For some people, one of the hardest things you could ever ask them to do is make a decision. Whether it be what they want for dinner, how they want to go about the next product launch, or where they want their retirement money invested. Because there are so many options, they don’t want to make the wrong choice.
I used to be one of those people. In fact, when I was little, I remember going to the toy store and not being able to choose between the newest Transformer and the latest video game. What if I didn’t like the new Optimus Prime? Maybe the video game will be more fun? Which one is more money? Or should I get nothing and save? There were just too many choices.
This carried over into my adult life to some extent. A friend would ask me where I wanted to go to dinner or what what we were doing that night, and I couldn’t decide. Then I received some of the best advice I could have ever got.
“Make a choice - any choice. If it is the wrong one, learn from it. And if it’s right, then congratulations!”
That got me thinking about how serious decisions really are. Truthfully, what in life do you decide that is truly life shattering? Pretty much nothing. There is rarely ever an instance that you can’t fix, either. Some decisions are more serious than others - like which house you want to buy, or which business you want to start - but all in all, most of them are pretty easily fixed.
Take, for instance, a web hosting provider. The last time I researched hosting providers, I think I saw damn near 4,000 different companies offering one service or another. Which one is better? Where do you get the most value for your money? Really, who cares? Find one that suits you needs as far as space and bandwidth, and choose them. If you find they are unreliable, switch! Just make a decision…
The way I look at these situations any more is if it costs less than $100-150 to fix, it deserves little scrutiny from me, especially when you start talking about work related stuff. Is it worth my time to research it and pick out every little detail? I might end up spending 5 hours deciding where all of my hosting accounts reside. Or is it better to look over the choices for an hour, make a decision, and move on to the next task? I definitely say the latter.
The next time you are trying to decide on option A or option B (or C, D, E, F…) think first how important the decision really is. Is it life altering? Is it easily fixed? Is your life going to change in any way? What are the implications if you make a decision now, as compared to after days of research?
But perhaps the most important question - Is it worth your time to worry?
