Decide Now!

Do you find it difficult, BORDERING ON IMPOSSIBLE, to make FIRM DECISIONS and stick to them? Here’s how.

- Laura Marcus

“I lost a golden opportunity,” says Zandile, 37, a PR assistant. “I like to weigh everything up, and spend a lot of time worrying about making the wrong choices. I prefer it if someone else takes the reins, if possible, because it’s easier that way and I don’t have to think too hard about problems. But I really lost out a couple of years ago because of my procastination. I’d been thinking about starting my own company as I have all the relevant qualifications and experience. A friend had premises available and offered to rent them to me.

“At first I said yes. Then I thought about the implications of such a big decision. I started to worry about the commitment, the financial risk and the uncertainty of success, so I said no. But I had some doubts and said yes again. This went on for eight months. In the end someone else took it and turned it into a gym. I really regret not going for it. I’m stuck in a mundane job that doesn’t challenge me.”

Zandile adds: “I lost out because I couldn’t make a decision, and could kick myself, but that’s the story of my life. It was the same with men when I was younger. The minute I’d meet one, I’d meet another a week later and wouldn’t be able to decide between them. It was disastrous!”

Life coach and author of a number of motivational books, Deepak Chopra, writes in The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life: “If you obsess over whether you’re making the right decision, you’re basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish you for another.”

He adds that the universe has no fixed agenda. “Once you make any decision, everything works around it. There’s no right or wrong – only a series of possibilities that shift with each thought, feeling, and action.”

BE ASSERTIVE