Hey friend, welcome to the Trend Report. Thanks for joining me today for another installment of our 10 to Win series. I really hope you guys are enjoying these short episodes and getting some amazing value out of this content. I'm Sid Meadows and I'm a business leader and a coach and a consultant and, most importantly, a longtime student of the office furniture industry, and my goal is pretty simple I want to provide you with valuable insights and information resources, maybe some thought-provoking content that helps you grow and helps your business grow. So let's dive into decisions, decisions, decisions the four steps to making a decision.

Sid:

So, when you think about it, each and every day we make decisions. Now, some of these are big and some are small. Some are important and some are not. According to research, adults make an average of 35,000 decisions per day. That's a lot of decisions. Now, these small, seemingly inconsequential decisions lead up to the way that we live our lives, the goals that we are able to meet or attain and the success that we're able to achieve. These little decisions make a big impact. By the time that you're listening to this, I'm wondering how many decisions that you've made today. Honestly, we don't really think about the small and simple decisions we just kind of make them right. I made a decision this morning to go make a cup of coffee and then walk into my office to sit down and record this, and I didn't even think about it or process it very much. I just did it because it was an easy decision for me, especially making the cup of coffee. So we make these types of decisions all day, every day.

It's the difficult decisions that actually really cause us a problem. These are the decisions that we pause to think about and to maybe evaluate more, all because of the potential impact. However, a difficult decision for one person or a company may be an easy decision for someone else. So what actually makes a decision difficult? So let's look at determining a difficult decision. So many times we determine if something is a difficult decision based on the possible outcomes. We tend to believe that there are only two options or outcomes right, success or failure, win or lose, make money or lose money. I mean, this list could go on and on, but the fact is we typically only see two outcomes. But determining if something is a really difficult decision, a decision worth mulling over and thinking about this, takes time to discover for both you and your organization. 

I believe that there is a series of questions that you can ask yourself to help you determine if a decision that you're considering is actually a decision you should ponder over more, like think more about. So these are five of these real quick. Are the stakes of the outcome high? Who or what will be impacted? Is the impact positive or negative? If we decide to move forward, what's the worst thing that could happen? Number four is this decision permanent? Can it be changed or altered? And number five are there really only two outcomes? After you discover the answer to these questions, I'd like for you to ask yourself is this really a difficult decision? If you determine that it's not a difficult decision, then just make the decision and move on. 

Remember, there are often more than just two outcomes with this. It's not necessarily just a win or lose situation. However, if you're really struggling, then test it. Take some time to make a good, thoughtful decision and then take it for a test drive. Try it on, just like we do a pair of shoes right. See if you like this decision that you've made or this choice that you've made. Make sure that it's the right choice, but don't overcomplicate it because, guess what, you have the opportunity to learn from that decision, adjust and try again. 

As easy as this sounds, making a weighty decision, one with a large potential impact, can be a challenge for all of us. I make these decisions every day. Do we hire this person? Do we launch this new program? Do we pivot to this idea? Do we add this new service or remove a service? Or do we say yes to this client even though we don't think we should, or do we say no? What's the outcome? What's the impact? And sometimes these just happen really really fast and we have to move really quickly. But each of these decisions has an impact on me, my team and the business. So here's a framework, a simple little framework of four steps to making a decision. 

During my time of working in business and working with others, decisions were really easy for me. I do a quick evaluation on the outcome, but I make it my job to make decisions and just move forward. If you haven't figured out yet, I am definitely a move forward kind of person. Let's try it, let's go. But these decisions that were likely easy for me, just because of where I am or what I was doing or my background, doesn't mean that I didn't actually make a bad decision, because along the way, I did make some bad decisions. But all of these led me to where I am today and kind of holding myself responsible for the decisions that we make and understanding that what needs to be done. 

So I kind of developed this little framework for decisions and then I'm going to ask you to take note of these as well. Are you ready? Why are we making this decision? Think about that. Why this decision? Why are you making this decision? Does this decision align with our vision and our values? Are we clear on the outcome? Do we see the other side? 

So the next one what other options do we have? Right? And then the last one. We'll call this a bonus one, number five, a bonus one which is what's your gut telling you? Because, honestly, I have come to find over time, whatever your gut telling you is right. And that's the last question I ask myself, that find over time, whatever your gut telling you is right. And that's the last question I ask myself that, all the time, right, it's about intuition. How do I really feel about this decision and does this answer feel right to me? 

Now, I'm sure a lot of you skeptics are saying what the heck, sid, you're making business decisions based on intuition. Are you kidding me? Well, no, I'm not. It's not the only way, but it is part of my process. You know, to be a leader, to make good decisions, you have to trust yourself. Part of trusting yourself is knowing that I have a good radar for what's a good decision and a good direction to go, and also to understand what's going to lead to bad things, and, honestly, I think most of us would agree if it feels bad, it usually is bad. Very rarely are success and failure the only two possible outcomes. 

Step into your greatness with confidence and courage to make big, bold, life-changing decisions. How do you do that? By weighing the outcomes and allowing yourself the space to make a good and thoughtful decision. Hey, thanks guys. I appreciate you joining me today. I hope these quick little questions that I ask you about decisions, decisions, decisions will help you make good, thoughtful decisions in your business.

Outro:

Be sure to reach out to me If I can help you with anything. You've got any questions or just general feedback about the podcast. I really appreciate you joining me today. Go out there and make today great, and we'll see you again soon. Take care everyone, thank you.