How to Decide

Chapter 1

Preparing to make the decision

Before doing anything else, you need to make sure you’re fully prepared to make the decision. This may sound like overkill, but in fact so many wise decisions fall at this basic hurdle. There are three key aspects to preparation. First, you need to define the decision to be made: know exactly what it is you are trying to decide. Second, you need to gather any and all relevant information. Third, you need to determine your priorities: what are you trying to achieve as a result of the decision? How are these priorities going to be ordered? Which are the most important and which are the least important? Without first taking these crucial steps it will be impossible to make a decision, much less a wise ...