Making Every Decision Impactful

Nobody’s got a crystal ball...

So how do you make sure you’re making the right decision every time?

Hey guys, Matt Andrews here and I was talking with a good friend and fellow investor, Pat Precourt, recently about decision-making. He shared with me some powerful information about the decision-making process and I want to share it with you.

See, decisions impact you and the people around you and can have lasting effects – both positive and negative. With so much riding on your decisions, it makes sense to establish a reliable decision-making process.

But before we get to what that process should be, we need to establish a couple baselines about how important our decisions actually are.

Baseline 1: Decisions Cause Results

Decisions have an impact.

We start learning this lesson as kids in simple ways: If we eat too much sweets, we get sick. And as we get older, we see that decisions can have both short-term and long-term effects.

But it’s bigger than that...

Everything in our lives, including our relationships, health, possessions and success in our professional lives, is a result of our decisions.

Every decision we make affects the trajectory we’re on in life.

Baseline 2: You Have What You Earn

So, if every decision leads to a specific result, then we have what we deserve right now based on our decisions.

There are always circumstances out of our control. We didn’t decide where we were born or who our parents are. We don’t decide to get sick or injured or lose loved ones. We’re not talking about those things…

When you recognize that you earned what you have based on your decisions, you can evaluate whether you need to make a change in your decision-making process. You have control! Your decisions will have an impact.

Weighing the Options

So how do you make sure you make the right decision?

So many different factors influence your decision-making, including your beliefs and core values, your present emotions and your physical state. But it comes down to 1 question you need to ask before making any decision: Does this decision serve me in the short-term and the long-term and serve my community and the world?

This is best explained using 2 different decision classes…

Decision Class #1: Serves Now and Later

These are the decisions that give us immediate gratification but also have a long-term impact.

Pat and I went on a charity trip to Jamaica to build wheelchairs. This trip served us immediately because we felt great about what we were doing. It will serve us in the long-term because of the good will we created. It served our families and others close to us. And it helps us make the world a better place by serving members of another community.

Decision Class #2: Hurts Now, Serves Later

Some decisions hurt. Sometimes exercise hurts. But it serves me later: I am healthier and happier because I exercise.

These decisions require a lot of discipline. They require you to do what you need to do when you need to do it, even when you don’t want to.

Remember, this isn’t just about us. We want to impact our families, communities and the world, too. Not every decision will have an impact in every area, but we can use this as a framework to evaluate each decision.

This question – Does the decision serve me in the short-term and the long-term and serve my community and the world? – applies in business, your family life, in making charitable contributions and in other circumstances.

So, remember these 2 decision classes each time you have a decision to make. It will help get you in the right direction.