Why Is Mentorship Important?

Maybe you've been struggling a bit in life, and a friend or family member has suggested that you try out a mentor. You might be hesitant, wondering why a mentor is even important. But mentorship is important for several of the following reasons. 

 

Mentors Provide Knowledge

 

No matter who you are or what field you are in, you don't know everything there is to know. Even if your mentor is on the same level as you academically, they may have knowledge different from yours that could help you achieve goals both on the job and off. Having a mentor can also help shorten the growth curve when you take on a new project or set an ambitious goal. 

 

Mentors Can See Things You Can’t

 

One of the most difficult things in life can be clearly seeing yourself or your journey. A mentor can help with this since they can provide feedback about things you are doing from a third-party outsider's perspective. This can give you a valuable leap ahead when competing for a competitive position or another dream that depends on someone else’s selection to achieve. 

 

Mentors Offer Encouragement

 

Beyond just providing an outside perspective and giving you advice on decisions, mentors can also offer you daily encouragement. In fact, a good mentor will know you so well that they will know how to offer you the exact kind of encouragement that will get you going when you are stuck in a rut. This encouragement can help you to better stay on your path towards success. 

 

Mentors Introduce You To A Network

 

One of the other things that makes a mentor great is that they usually have a network of people behind them who are also available to you. They may introduce you to new people who can help you along your path. They may know people who can advise you in difficult situations. Either way, a mentor will introduce you to people who will be invaluable to your journey! 

 

Overall, if you find yourself struggling, it may be important that you find someone to mentor you. A mentor is a valuable person who can provide you with knowledge and help you see things that you normally can't. Not only that, but a mentor can offer you encouragement as well as introduce you to other new people who can be a great addition to your life. 

 

5 Ways Lack Of Discipline Affects Your Life

Discipline is the ability to make a decision and follow them through regardless of how hard it gets, without changing your mind. Discipline is an important component necessary for achieving dreams. A person without discipline is practically guaranteed to fail in life. This is particularly true for dreams and life goals that aren't ordinary. 

 

An interview of the top 10 athletes in the world on why they were great all had the same answer. Discipline. We can conclude that discipline is the first step to achieving greatness. However, what happens when one lacks discipline? Here are the ways a lack of discipline can affect your life.

 

It Keeps You From Achieving Your Goals

 

A lack of discipline will keep you from staying focused on your dreams. Without discipline, you wouldn't be able to stay in control of yourself and react appropriately to life's situations. With discipline, you're able to stay in control and focused no matter the situation.

 

Additionally, a lack of discipline is an indicator of poor inner strength. You're likely to give up once an activity becomes difficult even when said activity is necessary to achieve your goal. 

 

According to Psychologists, people without discipline are more comfortable with mediocre performances rather than reaching for more, and engaging in any strenuous activities that will help them grow. Growth requires work and effort. This makes laziness appealing to people who lack discipline.

 

It Keeps You From Making Wise Decisions

 

Sometimes, the right choices necessary to achieve our dream or live a healthy life aren't always easy. From maintaining a healthy diet to exercising regularly, to working even when we do not feel like it. 

 

A person who lacks discipline is not able to make the right choices especially when it will inconvenience them. For example, while the benefits of regular exercise are enormous, it requires discipline to stick to it. A person who lacks discipline is more likely to skip exercising altogether simply because it’s just too hard.

 

Lack Of Lack Inner Strength/Character

 

Dr. Steve Peters in his bestseller ‘The Chimp Paradox,’ remarks that we are already who we want to be. It’s just our minds and the choices we make that are stopping us from behaving in the way we would love to behave. For example, you might desire to be a kind person but easily lose your temper. In such a situation, you do not need to try to be a kind person as you already are kind. What you need to work on is the discipline to keep your temper in check. When you are not disciplined, everyone will see you as a hateful person because of your lack of control over your temper.

