The Worst Decisions

I hate making decisions; I’m a fence-sitter at heart. When I’m forced into making a decision, I second guess myself for days afterwards. I have doubts and they can be crippling. That’s how I feel though, it’s not how I act. People who meet me in meetings would describe me as decisive, opinionated, confident. Which is true? They both are to some extent. The first one is internal, and the second one is external. You don’t always get to see what’s really inside some people.

There are people worse than me though; those who can’t even pretend to push themselves. They can’t make a decision and they’ve given up trying. 

Then there are those who will not make decisions so they won’t have to be accountable. Nobody can ever accuse them of making a bad decision; because they never make decisions. If things go wrong or don’t work out, they can point the finger at whoever made the decision, safe in the knowledge that the fingers will never be pointed at them. Let someone else take that risk. The people who do this, consciously or subconsciously, are much harder to recognize. I’ll point my finger at them though. It’s easy to abdicate your responsibility and let someone else take the chance and the risk. Then you can resent them if they fail, (but subconsciously you’ll resent them if they succeed, because you’ll feel it should have been you).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned though, is that the worse decision you’ll ever make, is the one you never make.

As the Dalai Lama said, Great results and great growth involve great risks.

• Right or Left?
• Chicken or Beef?
• Mutual Funds or Bonds?
• Red or White?

Just make a damn decision, take a chance. It’s always better than doing nothing.

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