over big life decision. You're you're stuck in a state of analysis paralysis, or endlessly where you're endlessly weighing the pros and cons, and you know, so much so that you let the opportunity pass you by. This state of indecision is a modern epidemic. It robs us of our time, our energy, and our joy. Decisiveness is often misunderstood as simply making quick decisions, but it's so much more. Decisiveness is the ability to make a clear choice and take action in a timely manner. It's the courage to move from a state of consideration to a state of commitment. It is the ability to tolerate risk and uncertainty and still choose a path forward. It's a skill that can be learned, and it's the key to creating momentum in your life. As we always do in these uh in these episodes, uh, let's let's unpack this. Let's unpack this powerful quality. We'll look at the psychology behind indecision. We'll uncover the immense power of being decisive. And hopefully, we can come up with some practical steps to build your own decisiveness muscle. That sounds weird. I don't know why I said decisiveness. Decisiveness muscle. We're gonna build it. We're gonna get our reps in. Gains. To understand what decisiveness is, it's it's helpful to uh first understand what it what it's not. Um decisiveness is not indecision. Indecision is a paralyzing state of being stuck. It's often rooted in fear of making the wrong choice, a fear of judgment, or a fear of missing out on a better option. Sounds like I'm speaking to the current dating world out there. I'm out the game, so happy I'm out the game. But yo, that that pop the balloon uh show, um, it uh it it it it provides some insight, man. I tell you. It but hey, decisiveness. It's indecision is it's a refusal to take ownership of your life and your choice. Decisiveness, however, is deliberating, it's an act of taking control. Also, the decisiveness is it's not rashness, and and this is a crucial distinction between indecision and decisiveness. A rash person makes a makes a quick impulse decision without properly without proper thought or information. They act on a whim. A decisive person, however, makes a thoughtful choice within a reasonable time frame. And they often do this with the best information available, and they commit to it. It's a blend of speed and wisdom. Kind of like a seasoned chess player, they don't move a piece in a split second, they quickly analyze the board, consider several options, and then they make a firm move. That's decisiveness. Now that we know or have an idea of what decisiveness is, um you know what are what is the foundation of a decisive mindset? Um I would say a decisive person knows what their goals are and what their val and what their values are. Um a decisive person has clarity, and that with that clarity, um it acts as a it acts like a filter, you know, simplifying their choices and making the right path more obvious. Because if you know what your goals are, there should be some type of uh clue of what you should do. There's gonna be not even clue. There sometimes it's right in front of you what you should do. And with clarity, it really can't get no simpler than that. If I wanna be a if I want to be a basketball player, I'm young, I'm 10 years old, uh uh being decisive and making this choice or having clarity is like yo, then I must practice. Practice makes perfect, as they say. Easiest decision. I mean not easiest decision, easiest uh analogy I can come up with because it's playoff season. But yes, having clarity. You know, decisiveness, having that mindset, it comes with confidence, you know. Decisiveness requires trusting your own judgment. It's a it's a deep-seated belief that you are capable of making a good call and that you are resilient enough to handle the outcome, whether it's good or bad. And with that confidence, courage. Courage is it's ultimately ultimately every decision involves a degree of risk. You have to take that risk. Not saying it's a hundred percent uh chance that things will go wrong, but it takes courage to choose a path without and uh without a hundred percent guarantee of a success. Decisiveness is the courage to take responsibility for your choices and to learn from them rather than avoiding them entirely. So, why should we even go through the effort of becoming more decisive? Well, the benefits can be immense and can fundamentally change the trajectory of your life. For one, stated this before, it creates momentum. Indecision is a momentum killer. Every day you fail to make a choice, you lose momentum and energy. Decisiveness is a momentum builder. Every choice, no matter how small, creates forward motion. This forward motion builds confidence and it makes the next decision even easier. It creates a positive feedback loop of progress. Secondly, it can reduce stress and anxiety. The mental burden of an unresolved decision is immense. The psychology weight of a looming choice, whether it's what to have for dinner or career change, can be more stressful than the act of making the choice itself. Making a decision, even an imperfect one, releases that psychological energy and allows you to move on. Again, being decisive builds self-confidence. Every time you make a good decision, you are proving to yourself that you are capable and trustworthy. This builds a powerful sense of self-efficacy, the belief in your own ability to succeed. This inner confidence is the foundation of all great achievements. Being decisive or having decisiveness earns respect. It earns respect both personally and professionally. People are drawn to leaders and individuals who can make a call. It shows that you are a person of action, not just words. It signals to others that you are capable and trustworthy. A decisive person inspires confidence in others. Now, if decisiveness is a skill, how do we get better at it? Well, with anything, with everything. You know, you start small, just like you wouldn't lift 200 pounds on your first day at the gym. Well, you shouldn't. I probably would, because that's just me. Sometimes gotta learn the hard way. But you know, you don't start that way generally. You don't start by trying to make a huge life decision. You practice making quick decisions on low stakes issues. When a friend asks, hey, what you want for dinner, make a quick suggestion. When you're buying something, give yourself a two-minute time limit. This builds the decisiveness muscle. Gotta get those gains. But yeah. You know, another way of cultivating decisiveness is uh embrace good enough thinking. I I struggle with that. Like I'm a perfectionist, and there's not I don't I don't like doing good enough because I always have that uh what do you call it, guilt and regret. Like once I find something like, oh, that that was definitely perfect. But perfectionalism is uh or perfectionalism is yeah, it's a major cause of indecisiveness or indecision. You know, you have to remind yourself that a good timely decision is often better than a perfect late one. It's the 80-20 rule. It's it's uh, you know, get 80% of the information you need, make a good decision, and then take action. You can always adjust later and learn how to pivot. That's what life is based out of. You know, and set deadlines for decisions if you if you're faced with a big choice, give yourself a firm time limit. I will decide this by Friday at 5 p.m., no matter what. This forces you to move from endless analysis to action. And last, practice the uh the worst case scenario exercise. When you're afraid of making the wrong choice, ask yourself, what's the absolute worst that can happen if I make this choice? Often, the worst case scenario is not a it's not as bad as as the anxiety makes it seem. And at the end of the day, you realize you can handle it. It's you know, we should all be able to think on the fly and and and make adjustments. Ultimately, decisiveness is the courage to live a life of intention, it's the ability to take take control of your path and and choose a direction rather than letting life happen to you. It's a powerful skill that can transform every aspect of your life. I want to thank you guys for joining me on the Accord to West Podcast. And until next time, may you have the courage to choose and the wisdom to act.