How to Form the Decisiveness(diˈsīsivnəs) Habit

How to Form the Decisiveness(diˈsīsivnəs) Habit

By Leo Babauta

I’ve had several people ask me lately(ˈlātlē) about what they can do about indecisiveness, and it made me realize that this is actually something I’m pretty(ˈpritē) good at: being decisive.

Making decisions(diˈsiZHən) can be difficult, especially(iˈspeSHəlē) when there’s no clear choice(CHois). But being indecisive, when you’re at the cusp(kəsp) of one of these tough(təf) decisions, can come at high costs(kôst):

Not taking action can cost you an opportunity(ˌäpərˈt(y)o͞onitē), or cost money and time as you delay(diˈlā).

People waiting on you to make a decision can get frustrated(ˈfrəsˌtrātid).

You can feel stress(stres) about your indecisiveness, and stress about how you’re making people wait.

People who are plagued(plāg) with indecisiveness generally know they don’t want to be that way, so I won’t belabor(biˈlābər) the point. It’s not fun, and I feel compassion(kəmˈpaSHən) for those who have this difficulty(ˈdifikəltē).

So how can we form the habit of being decisive instead?

It’s about recognizing(ˈrekigˌnīz,ˈrekə(g)ˌnīz) what’s going on when you’re stuck with a decision, as it’s happening. And then deciding to go with a new set of habits around your decision-making.

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We can’t get rid(rid) of the uncertainty(ˌənˈsərtntē) around making a decision. We can do everything we can to research, delay, come up with a decision-making system … and we’ll still be unsure of what choice we should make. We’ll still feel anxious(ˈaNG(k)SHəs) about it.

So we might just learn to be OK with that uncertainty, and get into the habit of making decisive decisions.

Yes, there will likely be a cost to whatever choice we make. That’s true if we make no choice as well — that’s a choice, and it has costs. Over the long run, the cost of indecision(ˌindiˈsiZHən) is usually worse than the cost of making a wrong choice, because we stress out about the indecision for a long time. The stress doesn’t make the choice easier, it doesn’t make us happy, it affects(əˈfekt,ˈafekt) our health, it affects our relationships.

Instead(inˈsted), let’s just make a decision, and move on. Let go of the stress about whether it’s the right choice (there’s no such thing) and instead deal with whatever consequences(-ˌkwens,ˈkänsikwəns) we face. And learn to trust that we’ll be OK.

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https://zenhabits.net/decisive/