How to make important decisions
“We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess, but we excel in those which can also make use of our defects.”
I love this quote about the usefulness of our defects aka our flaws, I have many such flaws… haha but over the years I have learned that some of these so-called flaws in my personality traits are actually quite handy haha.
Do you know what my most useful flaw in my personality is?
My “impulsive decision making” most def!
It's kind of like a double-sided sword because although sometimes my impulsiveness has led to some wrong turns, it has also been one of my best aids!
In the past, my impulsive nature has lead me into a LOT of sweaty-palmed- panicky moments. Like the summer I bought my first car called "snow" a white 1999 Mercedes A-class and then got it completely written off before that year ran out!
... It has also led to a lot of joy. Like the fact I’m emailing you right now, the money coaching business I now run, and the grey cashmere jumper from Jaeger I bought half-price but shrunk in the wash *sad face*, but still wear because I love it that much.
Yes, there are many times in life when impulsive decision making will hurt you more than help you, but you have to know when to openly listen and when to approach the idea like a suspect with flashing warning lights, sirens and a loud speaker.
But filtering out the difference could be hard to do in the moment. So it's a great idea to do the filtering process way before you ever need to make such a decision.
So, how do you decide which thoughts and decisions deserve risking immediate action and those which should turn on your inner alarm bells?
1.Know your values
What do you stand for and what do your 100% stand against? Right now my top 3 values in order include
family
honouring God
generosity
2. Decide on your priorities and weigh your ideas against them
There are many ideas floating around in our head. Most of the crazy yet would be so awesome if we could achieve them including walking around Great Britain's great coast (about 11,000 miles) to raise money and awareness of dementia.
Your priorities should be based on your values.
For me, my priorities include:
spending time with my family, sharing my message of how to use your faith and your brain to hack your way to creating the financial life you want and making an impact, and living a healthy life.
3. Only consider doing those things in alignment with your value and that fit your current priorities.
So my idea of walking 11,000miles to raise money for dementia awareness, as awesome as it might sound doesn’t full line up with all by values & priorities right now the most important of which is spending time with my family,
Remember we are all different, and so we will have different values and priorities. The fact yours doesn’t look like anyone else's is what makes you so awesomely unique.
For example
So if your core VALUES include your family, and being financially secure. Then you might PRIORITISE activities and opportunities that enable to work towards becoming financially independent without negatively affecting your family life.
So that's it, for this impulsive blog post. However I would love to know your values, share them in the comments below.