Career Decisions

Reasons People Have Trouble Making Decisions

• Fearing failure.
• Fearing success. Believing that others will always expect perfection if you succeed once.
• Lacking the ability to set priorities, so you don’t know what to do first.
• Not knowing where to get the information you need to help you decide.
• Hoping someone else will decide.
• Having little experience in making decisions and feeling overwhelmed.
• Not being willing to sacrifice immediate comfort for the long-term gain.
• Fearing others will disapprove of your decision.
• Thinking, "I can’t do something if no one else that I know is doing it."
• Believing your decisions won’t matter.

Steps to Take in Making A Decision

Step 1: Exploration - Identify the problem

• Define the decision.
• Clarify the time-line.
• Identify the conflicts faced.

Step 2: Generating Alternatives

• Locate the resources needed to explore option.
• Consider options and new alternatives.
• Consider personal values – What is important to you?

Step 3: Predicting Outcomes

• Consider both good and bad outcomes associated with alternatives.
• Consider the probability that a given outcome will happen.
• Remind yourself that you can only choose an alternative, not an outcome.

Step 4: Selecting an Alternative

• After examining the outcomes and risks, choose an alternative.
• Identify the "next steps" to put your decision into action.

Step 5: Re-evaluation (examine the outcome from your decision and decide if you are satisfied)

• If so, plan steps to further implement your decision.
• If not, examine your options again, and consider changing.