Profitable Time Management Part 2

Rapid Decision-Making Process

If making up your mind did not take you so long, . . .how much more time would you have?

One of the most truly profound and simple statements that I have ever heard around improved profitability and time management is “Don’t have enough time?  Make Faster Decisions!”

Can I hear a Duh!?

You may feel that this advice falls into the same category as “If you want to lose weight, eat less” or “If you want to be in better shape, exercise.”  It is common sense.  The challenge is doing it consistently.

To make quicker and better decisions, I want you to stop and focus for a few short minutes on some very simple steps that I am going to show you right now.  Once you understand this process, you can truly accelerate your decision-making.   Also, I promise that you do not have to sweat or avoid those tasty foods that you love.  Plus making faster and better decisions will lessen your stress levels, which is always good for your health.

I have always been an analytical person.  During the majority of my professional career working for J.P. Morgan Chase, I was nicely rewarded for my ability to be analytical.  After all, I was risking millions of dollars on some pretty risky transactions.  Yet, what I did not realize was that the decisions I was making were almost exclusively based on emotion, but I justified them with analysis & logic.

In fact, we all function this way — our decisions are based on emotion.

Consider this, your decisions such as where you will eat, what you will wear, what car or house you will purchase, if you hire or fire someone have their foundation in your emotions.  If you do a lot of analysis (thinking) before you make a decision, that simply means that you want to “feel” more certain that it is a good decision.  NOTE:  I did not say the decision will be better, just that you will “feel” like it is better.  Understandably, this takes longer than a “snap” decision.

Right now some of you are saying, “Oh no, I have made those hasty decisions and they did not turn out well.  I am not going to do that again!”  Or, “I am just too uncomfortable or fearful of making a mistake to just make a snap decision”  Good news, I don’t want you to make snap decisions on important issues, just rapid decisions.  As you begin to realize the power of becoming more decisive, it has many cumulative benefits for you and your organization.

I am going to cut through all the science* here and explain that as humans we make decisions with three parts of our body, namely, our brain, our heart and our gut.  Think about those occasions when you said things like, “In my heart, it feels like this is the right thing to do,” or “My gut is telling me one thing but my head is telling me something else.”  Can you relate?

Rapid decision-making arrives when you can get alignment among your heart, head, and gut.

FOCUS!

I need you to focus for a few minutes so you get this powerful tool that you can use right away.

Right now, stop and think about a current issue that you are mulling around in your mind, yet not taking the actions needed to make progress.

How long have you been thinking about this issue?  Days? Week? Months? Years?!

1. Some part of you believes it “knows” what the right decision is, yet you have not made a final decision and taken action.  My experience as an Executive Business Coach has taught me that most people know what they should do, yet are hesitant to act.

Rapid Decision-Making Process

Here are the steps to speed your decision making:

Step I Verbalize out loud the issue and your best solution.  There is something about vocalizing the issue, so you hear it through your ears versus just in your head.  This brings about greater clarity.

Step II Stop.  Ask yourself out loud “how do I feel about that solution?”  Stop and wait for an answer from your body.  At this point, I want you to literally have an active conversation with yourself out loud. Go from problem to solutions to likely outcomes to how those outcomes make you feel.  For most issues, you should arrive at a decision and a clear action that you can be “at peace with.”

If you cannot arrive at a decision that you “feel” good about.

Step III

1. As you go through Steps I & II above, first check with your heart.  Your heart is where your values reside.  If you feel that you are doing something in keeping with your values, the heart will be OK with the decision.
2. After the heart, check with your head.  This is where your creativity resides and this is where you gain understanding about how your decision impacts others.  If the head gives you an OK, we are down to one last step.
3. The last check point is your gut.  This is where courage and fear reside.  When we say someone “does not have the guts to follow their convictions,” or makes a “gutsy decision” this is where the rubber truly meets the road.  Remember that as a business owner and manager, success is tied to standing out, not fitting in.  “Standing against the crowd” is where innovation, success, happiness and wealth reside in business.  It all comes down to, will you find that place deep inside of you to truly make a difference!?

I have given you the very simple steps that, when applied, unlock the key to your unlimited potential for greatness in your chosen endeavor.

When you take the time to complete the Rapid Decision-Making Process, you can clear issues that have been clogging up your mind, slowing down your progress and interfering with your personal and professional success.  I encourage you in earnest to use the Rapid Decision-Making Process over the next 7 days.  It may feel awkward, it may feel unnatural.  Who cares, stick with it because it works!

The only question now is, just how badly do you want to succeed?

Share your insights below about this post or on my Facebook page

Darsweil

P.S.

Stop the frustration and get where you want FASTER.  Contact us for a Preliminary Management Assessment.  An investment in developing your skills is the single biggest key to your success.  Stop and Contact us NOW!

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Reference           *www.mbraining.com

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