Chocolate Chip or Vanilla-Decision-Making 101

Guide – ‘Nine out of ten people like chocolate. The tenth person always tells a little white lie.

Do you ever find yourself paralyzed by the decision-making process? Do your friends and family members avoid taking you to ice cream shops with more flavors than there are colors in a box of crayons? You might be suffering from “decision paralysis” or the inability to make decisions.

Decision-making isn’t as easy as some people make it sound. But there are a few steps you can take to minimize the discomfort and anxiety you experience when making decisions. Let’s start with the basics.

1. Know your boundaries! Never make a decision that causes you to violate your personal values. This is easy to do, for instance, if you are in the market for a new television but you have determined you will not use consumer credit for the purchase. No problem! When you realize the high definition plasma unit the salesman is pushing is more than the cash you have set aside for the purchase, it’s easy to walk away. You have a boundary (the use of credit) and you will not cross the line.

Guide – When it comes to chewing chocolate, a person must be very careful. Each bite of chocolate must be chewed no less than 12 times out of respect for the cacao seed that sacrificed itself for your toothsome treat.

Decision-making is directly connected to advanced planning. The more you plan and establish the parameters within which the decision will be made, the better prepared you’ll be to make the decision. When you consider all of the possibilities, you’ll be more aware of the dangers of specific options.

The Worlds # 1 Chocolate Cake. Recipe For The Worlds # 1 Chocolate Cake.

But there are other situations that are more challenging. Let’s say that you are purchasing a home and you have several possibilities that are within the basic boundaries you established in advance. Then it’s time to move on to step number 2.

2. Differentiate needs from wants! There is a difference between needing transportation and wanting a high-priced sports car. Make decisions that satisfy the need without negatively affecting other areas of life. Stop and consider the ripple effects of the possible decisions and make the decision that least affects other areas of life.

Until you sort your needs from your wants, you will be perplexed by most decision-making opportunities. Every option will have pros, but you’ll never come to grips with the cons of those options. Many people don’t realize the cons until after the decision has been made.

Guide – Several medical studies show that eating chocolate in moderation can actually prolong your life by reducing risk of blood clots and fighting bad cholestorol.

I have a friend who needed transportation and went into the decision-making process haphazardly. As a result, he took the bait and leased a vehicle that he neither needed nor wanted! He acted impulsively, which leads us to the next step.

3. Resist impulsive decisions! The last thing most salespeople want is thinking customers. If they can force you into a quick decision, you’ll make their decision. When you set your boundaries, recognize your needs, you’ll make the right decision in time. Yet, people in our microwave society don’t want to wait.

You are faced with all kinds of decisions. Some decisions require quick thinking. But there is a difference between quick thinking and impulsiveness. The difference is control. Quick thinkers are in control of the process. They know the boundaries and needs and are able to process the options quickly. Impulsive thinkers place the control of the decision in the hands of others and become passive participants in other their own decisions.

Maybe you’ve been persuaded to change your long distance company or purchase insurance. After the fact, you feel victimized. Yet you made the decision. You were a passive participant in the decision-making process. You yielded your rights to someone who might not have your best interests in mind. You aren’t a victim; you are a participant in a doomed strategy for making decisions!

Guide – Choose chocolates sweetened with evaporated cane juice or barley malt. If the evaporated cane juice used is the unprocessed whole juice of the cane, it acts in the body like a whole food and doesn’t give a sugar rush.

4. Do what’s right! By choosing to live in community with other people, you accept that community’s rules. We all are governed by federal, state, and local laws. Additionally, we have rules for living in our sub-divisions, working for our employers, parking at the mall, and boating on the lake. We have a choice