How you making out with your New Year’s resolutions now that we’re four days into 2024?
Richard Batts of Ohio State University claims 23 percent of us are done with our resolutions in a week, 43 percent quit by the end of January, and that only nine percent of Americans keep their resolutions.
It’s time to forget the resolutions. Let’s concentrate on making the right decisions at the right time.
There are decisions, and there are decisions. For most of us, will I get a double- or triple-scoop waffle cone isn’t on the same level as should I marry this person, but in fact the process required to make any meaningful decision demands certain basics to be successful.
Acknowledge that your decision is your responsibility, and that you’ll own it. No deflecting, no excuses. Being fully cognizant in advance that the results of your decision are yours alone is a game changer.
Will your decision align with your goals and values, prioritizing what’s truly important to you and how you see yourself? If so, your best decision choices should become obvious.
Do not ask your TikTok or WhatsApp friends for their opinions, or worse yet, for their advice. It’s only natural to want a sounding board, and peer support can be great, but peer pressure and striving to impress others can really mess with one’s decisions. Stick to your own goals, who you are, and who you want to become.
Always consider the long term. Will you be comfortable wearing your decision for the next 10 months or 10 years? How will your choice impact others? Will your kids, partner, dog or cat be able to live with it?
Understand your personal biases, those ingrained opinions and mindsets that cloud decisions and obscure facts. Challenge your own beliefs, and don’t be afraid to change your mind or open up to a different perspective.
While researching this column, I found “65 Achievable New Year’s Resolutions for Building a Healthy, Happy Life.” The first nine included Start a Gratitude Journal, Cook Something New Each Week, Practice Mindfulness, and Drink Less Alcohol. I stopped reading at Create a Cleaning Schedule You’ll Stick To. The source was Good Housekeeping magazine and the list was completely biased toward their typical reader. It was only later that I realized my negative, “Your silly list doesn’t have anything about fitness or doing more cycling,” attitude was itself close-minded and biased.
Weigh your intuition against the facts, especially if you’re experiencing an emotional moment. When someone cuts you off on the highway will you flash your lights, tailgate them and blast your vehicle’s horn? Decisions taken during emotional stress—anger in this case—tend to be more risky and less likely to have a positive outcome.
Pay attention to genuine motivations. Will this decision make me happier or healthier in a positive way?
Understand that your brain tries to make decisions from the perspective of where you are now, not necessarily where you want to be
Be wary of ulterior motives that may conflict with who you are. Is a Porsche convertible really what you want, or is it a spur-of-the-moment purchase because Mary got herself a BMW coupe and now she needs to be educated? Will this decision validate me in a worthwhile manner, or make me look petty? Do I even need validation? Bogus motives may make us momentarily happy or satisfied, but generally lead to poor decisions in the long run.
Understand that your brain tries to make decisions from the perspective of where you are now, not necessarily where you want to be. Will this decision be an over-response in retrospect? Do I really need this change as much as I think? Or am I under-responding, not reacting quickly or decisively enough to what needs doing?
Taking responsibility, analyzing motives and biases, detaching emotionally and thinking long term all add time and necessitate planning; but once they’re included in your decision-making template, choices become easier. Evaluating the consequences of small decisions quickly, and understanding if you’re a maximiser or a satisficer accelerates decision making and reduces stress too.
Maximisers need to ensure they achieve maximum benefit out of every decision. This group tends to get its decisions correct, but their approach may lead to stressing over choices and procrastinating through excessive fact gathering— analysis paralysis. Slowing the process down can sometimes be positive, providing time to reflect, or even create a pro-and-con list. Remember, not all potential outcomes are obvious at first glance, every pertinent fact can’t be known in advance, and impulses are just that.
Satisficers are happy when the decision yields a result that’s “good enough.” This philosophy doesn’t always provide the best decisions, but satisficers are content with the results and have spent less time and emotional energy on their choices.
In both cases, realize that there’s no such thing as a perfect outcome every time, and build on the choices and processes that work for you.
View decisions as positive opportunities, not negative restrictions. Deciding to get fit, do a half hour of vigorous exercise each day, eat healthier, and sleep more, can be viewed as restrictions to the less rigorous lifestyle you might be enjoying now. Flip the coin. When considered in the long run, better fitness might provide opportunities to golf more, avoid morbidity, expand your social circle, and improve your sex life. Could you give up eating potato chips and watching late night talk shows every night for those benefits?
If the decision is high level, and you simply aren’t comfortable deciding, it’s always okay to consult an expert.
Be decisive. Good or bad, every decision you take will generate dozens more.
If you decide on a new strategy for decision making, make sure it’s working, that your choices are changing, or not changing, who you are on cue.
Randomly rolling the dice can sometimes be thrilling, but it’s too often a loser’s game.
