The Key Factor To Being Decisive

The one idea that will help you become adept at decision-making.

The value of decisive decision-making for startups and entrepreneurs can be profound. Those that struggle to plot their way forward can stumble, even if product and market conditions are aligned. The companies that can swiftly take action and execute can prosper, even when opportunity is minimal.

What forms the foundation of being able to action critical items in a timely fashion?

Being decisive, like many other things, is a skill that can be practiced and honed over time. Internally and outside of our consciousness, an intricate process that involves items such as examining past experiences, analyzing current stimuli and risk-reward comparison occurs. These processes lay the groundwork for what we do consciously to arrive at a decision.

I must admit: what follows is definitely not a scientifically-proven breakdown of how great decisions happen. It’s possible that empirical evidence will offer a different breakdown or give more weight to specific actions. Taken from experience and observation of successful people in action, here’s an approximate outline on being decisive.

Decisiveness is the result of: strong reasoning, effective communication, focus, accountability and above else, belief.

• Strong Reasoning: whether reasoning deductively or inductively, the ability to “make sense” of what’s in front of you and make adjustments on what is known or unknown is fundamental. Taken a step further, being able to identify how changes to known beliefs will correspondingly affect correlated views and outcomes is even more powerful.
• Effective Communication: arriving at a valid conclusion is hardly worthwhile unless the decision can be communicated. An idea needs to move from a cognitive idea to an external expression while keeping the message consistent.
• Focus: appropriate allocation of internal resources to the task at hand. Decisions of varying difficulty require differing levels of mental commitment.
• Accountability: owning the decision that you’ve made, whether right or wrong. Without this, a decision is more akin to a strong suggestion that can be backtracked if not correct.
• Belief: the simplest, yet most powerful part of the equation. Putting faith in the other constitute pieces and giving yourself permission to either succeed or fail.

Learning to have faith in your words and actions can make an immense difference in the ability to make decisions. It seems easier in theory than in practice, but having the confidence to decide can accessibly be mastered. This mastery forms the foundation that the other pieces are built upon.

Belief can be built through things like having competency in a particular area, staying positive, visualizing goals and being honest with oneself. Focusing energy on things within our control and accepting whatever the outcome may be is a powerful mindset to have. It helps in bringing peace to our present situation and clarifying the path to long-term goals.

Possessing an aptitude for decisive action is an advantage that both individuals and companies can employ. With belief as the cornerstone, making definitive choices can work to reduce bottlenecks and lessen stress. For entrepreneurs and the startups they lead, having fewer issues on hand is always a welcome change.

How can you be more decisive on a daily basis?

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This post was originally published on January 9th, 2018.