 

It Reduces Your Chance Of Succeeding In Life

 

Sadly, most goals/dreams are not easily achieved. To achieve a goal, you need motivation, hard work and considerable effort. These things cannot be done easily and require discipline to accomplish. 

 

When you lack discipline, you are less likely to put in the effort required to achieve your dreams. A person who lacks discipline will always shy away from tough challenges.

When you do not meet the needed requirements, you'll remain stagnant and the quality of your life will not improve.

 

Nothing worthwhile is achieved easily. You will have to face challenges and overcome various obstacles. The difference between success and failure is our ability to persist and persevere when faced with difficult situations.

 

You Will Have Poor Relationships

 

When you lack discipline, it is difficult to build strong relationships. The characteristics highly regarded in a relationship such as honesty, integrity, dependability, and loyalty require a strong mental character. A strong mental character is only developed through discipline. The chances of you exhibiting these characteristics when you lack discipline are low.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Self-discipline is supposed to be taught to us and instilled in childhood by our caregivers. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, but that does not mean we are doomed forever. You can teach yourself self-discipline as an adult. This is a major element of personal development and personal growth, since when we develop our self-discipline, it has a very positive effect on all areas of our selves and our lives. 

5 Steps To Defeat Perfectionism Once and For All

We all have moments where we fall into perfectionism. For some of us, this might happen kind of often. For others, it's reserved for those special occasions where we have a project where we can't rest until we get it right.

 

While occasional super-attention-to-detail is okay, it’s when we make perfectionism a way of life where it becomes a problem. Those are the times where we finally need to take charge of our lives and learn how to let go.

Try this:

 

Start at the Core

 

Why are you so wrapped up in perfectionism? Are you truly trying to become a better person somehow, or are you just trying to impress someone else or meet expectations from those around you? Neither of these reasons is very healthy, and both need to be addressed.

 

Drop the “Should”

 

The moment you start using this word in a conversation, especially regarding your action, you're already driving yourself crazy. Remind yourself you don’t need validation from anyone. You’re good just by being you.

 

Rewrite the Script

 

What are you telling yourself as you throw yourself into perfectionism? Do you think this is the path to success? Or do you have other unrealistic expectations of the outcome? Here's where you switch up your self-talk to get out of any negative spaces and unrealistic outcomes.

 

Drop the Comparisons

 

Speaking of self-talk, just who are you holding up as role models? Has this too become unhealthy, going from "I want to be more like them" to "Why can't I have everything they do?” Wouldn’t it feel better to celebrate where you are right now and all the effort you’ve been putting into things?

 

Show Some Mercy

 

Perfection never allows for excuses. If you can't succeed, you're automatically a failure. By chasing imperfection, you learn the value of self-forgiveness and the ability to let go of your mistakes in favor of embracing the lessons you can learn from them.

 

You wouldn’t think these steps are all so very important at first glance. After all, is chasing imperfection worthwhile?

 

The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Perfection is what pulls us away from others and gets us so tangled up inside with worry and stress about getting things right; we negatively impact our mental and physical health. 

 

With this in mind, isn’t it time to let go and enjoy life once and for all?

 

5 Advantages Of Living Intentionally

Living intentionally is the best way of attaining the things you desire and succeeding in your various fields of endeavor. It enables you to appreciate your journey to success and keeps you observant of opportunities. It improves your self-confidence by keeping you focused on your abilities, not your shortcomings.

 

Living intentionally means knowing the right steps to take. It means thinking about your moves before making them, and making time for things that are in line with your end goal. Living with intention enables you to live your life the way you see fit as opposed to how others see it.

 

Advantages Of Living Intentionally

 

1. Making smart decisions.

 

Living intentionally helps you to make smart decisions by making you more conscious of who you are and not on how other people see you. You are more capable of standing by what you believe in and you aren’t easily swayed by the opinions of others. Living intentionally helps you implement the kind of methods you strongly believe in. Methods that have the power to get you to your destination whether or not the next person believes in them. 

