4 Simple Tips To Help You Make Tough (“50-50”) Decisions

I wrote about the Win-Win Exercise earlier today and it reminded me that I have three other decision-making tips I use on a regular basis.

These are techniques I use when there’s a real close call (“50-50” so to speak) to make; they are often the most important decisions you’ll make.

So I’m putting all four decision-making tips here for easy access…plus I also remembered that I have this really cool illustration (below) that my nephew did for the topic!

My nephew drew this awesome image of a person having a tough time making a decision. I think it might be a combination of me and my dad!

4 Tips To Help You Make Tough Decisions

1) Decide Based On The Tougher Choice

If it’s a really tough decision on whether to take action or not take action, it is often the tougher decision that turns out to be the right one.

For instance, if I have been dwelling about letting go of an employee who is under-performing, I have ALWAYS found that the right move was to let them go.

The reason I don’t immediately make that decision is because it’s the tougher one to make and so I drag my feet a bit.

Or, when I was single, I was often given the choice of going out to a social event versus staying home for a quiet evening: staying home was the easier route to take but it wasn’t going to find me a girlfriend (an important goal at the time!).

The tougher choice (showering, putting on some nice duds and traveling to the social event) was really the right call.

2) Decide To Take “The Road Less Traveled”

I think we can all benefit from Robert Frost’s advice for life in general:

“I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

3) The “Win-Win Exercise Gets You The Best Of Both Worlds

I use the Win-Win Exercise when there are enough variables at play in a decision that it’s worth jotting them down into pros and cons.

It’s not a simple pros and cons exercise: go check it out as it’s got a surprise twist that enables you to get the best of both worlds in the decision you make.

4) If None Of The Above Decision-Making Tips Work..Then Do This

If you have a decision about two actions to take, and a spirited debate can be made for either side, Eugene Kleiner, a venture capitalist, had a great rule of thumb:

“Either action you choose is likely going to be ok (hint: so don’t beat yourself up over which action to take).”

So, in that case, basically, flip a coin!