Assess your decision making
- How firm are you on your decisions? How often do you regret, reconsider or change your decisions?
- Do you have a process or a methodology that you use when you are making important decisions?
- What is a decision you’ve been putting off? What’s to stop you from making it now?
- What is the best decision you’ve ever made? How did you make the decision? Why did it turn out so well?
- What is the most difficult decision you’ve made? What made it so difficult? How did it turn out? What did you learn?
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Questions to ask when making a major decision
- At its essence – in one sentence – what is the decision I’m really facing? What is the bottom, bottom line?
- What outcome do I want?
- Why am I making a decision? And why now?
- Is this the best time to make this decision?
- Is this decision really important? Why?
- Whose strong influence am I feeling upon my decision, and shall I allow that?
- What difference will this decision make a year from now? Five years? Twenty years? A hundred years?
- Who will this decision have an impact on and how?
- Who needs to be involved in this decision?
- Should I seek outside counsel in making this decision?
- Whose input and advice would be useful in making this decision?
- What facts should I have before I can make this decision with total confidence?
- What information am I lacking to enable a well-informed choice?
- Are my sources of information credible? How can I be sure?
- If I make no decision, what will be the consequences?
- How much time do I have to make the decision?
- Does this decision warrant effortful deliberation or should I just make up my mind quickly?
- If I had to decide in the next two minutes – what decision would I make and why?
- What are the alternative courses of action open to me?
- Where can you get more information on the alternatives available?
- What criteria should I use to evaluate the alternatives?
- What is the relative weight of each criterion? (e.g. 5 being extremely significant, and 1 being of minor significance)
- For each alternative, what are the pros, cons and interesting points?
- What is the risk associated with each alternative? How does this weigh up with my attitude to risk?
- For each alternative, what is the best possible outcome?
- For each alternative, what’s the worst that can happen? How likely is that to happen? Can I deal with it?
- Which alternative has the highest probability of creating the desired outcome?
- Which alternative best matches my life purpose and goals?
- Which alternative is most congruent with my principles and values?
- Which alternative has the greatest likelihood of elevating and uplifting my life?
- Which alternative is most closely matched with my passions?
- Which alternative will best allow me to maximize my key strengths?
- What is my heart / intuition / gut instinct saying is the best alternative?
- What are the key assumptions in my thinking that underline the decision I’m leaning toward? What do I assume it will cost? What do I assume will be its real benefits?
- What sacrifices will I need to make, and what benefits outweigh these sacrifices?
- What is the right thing to do?
- Am I too close to this right now? Should I give it some space? Sleep on it?
- Am I thinking about this situation with a clear head or am I fatigued to the point that I shouldn’t be making any major decisions?
- Which alternative am I going to choose?
- Having made the decision, how do I feel?
- Am I making this decision out of love or fear?
- Have I verified what the results have been for others who have made a similar decision in similar circumstances?
- What questions still linger in my mind? What aspects of the situation will not be resolved or solved by this decision?
- Can I stand in my integrity if I make this decision?
- Have I given myself 24 hours to let this decision settle in my mind?
- Do I plan to commit to my decision?
- What actions need to be taken to implement this decision?
- Is this the best timing for carrying out this decision? If now now, why and when?
- What action, however small, can I take right now?
- Who do I need to communicate this decision to?
- How can I communicate and justify my decision to others to get buy in?
- How effective was my decision-making process?
- Was I pleased with the outcome?
- What lessons have I learned?
- Did it advance my interests and goals?
- Did it feel right?
- How can I improve my decision-making process in the future?
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Dr Phil’s questions for big life decisions (e.g. should I get married, have a baby etc.)
- Do I want this for the right reasons?
- Do I have realistic expectations?
- Do I have a plan to succeed?
- Do I have a plan for failure?
- Have I considered the impact on others?
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