 

Intentional people keep their main goal in sight and never make room for distractions. That means when something comes along that isn’t in line with your values or beliefs you don’t compromise. You always think about the step you are about to take and find out how it impacts your vision before going ahead with it.

 

2. Seeing your vision clearer. 

 

Taking intentional actions and living an intentional life helps you see your vision clearer and keeps you believing in yourself. You understand that valuable things take time and appreciate the process that gets you to your destiny. Instead of complaining about the sacrifices you have to make along the way, you express your gratitude for the chance to do what’s necessary to get to where you intend to go.

 

3. Setting smart goals.

 

Everyone has goals but the reason why some people succeed in reaching them while others don’t is that those who succeed understand the importance of setting smart goals. An intentional life enables you to set smart goals because your plan of action is determined by what you want to achieve in the end. You learn to break down larger goals into smaller ones that you can work at daily. 

 

You think “What small step can I take right now that will get me a step closer to my goal today than I was yesterday?” Living intentionally helps you realize the significance of small steps that make a huge difference in the long run and keeps you moving forward.

 

4. Staying motivated.

 

We all need a bit of motivation now and then because motivation has the power to cause you to act when the odds are against you. It draws your attention to important things that have a noteworthy impact on your development, growth, and wellbeing. Motivation keeps you thinking “What can I do next?” “How best can I handle this” instead of “This has the potential to fail so, why act?” 

 

An intentional life is a life that fixes your attention on your abilities, the change you desire to bring about, as well as what you are expecting to achieve not what you are failing at. So, one of the main advantages of living intentionally is that you remain motivated to keep moving, keep trying, and keep believing. 

 

5. Taking risks.

 

“This may not turn out the way I’m expecting” “This may be too big a risk for me” are words and thoughts that stop you from taking big risks that have the potential of changing your life. Not being comfortable with taking risks is by far one of the main reasons why people never live the lives they desire. You think about all the reasons why that risk you are about to take will lead to your downfall and never go through with it. 

 

Nonetheless, the only way of advancing in life and living the life you want is by learning to take risks. Big or small. Be strong enough to take huge risks but be smart about it. Instead of allowing a promising bid, idea, or investment pass you by start thinking about all the right reasons why saying YES is going to work in your favor and go ahead with it.

 

Living with intention and being guided by intentional actions can help you recognize worthwhile risks that will impact your life positively. It eliminates your fear of taking chances on things that aren’t promising to other people and strengthens the faith you have in yourself when things work out.

 

Countless people who have managed to reach their highest aims and who continue to do so are risk-takers. So, become a risk-taker by living intentionally and discovering the link between certain risks and your goal. 

10 Habits For An Intentional Life

Habits are repeated action or an unconscious pattern of behavior. They affect all areas of our lives and determine how we make use of each day. We all know of good and bad habits and are probably struggling to let go of some bad practices. Unfortunately, there is nothing as hard as fighting against self. It is who you have been for a while and it takes time to let go of something that has become a part of you. However, if we are to live an intentional life and be successful in what we do, we will need to cultivate habits that are in sync with the life we want.

 

An intentional life is one where we carefully choose what to do and how we do it in order to achieve certain goals. It is a purposeful life. Needless to say, one needs to be principled to be able to live such a life. Below are ten habits that can help us stay principled as we seek to live an intentional life.

 

1.  Self-introspection – make it a habit to do a self-check. Sometimes we are our own stumbling blocks and we do not realize it. We behave in a self-sabotaging way. Therefore, we must learn to first look deep inside ourselves before we find anyone or anything else to blame for anything that is not going right in our lives. Look for your own weaknesses and areas that need to be improved and work on yourself. This will improve your relationships and your approaches as you work on your personal goals.

 

2.  Recite your life goals – this reminds you where each plan for the day is meant to take you. Remind yourself what you want to achieve every now and then. In other words, keep your eyes on the goal to avoid wasting time on things that do not bring value to your life.

 

3.  Say no – learn to say no to anything that is not in alignment with your goals. This includes saying no to your desires, your friends, and everyone else. Teach them to respect your routine and working time, and that your interests and goals matter too. Also, do not embrace excuses, they help you feel comfortable in your weaknesses. 

 

4.  Draw a lesson from each challenge you face – challenges happen for a reason. They could be from our own miscalculations of or from external forces. Regardless of the cause, there is always something to learn from them. These range from misunderstandings to failed businesses. Identify opportunities too where possible.

 

5.  Listen more and talk less – when you learn to listen more you learn more from others. You do not only get valuable information related to your dreams, but you also understand them better and improve relationships. Listening also gives you enough time to think before you talk or react. It also helps you understand the contents of a discussion and lessens the chances of a misunderstanding or conflict.

 

6.  Show appreciation – be grateful for your achievements and growth and learn to express genuine gratitude to others. An intentional life is nearly impossible to follow if one is ungrateful. The person tends to be driven by their desire to achieve more and they are never content. Such an attitude can drive a person to do anything including things that are out of character. Following a straight path feels like a burden. Appreciating what we have helps us stay calm and takes away focus from a single goal.

 

7.  Reward yourself for good work – we need to be easy going and not make everything about the future while forgetting to live in the present. Reward yourself when you achieve a goal or finish a task. It makes you feel good and motivates you to do more as you realize the results of committing to your goals. This further encourages you to cultivate more good habits. “When we give ourselves treats, we feel energized, cared for, and contented, which boosts our self-command — and self-command helps us maintain our healthy habits.” Gretchen Rubin.

 

8.  Do not spend more than enough time on the phone or television – social media, television, and games can be addictive. We should learn to limit the time we spend on them to avoid losing work and study time. 

 

9.  Rest when you need to – your body and mind require you to rest. Sometimes we stay up late trying to finish a task. Taking time to rest helps us refresh our minds such that when its time to return to the task our brains will function more efficiently and makes you more productive. Resting helps our muscles recover, reduces stress, gives us more energy, and improves our mood.

 

10. Control your spending habits – know how much you need to spend and on what. It is necessary to have a budget and controlling your spending habits can help you stick to it. Budgeting helps you keep in mind what is worth spending on. As we master how to control our spending habits, it becomes easier to reach our financial goals. 

Be An Intentional Person

“When I grow up I want to be a doctor. I like this job because it serves humanity in the most phenomenal way. Every day will be an opportunity for me to learn more about diseases and their cures. I see myself become so excellent at my job that people will refer each other to me for the best medical attention. Seeing my uncle parade the hospital in his white coat, stethoscope around his neck, and with a determined look on his face inspired me towards this dream. Seeing my dad recover and be discharged from the intensive care unit in a few days sealed it. I am going to study hard therefore to achieve this goal and then buy a big house in the suburbs and raise my beautiful, big, and happy family there.”

 

This is an extract from an essay I wrote at age eleven and I must say this was the style for most of my peers at that time. Some wanted to be accountants, teachers, soldiers, nurses, and so forth but the common ground for all of us was that we were made to imagine ourselves years into the future. That insight of oneself in the future was in no doubt a good thing, there is only one problem that I got to realize when I was older and that was the fact that this exercise which we repeated almost every year always only focused distant future. What if we had been asked to write about our future in the next five, two or one year? What would have been different had I been made to create an image of myself in a year or a school term? If the topic had been, “This coming month” instead of “When I grow up”?

 

The major goals of self in the next ten years are exciting, they show you that indeed you can create anything you want in this life. They revive hope for a future far ahead of the present but if they are not accompanied by smaller ones aiming at the nearer future, they are of no use. Most of those kids who said they wanted to become doctors including myself never became so. It all stayed put in our composition books. 

A few days ago, I listened with sadness as a grown woman who was soon to be evicted from a rented apartment said that she was waiting in hope for a solution concerning where she would go next. The more I tried to question her plan the greater the stress I seemed to put her under so I gave up. It was right then that it struck me how important it is to be an intentional person. I quickly realized the importance of a plan, not just a fantasy about the future in the next five or ten years but a plan that affects one’s choices and actions today.

 

Intentional people don’t collide with their destiny, they create it; block by block. They are strong-willed and determined to get the best out of life. These are the people who wait for nobody to help them, they strategically gather the help they need and use it. This is the breed of winners that train their emotions to follow their actions and not the other way round. Rarely are these people surprised by the turnout of events because every day they take calculated moves towards their clear goals. 

 

Be that person who is intentional. Become that person today who has plans for today, tomorrow, the week, and the month in an effort to reach your epitome in the next three, five, or ten years. Refuse to let life constantly take you by surprise, fight to sit on the driver seat of yours every day, and head towards your most excellent self. Have answers for the whys around your behavior and circumstances. If you are on a job you dislike, let it be because it pays your bills now as you strategize on how to get the one that resonates with your soul.

 

Permission and validation from someone else may never come, give it to yourself today. What if you started by commanding joy into your day and your life as a whole? Let me assure you that you would lose your temper less often if you did. You would be less confused, less discouraged, and less frustrated. Intentionally smile at that person who gets on your nerves and watch as your relationship evolves into something pleasant. Deliberately give to the poor even while you feel that you are also going through a rough patch in your financial life. The law of giving and receiving will not let you down.

 

In all this, set out to be fruitful and progressive. Make false starts, run out of breath, and then pause to take a break, head in the wrong direction sometimes and then bring yourself back to your lane. The adventure involved in doing all this is worth it. Just because you have structure doesn’t mean you will get it right all the time. Be willing to make the moves, all the same, if you have a clear intention of where you are going you will definitely reach there. 

 

Contributed Article

Be Intentional In The Goals You Set

Here is one thing most people love the sound and idea of but struggle to make a reality. Goals! We all know that goals do get us somewhere. Well, if followed through. Goal setting has become a popular theme for the first two months of each year. However, the energy eventually dies down as the year progresses. Then the question is, is what we normally do at the beginning of each year goal setting or just excitement and, simply writing down wishes? And yes, there is a difference between wishes and goals. A wish is a desire or hope for something to happen whereas a goal is defined as the ‘object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result’. Or, maybe it is goal setting and the only problem is that we are not being intentional about it.

 

We need to be intentional in our goal setting. Being intentional in goal setting means going beyond setting targets. Instead of starting from what we admired from other people, it starts with self-searching and establishing who we are now, and who we want to be in the future. What is its significance? We may ask. Well, here is why we need to be intentional when we set our goals.

Goals as we know them – goals are aims that are meant to connect two points of our lives; where we are in the present and where we want to be in the future. Therefore, to make sure that our path to who we want to be is clearly pronounced, our goals must be set with the intention to direct our steps towards the route that will help us reach our destination. In other words, our goals must be drawn from our purpose and not the other way round. Without being intentional in our goal setting, we would go back and forth and sideways.

Pressure from family – we have families that are doing well in life and it is a blessing to have them support us in everything we do. However, sometimes family including spouses can be so controlling to a point that we lose our individuality and as a result, we give up some of our dreams or temporarily put them aside. We need to learn to be in control of our lives. No one knows better the desires hidden deep inside our hearts than we do. Also, family may not always be there to take care of things and fix our lives for us which may force us to only learn to figure out the reality of life at later stages of our lives or when we are left with no other choice but to get up and act. To maintain our individuality, we need to be honest about who we really are and set goals that best suit our personalities. It allows us to live life to the fullest and reduces the chances of having regrets about the time lost while living in the shadow of other people. 

Pressure from social spaces – the world has become more like a global village. Everything happening all over the world and in our communities is easily accessible. We can’t lie about this, our social media has the most beautiful things we can see and the most inspiring stories in the world. The content is captivating. But we shouldn't ignore the fact that some if not all the posts we see are just captured moments and not the entire truth about life. Being intentional in the goals we set reminds us of who we are and protects us from social pressures. Setting goals based on other people’s ‘achievements’ or ideas may confuse and depress us. We may not have a connection with the goals besides that it might get us money fast or help us fit in. When you are intentional in the goals you set, you are content with your part and you are not easily enticed by other people's lifestyles, which may not even be real.

Finding the meaning of life and appreciating the journey – as mentioned previously intentional goal setting gives life a direction. Knowing what we are living for and what we are aiming at gives us determination and persistence. These help us connect to our life journey and find fulfillment in each and every achievement. Intentional goal setting allows us to experience life for what it is and face challenges head-on. There is no better teacher than that. In the end, the journey is traveled with a clear conscience. An intentional life is a sure ticket to learning to appreciate life and experience genuine happiness. 

Motivation and strength to do your daily activities – when your goals are intentional, you have a good reason to wake up and do something with your life. You know what you are working for, if it’s a relationship, you know why you are in it and don't struggle to prioritize your goals. You cannot afford to waste time or give less. When your goal setting is not intentional, it gets easy to put them on hold and focus on other things.

Commitment – when your job or relationship has a strong link with who you want to be in the future, you feel compelled to commit and give it your all. It is your future after all.

Gain Freedom By Living Intentionally

If I was to compare intentional living to a sport, I would say it is like playing a game of chess. This game is full of choices to make. You choose what you want to play, how and when you want to play it. Every move is well thought of and strategic. Whether it’s a one-step or a five-step move, it’s purposeful, and every action you make has it’s counteracted consequences. When one is living intentionally, the gain to it is the freedom of choice. One obtains the power to choose how they want to live their life. You gain the opportunity to set your own identity. To define yourself by pre-selecting what resonates with your lifestyle the most. Freedom of choosing right from wrong, good from the bad. 

 

When you decide to live purposefully you gain the liberty to decide which path you want to take in your life. You decide which crowd you want to associate with. Which people you want to gain influence from and those you wish to block from your personal space. That power of choice is what separates you from all the norms of this world. It sets you apart from the cultures that monitor your life. You’re separated from the cultures created within our societies because you choose what you want to believe in and what aligns with your soulful purpose to your life.

 

Gain financial freedom by living intentionally.

 

Last night whilst browsing through some literature I came across a very insightful motivational writing by Robert Kiyosaki. He was explaining another gain to living intentionally which is financial freedom. He said something very profound that had me thinking about all the financial choices I’ve made in my life. He explained himself saying, ‘The philosophy of the rich and the poor is this; the rich invest their money and spend what is left. The poor spend their money and invest what is left. This also reminded me of something I was discussing with my sister last week. How people don’t have the patience to build a business for 3 years, but they have the patience to go to work for 40, 50, or 60 years. If we follow the societal laws wherever we are around the world, you’ll see a trend of people getting comfortable with taking a traditional 9 to 5 job. Where their soul goal is earning enough to cover the bills and maybe purchasing a few prestigious assets. They get comfortable with earning enough to get by till the next paycheck. There is no financial freedom or independence. 

 

Financial freedom means that you get to make life decisions without being overly stressed about the financial impact because you are prepared for it. If your ultimate goal is gaining financial freedom, it means every choice you make with your finances should be purposeful and strategic. Your choices become intentional. You don’t spend more than you earn. You create a savings account. You plan, you budget, and you invest to make more profit. Money is an important part of financial freedom but it’s simply a vehicle to pursue living your best-intended life.

 

Time is of great essence to life. It is the greatest gift to mankind which is life itself. You can always make more money but you can’t make more time. Rich or poor we all have 24 hours each. With no direction or purpose to your life, time will quickly slip through your hands like quicksand. Before you even know it, your body is no longer able to do what you wished you had started 25 years ago. You don’t have enough money to invest, to travel around the world, or even take a weekend vacation. This happens to people who live with no purpose. They don’t have the liberty to do what they want to do because they have to do what they need to do to survive. A life with no plan will have you working for 40years with zero savings like what Richard Branson once said. But when you’re living intentionally your actions are meaningful.

 

Embracing freedom means taking control of your life. Your schedule becomes purposeful accommodating all your needs and wants with more time to spare. You prioritize what actions to take that will add value to your plan. I remember a friend of mine who once told me that, there’s nothing like not having enough time. People make time for what’s important to them. Making intentional choices will get you that free time. Time freedom, meaning having time to move deliberately. It will allow you to wake up in the morning without an alarm clock. You can have lunch at 3 pm, dinner at 11 pm and go to bed at 3 am. Not because you have to but because you want to and you can. You gain extra time to spend with your family, take a walk alone, read a book, or travel. By intentionally planning every day in advance you will create enough time to invest in what’s important to you.

 

How To Choose A Life That You Love

A man is defined by the decisions he makes. Life as we have come to know it, is made up of decisions that we make, either wrong or right. These decisions at the end of the day, combined, give direction to the life that we lead today and have a bearing on what is to come tomorrow. They determine who we become and have an influence on our position in society. So vital is the process of decision making, that man was given the free will to choose. And we can only know what is right and what is wrong if we have knowledge and information to make informed and wise decisions.

 

So important is the process of decision making that sometimes, one bad decision can ruin not only one's life but it can also have a great impact on the lives of those around that individual, the community, the nation and even the world at large. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that as we develop ourselves as individuals, we dwell on decision making and equip ourselves with the skill, tools, and wisdom to make wise, sound decisions. Many scholars, writers, and researchers have put forward a lot of literature and theories about decisions and the decision-making process, all in a bit to educate you and l on how to make wise decisions. In psychology, decision-making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. 

 

A lot has been said around the subject, however, to date, as individuals we still struggle when it comes to this part of our lives and find ourselves making poor decisions, some that go on to ruin our lives. The bottom line is with little or no knowledge at all, it is very difficult to make an informed decision. When decision making becomes more of a lottery than an informed choice, it becomes suicidal. 

 

A lot of great men and women, including kings and queens, have seen their kingdoms tumble down all because they failed to master the art of decision making. I say it is an art because it is an expression of oneself, one’s knowledge on a particular subject, and one’s boldness to make a choice and stand by it. Allow me to put forward 3 simple steps that can aid you and l in making a wise and informed decision. These simple 3 steps when mastered will help you develop to be a better decision-maker. Before l give you these 3 simple steps, allow me to state that when a decision is made, it can either be right or wrong. The moral standing of a decision made at any particular time depends on who is analyzing it and what impact that decision that has been made has on them immediately or soon. It is all about perception and this fact makes the procession of decision making even more important for the individual. Therefore, try and equip yourself with the following 3 steps or you can also view them as skills.

1. Gather as much information as possible 

 

Before making any decision, learn to equip yourself with as much information as possible about the decision you are about to make. It could be the various choices or options that are at your disposal. It could be the impact, effects, or the consequences that each of these choices has. Before making a decision, gather, research, assess, and be in a better position than you were before to make a decision. One can never get to a point where they have exhausted all the avenues or possibilities surrounding a decision but they can make an informed choice relying on work that they have done prior.

2.    Make the decision

 

Once you have equipped yourself with information, be brave enough to make the decision. Decisions will not make themselves. They need one to stand up and make a choice. This is not an easy thing to do but it must be done. Many successful men and women are where they are today because they were brave enough to stand up and be counted. They were brave enough to make that decision that many were afraid to make. 

3.    Lastly, stand by it 

Learn to always stand by the decision you make whether it turns out to be right or wrong. Learn to have a backbone, to trust your judgment, and stand by it. When a wrong decision is made, and as a result, a glass is broken, learn to apologize where an apology is due, clear the mess and pick up the pieces and move on. We learn from the decisions that we make. We will not be perfect overnight but it is in practicing and applying these 3 steps that we get better and grow to master the art of making decisions.

 

Always remember the 1..2..3 of decision making: gather information, make the decision, and stand by it.